The operating company of the North American stores of the outdoor outfitter Eddie Bauer is in financial difficulties. On Monday, Eddie Bauer LLC announced that it has filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the District Court of New Jersey.
The move was taken as part of a restructuring agreement (RSA) with the company’s lenders to pursue a two-pronged strategy, it said in a statement. This envisages starting liquidation sales in the stores immediately and at the same time aiming to sell the entire retail activities or individual parts. If a corresponding transaction were successful, the company said it could refrain from ceasing business operations completely.
Eddie Bauer LLC is a subsidiary of the Catalyst Brands group of companies. It operates the label’s approximately 200 stores and outlets in the USA and Canada and is also the licensee of the brand, whose intellectual property rights have been held by the US fashion and media group Authentic Brands Group LLC since 2021. According to the statement, Eddie Bauer’s e-commerce and wholesale business in the region are not affected by the proceedings as they are now operated by the independent company Outdoor 5 LLC (Oved).
The same applies to the brand’s stores outside North America. The approximately 20 stores in Japan and other markets are operated by independent licensing partners. The other activities of the parent company Catalyst Brands, which emerged from the merger of the Sparc Group with JC Penney in 2025, also remain unaffected by the proceedings that have now been initiated.
Marc Rosen, CEO of Catalyst Brands, justified the move with long-term structural challenges that already existed before Catalyst Brands was founded. At the time, Eddie Bauer LLC was already in a “difficult situation” characterized by falling sales and problems in the supply chain, he emphasized in a statement. The situation was further aggravated last year by the effects of inflation and uncertainties regarding tariffs.
While Catalyst Brands management “made significant progress with the brand, including rapid improvements in product development and marketing, these changes were not implemented quickly enough to fully address the challenges that had arisen over several years,” Rosen said.
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