The Spiegel Group
announced on May 5 that it will cut 635 jobs as part of its reorganization under chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
The Downers Grove, IL-based company, which operates the Spiegel and Newport News catalogs as well as the Eddie Bauer catalog and stores, plans to close its Bothell, WA, fulfillment center in July. The facility employs 365 people.
In addition, Eddie Bauer will lay off 180 workers at its Redmond, WA, headquarters, effective May 9. And Spiegel has already eliminated roughly 90 employees from its corporate information services unit, which provides systems support to all operations. Most of those employees worked at the Downers Grove headquarters and data center.
In other Spiegel news, the company has received final bankruptcy court approval for the full amount of its $400 million senior secured debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing facility. The financing has been arranged by a consortium of banks, including Bank of America N.A., Fleet Retail Finance, and the CIT Group/Business Credit.
The bankruptcy court also approved the multititle marketer’s proposed private-label credit-card program with Alliance Data Systems Corp. (ADSC), a provider of transaction services, marketing services, and credit services. So on May 5, Spiegel’s three divisions entered into separate but identical 10-year arrangements with ADSC. The credit programs will be kept separate from Spiegel’s prior credit-card programs, and there will be no transfer of existing receivables, Spiegel says.