Deb Shops

Four years after being purchased by Lee Equity Partners L.L.C., Northeast Philadelphia retailer Deb Shops Inc. said Monday that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it hoped to sell its assets and reorganize into a new company quickly so that business continues unabated at its 318 apparel stores, chief financial officer Barry Susson said in filings Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Deb Shops, which markets trendy and plus-size garments for teenagers and women ages 13 to 25, had assets of about $124.4 million and liabilities of roughly $270.1 million as of April 30. Its largest unsecured creditor, HBK Capital Management of Dallas, was owed nearly $29 million.

The sluggish sales trend that has plagued the women's apparel trade since last summer cut deeply into Deb Shops' profits for the quarter and year that ended Jan. 31, the company reported yesterday. In the first reversal for the Philadelphia-based retailer since 1980, Deb Shops said that net income declined 5 percent in the most recent fiscal year. The quarter was even worse, with net income dropping 16 percent. While sales for the quarter rose a modest 2 percent from the previous fourth quarter, most of the gains came from the retailer's new stores.

Warren Weiner, 68, of Villanova, executive vice president and an owner of Deb Shops when the national chain was sold in 2007, died Monday, Feb. 13, of leukemia at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. At the time of the $395 million sale to a private equity group, the chain was reported to operate 337 stores in 42 states from its headquarters and warehouse near Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The report stated that the firm was, in large part, a "retailer of clothing, shoes, and accessories for young women.

Deb Shops Inc., the Philadelphia-based retail chain, said yesterday that continued expansion produced strong sales and earnings gains for the quarter that ended July 31. But sales in the Deb Shops' existing stores declined slightly, which the company blamed on the uncomfortably hot weather. Lester E. Wolser, vice president and chief financial officer, said that despite an overall 16 percent sales increase, "comparable store" sales declined 2.8 percent from the previous second quarter.

Milton J. Petrie, a New Jersey retailing executive, plans to acquire a 25 percent stake in Deb Shops Inc. of Philadelphia, the chain of women's clothing stores. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Petrie said he was acquiring the stock for investment purposes, but might "pursue some other action" later. Petrie is chairman and chief executive officer of Petrie Stores Inc., a chain of 1,500 women's clothing stores based in Secaucus, N.J. Lester E. Wolser, vice president and chief financial officer of Deb Shops, said yesterday, "At this point, we have no reason to believe he is doing anything other than taking an investment position" in Deb Shops.

Private-equity group Lee Equity Partners L.L.C. is purchasing junior-girl fashion retailer Deb Shops Inc., a Philadelphia company founded as a women's hosiery store, for $395 million, the company said yesterday. The $27.25-per-share deal requires shareholder approval and represents a small premium over Thursday's closing price of $26.68. Deb Shops' share price fell 17 cents yesterday during regular trading, closing at $26.51, but then rose in after-hours trading to almost $27 at one point.

Cultural historians often talk about a Depression-era mentality, a kind of hoarding thriftiness born of being nearly broke. It's precisely that mentality that has saved the Deb Shops, a Philadelphia apparel retailing company that sells high-fashion, low-cost clothes to teenagers, especially girls. "When I first came into the business, we were nearly bankrupt," recalled Marvin Rounick, Deb's president and chief executive officer, remembering when he joined his father's business in the early 1960s.

With a slowing economy dampening back-to-school buying sprees, Deb Shops Inc., said yesterday that its August sales declined 4.5 percent to $30.2 million compared with the same month a year earlier. Rising gas prices and interest rates are hurting Deb's core customer, women in their teens and early 20s from moderate-income families, said Barry J. Susson, the Philadelphia retailer's chief financial officer. "Instead of buying three or four back-to-school outfits, they may buy only a couple," he added.

Warren Weiner, 68, of Villanova, executive vice president and an owner of Deb Shops when the national chain was sold in 2007, died Monday, Feb. 13, of leukemia at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. At the time of the $395 million sale to a private equity group, the chain was reported to operate 337 stores in 42 states from its headquarters and warehouse near Northeast Philadelphia Airport. The report stated that the firm was, in large part, a "retailer of clothing, shoes, and accessories for young women.

I met Mark Simon, owner of Atlantic Books, on Black Friday, which for him really began two weeks before. His no-frills bookstores are closing - 36 years after his father opened their first shop in Atlantic City, long before e-books, the Internet, and the notion that one should offer customers coffee and muffins, let alone a place to sit down. Atlantic was never like that. "Eventually," he said, "we put in some park benches. " Once there were 23 stores, from New Jersey to Maryland.

DSI Holdings Inc., the bankrupt owner of Northeast Philadelphia clothing retailer Deb Shops, canceled the auction that had been scheduled for Thursday because the company received no bids beyond the initial $75 million bid by its senior lenders. A hearing to approve that bid, led by Ableco Finance L.L.C., is scheduled for Sept. 13. When the company filed for bankruptcy in June, it listed assets of $124.4 million and liabilities of $270.1 million. At the time, Deb Shops operated 318 stores in 44 states.

Four years after being purchased by Lee Equity Partners L.L.C., Northeast Philadelphia retailer Deb Shops Inc. said Monday that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it hoped to sell its assets and reorganize into a new company quickly so that business continues unabated at its 318 apparel stores, chief financial officer Barry Susson said in filings Sunday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. Deb Shops, which markets trendy and plus-size garments for teenagers and women ages 13 to 25, had assets of about $124.4 million and liabilities of roughly $270.1 million as of April 30. Its largest unsecured creditor, HBK Capital Management of Dallas, was owed nearly $29 million.

Private-equity group Lee Equity Partners L.L.C. is purchasing junior-girl fashion retailer Deb Shops Inc., a Philadelphia company founded as a women's hosiery store, for $395 million, the company said yesterday. The $27.25-per-share deal requires shareholder approval and represents a small premium over Thursday's closing price of $26.68. Deb Shops' share price fell 17 cents yesterday during regular trading, closing at $26.51, but then rose in after-hours trading to almost $27 at one point.

Private-equity group Lee Equity Partners L.L.C. is purchasing junior-girl fashion retailer Deb Shops Inc., a Philadelphia company founded as a women's hosiery store, for $395 million, the company said yesterday. The $27.25-per-share deal requires shareholder approval and represents a small premium over Thursday's closing price of $26.68. Deb Shops' share price fell 17 cents yesterday during regular trading, closing at $26.51, but then rose in after-hours trading to almost $27 at one point.

With a slowing economy dampening back-to-school buying sprees, Deb Shops Inc., said yesterday that its August sales declined 4.5 percent to $30.2 million compared with the same month a year earlier. Rising gas prices and interest rates are hurting Deb's core customer, women in their teens and early 20s from moderate-income families, said Barry J. Susson, the Philadelphia retailer's chief financial officer. "Instead of buying three or four back-to-school outfits, they may buy only a couple," he added.

Deb Shops Inc. said yesterday that its third-quarter net income soared 69 percent on strong sales of fall apparel. The Philadelphia retailer of teen clothing reported net income of $3.1 million, or 21 cents a share, for the quarter ended Oct. 31. This compared with net income of $1.8 million, or 13 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. "Our third-quarter performance was highlighted by strong full-price selling of our back-to-school product offering, which allowed us to exceed expectations," Deb Shops president and chief executive officer Marvin Rounick said in a statement.

On a day when most stocks stumbled, Deb Shops Inc., of Bensalem, unveiled a simple way to primp its share price: Give investors millions of dollars. The operator of more than 300 young women's clothing stores, known for teen apparel such as prom dresses, announced a special dividend of $6 a share, payable Aug. 16 to investors who own the stock on July 29. The company's regular quarterly dividend is 12.5 cents a share. In Nasdaq trading, Deb shares rose $2.48, or nearly 10 percent, to close at $28, erasing most of an April slump that had wilted the stock like a morning-after corsage.