Zombie retailers close stores nationally

In retail, some brands that could no longer cut it with brick-and-mortar stores are getting a second wind in the digital world.

Take the apparel retailer the Limited, a fixture in malls that provided professional women with blazers, dresses, and trousers at midprice points. Its death was swift and sudden and reflected the impact of the online powerhouse Amazon on traditional retailers.

The chain announced on Jan. 7, 2017, that it would no longer operate stores. It shut all 250 of them in 42 states, along with its website. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a week later in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Another women’s clothier, Bebe, also filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its stores to focus on selling online.

On Feb. 24, 2017, the private equity firm Sycamore Partners announced it had purchased the Limited’s brand and website, through a competitive auction as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.

Sycamore relaunched the brand’s website last fall — sans stores — and promised to communicate with the Limited’s loyal customers about how to obtain the merchandise “they know and love.”

Sycamore, which specializes in consumer and retail investments, partners “with management teams to improve the operating profitability and strategic value of their businesses,” the company mission states.

The firm’s investment portfolio now includes Belk, Coldwater Creek, Dollar Express, EMP Merchandising, Hot Topic, MGF Sourcing, Nine West Holdings, Talbots and Torrid. In fact, Limited merchandise also is available on belk.com or in Belk stores.