True Religion has filed for bankruptcy due to the coronavirus pandemic that has particularly devastated the retail market.
This is the second time the premium denim retailer has filed for Chapter 11 in less than three years, according to CNBC. In court documents, the company said it would have liked to make it past the lockdowns and shaky economy but “simply could not afford to do so.”
The denim company listed $100 to $500 million in assets and liabilities in court on Monday. “In the near term, and until our stores open up, we will be continuing as we have, to run our E-Commerce businesses, in the same way we did prior to filing for Chapter 11,” Chief Executive Officer Michael Buckley said in a statement.
As health experts and governors work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, nationwide restrictions have caused production cuts and layoffs. With an impending recession looming, stay-at-home orders have been imposed on over 95% of Americans across the nation, which has also shuttered stores and malls and left over a million employees on furlough.
True Religion has around 100 stores in the U.S.
The company was launched in 2002 as a designer jean retailer when premium denim was a popular commodity in the mid-2000s. True Religion first filed for bankruptcy in 2017. In addition to its own stores, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus also sell the brand, though those stores have been struggling as well.
