Article By: Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Posted By: Srividya Srinivasan
The Wilkes Bashford Co., the namesake business of the Sutter Street clothier that has been has been struggling since the economic meltdown, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, court records show.
The filing Monday came a little more than a month after the upscale company abruptly closed its satellite stores in Mill Valley and Carmel. In February, Wilkes Bashford laid off 18 of 97 employees because of slumping sales.
The company filed for Chapter 11 protection to ease the sale of its assets to Ed Mitchell West LLC, which is affiliated with a private luxury retailer on the East Coast. Under the proposed agreement, Mitchell would continue to operate Bashford's San Francisco and Palo Alto stores and pay $4.6 million in cash, pending better offers through a competitive bid process.
Bashford wants the sale to close by Nov. 30 to avoid affecting the holiday shopping season. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for today.
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