Although Bon-Ton Stores shuttered the remainder of its stores in August, the brandalready may be primed for a comeback.
A subsidiary of CSC Generation Holdings, a retail technology platform provider, has signed a deal giving it the rights to Bon-Ton and its subsidiary department store chains, Boston Store, Bergner’s, Carson’s, Elder Beerman, Herberger’s and Younkers, according to USA TODAY. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware must approve the agreement for it becomes final.
CSC Generation Holdings agreed to pay $900,000 for Bon-Ton’s intellectual property including trademarks, web sites, private label brands, customer lists and other data, according to bankruptcy court documents. The company outbid apparel retailer Christopher & Banks by $50,000.
Advertisement
Bon-Ton’s web sites already have created online speculation with messages saying the stores will return. For example, the Bon-Ton web site states, “We’ve got great news — Bon-Ton is coming back!”
The site adds, “Stay tuned for updates over the coming weeks. We appreciate your loyalty & look forward to being able to serve you again soon.” The same message is displayed across the sites of Bon-Ton’s various subsidiary chains.
While the relaunched company will be centered on its e-Commerce site, there also are plans to reopen physical locations in Illinois, Colorado, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, USA Today revealed.
Bon-Ton filed for bankruptcy in February 2018 and was unable to find an investor willing to keep the company going. As a result, a group of liquidators and some Bon-Ton creditors purchased the department store in an April bankruptcy auction.
A major challenge for CSC Generation, which bills itself as a “decentralized, multi-brand technology platform that is saving companies from Amazon,” will be differentiating Bon-Ton’s assortment. The chain, which operated nearly 230 stores before bankruptcy, had long sold many of the same brands as other department stores, leading it to encountering similar difficulties that plagued companies such as JCPenney and Macy’s.
