Steve & Barry's Sold, Will Close 103 Stores

(MoneyWatch)  Steve & Barry's -- whose co-founder boasted last year that the chain could grow to 5,000 stores -- will close 103 of its 276 locations. Final liquidation sales are already happening at 24 locations, although a flagship store under construction in Manhattan will still open at the site of the former Greenwich Village Tower Records.
According to Newsday, the $163 million sale of Steve & Barry's was approved by a bankruptcy court and closed Aug. 25. Investment firms Bay Harbour Management and York Capital Management formed a holding company called BHY S&B Holdings Inc. Co-founders Steve Shore and Barry Prevor are among the investors in the subsidiary. This is only fitting, given that Shore and Prevor collected $170 million from a $320 million private equity investment less than a year ago, as I reported in a summertime story titled "What a Bankrupt Retailer Looks Like."
The Steve & Barry's hype machine will not be liquidated. "This sale is a great thing for shoppers across the country, who will be able to continue to take advantage of the astonishing values that we've always delivered," said spokesman Howard Schachter.

Sarah Jessica Parker reaffirmed her partnership with Steve & Barry's to sell clothing and accessories in the Bitten line, but Knicks player Stephon Marbury filed suit against the chain, saying he's owed more than $2 million in royalties for Starbury sneakers. Under bankruptcy rules, the new holding company wouldn't be liable for the debt, but Marbury claimed the sum represents royalties earned before Jan. 15, long before Steve & Barry's wandered into Chapter 11.