Eastern Outfitters, parent company of EMS, declares bankruptcy
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Eastern Outfitters is latest retail group to succumb to market pressures.
The parent company of Eastern Mountain Sports, Eastern Outfitters, filed for bankruptcy protection yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
Eastern Outfitters runs EMS and Bob’s Stores, and is owned by Versa Capital Management, a private equity firm. Versa Capital directly acquired Bob’s and EMS when one of its holdings, Vestis Retail Group, declared bankruptcy last year. At the time, a third chain owned by Vestis, Sport Chalet, was liquidated.
According to court documents filed Sunday, Eastern Outfitters has between $100 and $500 million in estimated assets and liabilities. Its biggest creditors are The North Face, Google, Wolverine World Wide, Carhartt, and Under Armour, which are each all owed more than $500,000.
