Back in 2017, when the American womenswear fashion label J. Jill raised US $ 163 million through initial public offering (IPO), one never imagined the brand to almost go bankrupt in just 3 years.
It’s 2020 now and J. Jill is struggling to avoid bankruptcy and is in a state where it owes creditors US $ 270 million.
And it’s not all due to the pandemic!
Soon after raising IPO, which was supported by Bank of America Corp’s Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies Group LLC, J. Jill witnessed strong online and bricks-and-mortar sales.
However in less than 6 months, the retailer missed its forecast and it then started happening regularly. Consequently, shares went down by half. With a poor third quarter in 2019 followed by the stepping down of CEO Linda Heasley, trade deficit touched a worrying US $ 128.6 million (as on 1 February 2020).
Then coronavirus happened – store closures, extended lockdowns and continuous fall in revenue have now put a question mark on the retailer’s survival.
Early last month, J. Jill had announced that it had violated loan terms and was struggling to avoid bankruptcy.
On Thursday (16 July), the retailer said though the lenders in a new forbearance agreement with the retailer have given a date of 23 July to come out with a solution, it’s going to be a tough week ahead for the retailer.
Reportedly, stock of the company too dropped yesterday (17 July) by 19 per cent.
J. Jill offers unique and fashionable apparels, accessories and footwear for women and has nearly 300 stores.
