The US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas had on Monday approved a rescue deal, which will allow American retail giant JCPenney to emerge from bankruptcy before the upcoming holiday season, as pe media reports.
This new development has come as ray of hope for scores of the retail behemoth’s suppliers in Bangladesh, who have been facing payment uncertainty, claimed media reports while adding dozens of Bangladeshi suppliers of the American retail giant had to face cancellations and withholding of orders worth around US $ 3.5 million during the pandemic.
JCPenney filed for bankruptcy in May with about US $ 5 billion in debt and was one of the many retailers that sought Chapter 11 protection during the pandemic.
The suppliers of JCPenney in Bangladesh — as per reports, the American retailer sources about US $ 300 million worth of goods from Bangladesh annually — are also expecting better days now and welcomed the new development.
This is good news for the apparel suppliers as over 100-year-old retail giant would be able to rescue itself, reportedly stated former President of the apex garment makers’ body in Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association’s (BGMEA), Shaiful Islam Mohiuddin speaking to the media while the trade body’s Vice-President Arshad Jamal (Dipu) underlined Bangladeshi suppliers should discuss with the liquidators — in USA and Canada, usually, liquidators are prioritised to solve local or internal dispute at first, and then external issues — to solve their previous trade dispute.
It must be mentioned here that JCPenney, which has about 850 stores across the US and Puerto Rico, and about 90,000 employees across the globe, is one of the largest US retailers to file for bankruptcy in recent years.
