Naz News, Gappers and FLE's

[sludgehound]

WTSL midnite news dump Bk stores, jobs

Throw another on fire blaze of stores & jobs.

.11 to .04 from pre close into the last trading 8pm ET so they knew.

By Stephanie Gleason and Lillian Rizzo
Struggling teen retailer Wet Seal Inc. (WTSLA) has hired restructuring lawyers to help the company with a potential bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter.
The clothing retailer has hired Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP , according to the people familiar with the matter.
Wet Seal said Wednesday that it is closing 338 stores and laying off nearly 3,700 employees. The closures will leave 173 stores in the chain. The company said it was forced to close the stores after being unable to negotiate "meaningful concessions from its landlords."
It is also under the gun with bondholders, after missing a bond payment on $28.8 million in debt, bringing that amount immediately due. Hudson Bay Capital , which holds the bonds, agreed to give Wet Seal until Monday before it takes any action to collect on the debt.
The situation remains fluid, but a bankruptcy filing could come sometime next week, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.
(An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ:com http://www.wsj.com/articles/teen-retailer-wet-seal-hires-restructuring-lawyers-1420756165?mod=mktw.).
- Stephanie Gleason ; 415-439-6400; [e-mail]
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-09-15 0001ET