Bonwit Teller

Bonwit Teller, a tony, 100-year-old specialty apparel chain owned by Allied Stores, will be sold for $101 million to an Australian real estate developer that plans to aggressively expand the operation and eventually bring it back to the California market, it was announced Thursday. Hooker Corp., a diversified company based in Sydney, Australia, that is developing four regional shopping malls in the United States, said it expects its cash purchase to close by July 1.

Most of the existing Bonwit Teller specialty retail chain will be closed, including the flagship store in Manhattan, under an agreement announced in bankruptcy court Wednesday. A group of investors, including Donald J. Trump and a shopping mall developer, that won rights to the Bonwit Teller name paid $22 million for five of Bonwit Teller's 16 stores, including the outlet in Manhattan's Trump Tower. The sale was approved by the federal bankruptcy court overseeing the Chapter 11 filing by L. J.

L. J. Hooker Corp., which recently failed to find a buyer for its B. Altman & Co. department store chain, today announced it has decided to sell two more retailers, Bonwit Teller and Sakowitz. The proposed sale of Bonwit Teller reverses Hooker's previous plan to retain the century-old 16-store chain.

A consortium including real estate tycoon Donald J. Trump bid $21.75 million Monday for five Bonwit Teller department stores, including the chain's flagship outlet in Manhattan's glitzy Trump Tower. The retailer's creditors rejected a request by a group that included a former Bonwit chief executive for a two-day extension to secure financing for a planned bid. The creditors said a delay could threaten bids by the Trump group and others.

Bonwit Teller is closing its specialty clothing store in Beverly Hills because it has been losing money despite its glamorous location on Rodeo Drive. Orren Knauer, a spokesman for Allied Stores, the parent of Bonwit Teller, said Wednesday that the company was closing the store because it had been losing money, but he declined to say how much. However, the store is said to have lost $1 million last year on sales in the $10-million range, according to published reports.

Most of the existing Bonwit Teller specialty retail chain will be closed, including the flagship store in Manhattan, under an agreement announced in bankruptcy court Wednesday. A group of investors, including Donald J. Trump and a shopping mall developer, that won rights to the Bonwit Teller name paid $22 million for five of Bonwit Teller's 16 stores, including the outlet in Manhattan's Trump Tower. The sale was approved by the federal bankruptcy court overseeing the Chapter 11 filing by L. J.

The specialty apparel chain, a unit of Allied Stores, will be leaving the California market after the sale of its Palm Desert store to Bullocks Wilshire, effective Jan. 10. "We're closing a successful store because we do not wish to operate a single unit in the Southern California market," said William S. Ruben, Bonwit's president and chief executive, adding that the chain's growth will be concentrated in the Midwest and East.

Bankrupt L. J. Hooker Corp. said Friday that it has reached an agreement to sell five of its Bonwit Teller specialty retail stores to a subsidiary of Pyramid Cos., a real estate development and investment company. Terms of the agreement with Syracuse, N.Y.-based Pyramid were not disclosed. The sale is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. L. J. Hooker and all its subsidiaries, including Bonwit Teller, filed for protection under federal bankruptcy law in August.

A consortium including real estate tycoon Donald J. Trump bid $21.75 million Monday for five Bonwit Teller department stores, including the chain's flagship outlet in Manhattan's glitzy Trump Tower. The retailer's creditors rejected a request by a group that included a former Bonwit chief executive for a two-day extension to secure financing for a planned bid. The creditors said a delay could threaten bids by the Trump group and others.

The new Australian owners of Bonwit Teller are bringing the upscale specialty clothing store back to Beverly Hills, where a previous regime closed an unprofitable outlet early this year. The new store, expected to open in fall 1989, will be the anchor of a swanky $115-million development with 20 to 30 stores on the last stretch of Rodeo Drive not now occupied by retail development--the parking lot where an American Savings building once stood at Wilshire Boulevard.

A group that includes a former Bonwit Teller chief executive plans to bid $35 million to acquire most of the department store chain, a federal bankruptcy court hearing was told Monday. William Ruben, Bonwit Teller's president and chief executive for much of the 1980s, is among a team that intends to offer $13 million for 13 stores in the 16-store chain and $22 million for inventory, mostly apparel. Sheldon Hirshon, an attorney for Bonwit Teller's parent company, L.J. Hooker Corp.

Bankrupt L. J. Hooker Corp. said Friday that it has reached an agreement to sell five of its Bonwit Teller specialty retail stores to a subsidiary of Pyramid Cos., a real estate development and investment company. Terms of the agreement with Syracuse, N.Y.-based Pyramid were not disclosed. The sale is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. L. J. Hooker and all its subsidiaries, including Bonwit Teller, filed for protection under federal bankruptcy law in August.

L. J. Hooker Corp., which tried unsuccessfully to sell its B. Altman & Co. department store chain, on Thursday said it wants to find buyers for two other retailers, Bonwit Teller and Sakowitz. The proposed sale of Bonwit Teller reverses Hooker's previous plan to retain the century-old 16-store upscale chain.

L. J. Hooker Corp., which recently failed to find a buyer for its B. Altman & Co. department store chain, today announced it has decided to sell two more retailers, Bonwit Teller and Sakowitz. The proposed sale of Bonwit Teller reverses Hooker's previous plan to retain the century-old 16-store chain.

Debt-burdened Hooker Corp., an Australian property group which owns the exclusive Bonwit Teller department stores in the United States, began liquidating today as banks pressed the company for overdue payments. Hooker said in a statement that it had no choice but to go into the initial stages of forced asset sales after a task force of more than 40 banks Tuesday abruptly ended an agreement on a four-month debt repayment moratorium.

Sanford C. Sigoloff, the peripatetic turnaround artist who rescued Wickes Cos. only to surrender the company to new owners four years later, on Wednesday took over management of L. J. Hooker Corp.'s troubled U.S. retail chains. The announcement was made as the U.S. unit of Australia-based Hooker Corp. filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. L. J. Hooker operates about 100 specialty apparel and jewelry stores that last year had sales of $550 million.

Debt-burdened Hooker Corp., an Australian property group which owns the exclusive Bonwit Teller department stores in the United States, began liquidating today as banks pressed the company for overdue payments. Hooker said in a statement that it had no choice but to go into the initial stages of forced asset sales after a task force of more than 40 banks Tuesday abruptly ended an agreement on a four-month debt repayment moratorium.