Clothestime Inc

Nature of Business: Discount specialty retailer of women's apparel. Total Employees: 3,800 In Orange County: 800 Stock Listing in The Times: On NASDAQ as "Cloth" Ticker Symbol: "CTME" Friday's Stock Close: $8.75 Change: Up $0.63 Analyst Review: "Clothestime is financially professional. It is a company mandate that it does not spend more than it makes.

Less than six years after emerging from bankruptcy protection, Clothestime Stores Inc., the Anaheim-based discount apparel chain, is being forced back into U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Three Los Angeles-area apparel manufacturers that say they are owed more than $700,000 in missed payments filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition Friday against the retailer, which sells mostly juniors apparel and accessories.

Clothestime Inc., the troubled discount apparel chain that sprang from an Orange County swap meet booth in the late '70s, filed for protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Friday, a victim of intense competition from large, national retailers. About 140 of the company's 550 locations will be sold off or closed as the Anaheim-based retailer reorganizes its finances through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding.

Clothestime Stores Inc., which operates 264 women's apparel stores in 15 states, said Monday that it has officially emerged from bankruptcy. The company won approval for its Chapter 11 reorganization plan Sept. 10 and came out of bankruptcy on Sunday. All the common stock and other equity securities of Clothestime have been canceled under the plan and, accordingly, have no value.

The chief executive and a founder of Clothestime Inc., Michael DeAngelo, has retired at 41, and the company's chief financial officer has quit on the heels of shrinking profits at the discount women's apparel chain. A company spokesman, David Sejpal, said the changes are unrelated to the company's financial struggle. The company estimated its earnings for the year ending Jan. 26 at $140,000 to $702,000. Analysts had estimated earnings for the year as high as $2.8 million.

Clothestime Inc., the bankrupt women's apparel chain, has been delisted by Nasdaq for failing to comply with the stock market's minimum requirements, the company said Thursday. Clothestime, which has been trading at about 75 cents in recent weeks, had fallen below the $1 minimum trading floor that Nasdaq requires, Clothestime spokesman Andrew G. Tepper said.

Clothestime Inc. said Wednesday that a bankruptcy court has signed a reorganization plan, clearing the way for the struggling apparel company to emerge from bankruptcy. Clothestime and its affiliates will continue to operate more than 260 women's apparel stores located primarily in California, Florida and Texas. Under the plan, which was filed March 21, creditors will own 75% of the reorganized company's common stock. The remaining 25% of the stock will be distributed to company management.

Clothestime Inc. creditors aren't the only ones clamoring for someone to "show me the money." The popular line from "Jerry Maguire," the recent feature film starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr., was repeated again and again during a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing Thursday in Santa Ana. The hearing was held to determine which reorganization plan was going to be forwarded to creditors of Anaheim-based Clothestime for approval.

Clothestime Inc. on Thursday took its first step toward exiting bankruptcy proceedings when a judge authorized the company to mail copies of a proposed reorganization plan to the firm's creditors. The struggling apparel company owes landlords, banks and other creditors a total of $50 million. The plan that creditors will vote on during coming weeks includes a $3.

Clothestime Inc., the struggling apparel chain, narrowed its losses in the first quarter while revenue slipped, the company reported Friday. Clothestime lost $3.4 million, or 24 cents a share, in the three months ended April 26, compared with a net loss of $5.8 million, or 41 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue dropped 2.8% to $42.5 million from $43.7 million a year earlier. Clothestime operates 322 junior women's stores in 17 states and Puerto Rico. The chain hopes to leave U.S.

The judge in Clothestime Inc.'s bankruptcy case said Wednesday that he will allow the chain's founder, current managers and a clothing company to offer competing reorganization plans. The managers, led by Clothestime Chairman David A. Sejpal, previously had sole rights to negotiate with Clothestime's creditors. A creditors committee had backed their plan.

Former Clothestime Chairman John Ortega II on Wednesday said that he's formed an investor group that is crafting a reorganization plan that would allow the junior women's apparel chain to exit bankruptcy proceedings. Details of the plan were sketchy, but Mark Worchester, Ortega's attorney, said the former Clothestime executive's group would pump "new money" into the ailing retailer.

Clothestime Sales Increase: Clothestime Inc., the Anaheim-based women's apparel chain, announced Wednesday that its sales rose 24% to $259 million for its fiscal year ended Jan. 25. Comparable store sales--a measure of sales growth excluding the addition of new stores during the period--increased 14% during fiscal 1991. The Anaheim-based chain operates 401 women's apparel stores in 16 states. Clothestime officials have said the company plans to open about 60 new stores this year.

Clothestime Inc. filed its bankruptcy escape plan Friday, proposing to give ownership of the 331-store young women's clothing chain to management and creditors and leave current shareholders with nothing. The plan, backed by a committee representing Clothestime's creditors, is expected to be approved by the Bankruptcy Court this summer, the Anaheim-based company said.

Clothestime Inc. said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with its unsecured creditors that will clear the way for the troubled company to file a reorganization plan by the end of March. The young women's apparel company, which entered bankruptcy late in 1995, did not provide details of the plan, which will be presented to U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John J. Wilson in Santa Ana.