LYNNWOOD — Eddie Bauer’s parent company plans to open a new home store in the expanded Alderwood Mall, following a series of store closings as part of a bankruptcy reorganization.
The Spiegel Group, based in Downers Grove, Ill., said it has agreed on terms with the mall to open an Eddie Bauer Home Store, featuring gifts, bedding and other home decor items. There already is an Eddie Bauer clothing store in the Lynnwood mall.
The new store is proposed for The Village, a new outdoor section to be built on the mall’s north end about where the old Nordstrom store is located. Tamera Wachter, spokeswoman for the mall, said more details will be released once the lease is finalized.
Debbie Koopman, a Spiegel spokeswoman, said the Alderwood Mall store is one of seven new Eddie Bauer outlets Spiegel plans to open around the country. In its bankruptcy court filings, the company said it also would like to add another 10 stores in still unidentified locations.
Opening new stores is a hopeful sign from Spiegel, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March after several years of financial problems. Eddie Bauer, which got its start in Seattle more than 80 years ago, has seen declining sales, along with Spiegel’s catalog divisions. The company also was hurt by mounting debt in its credit card program.
Spiegel’s cost-cutting moves since spring have included closing a customer service call center in Bothell that employed 365 people and closing five dozen stores, including the Eddie Bauer at Everett Mall.
The new openings do not mean Spiegel is necessarily through with closing stores, Koopman cautioned.
"This is just a part of Eddie Bauer’s day-to-day business. It’s all about adjusting the portfolio to make sure stores are where they need to be to best serve customers," she said.
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