The Ghosts of Brooks Brothers

“We understand going out of business and the bankruptcy, but to dump their problem on us and walk away from it and make us incur this cleanup cost?” Mr. LaBonte said in an interview in Enfield. “Nobody would anticipate an expense like this — we don’t have rainy day money to deal with it.”

The couple bought the warehouse in 2010. They said that it was their first foray into commercial real estate and that they worked on residential projects before that. They have other tenants and a self-storage section, but are frustrated about the mess and the fact they can’t use the space for anything else until it is cleared.

Brooks Brothers, which was founded in 1818 and is the oldest continuously operated apparel brand in the United States, began renting the warehouse in Enfield in 2011, most recently at a rate of roughly $20,000 a month. (Brooks Brothers also has a corporate office and distribution center in Enfield.) The building, which spans about 375,000 square feet, is held by the LaBontes through KBRC Realty. It’s the firm’s sole holding and the couple’s main source of income.

The office attire segment of retailing as a whole was battered last year as many Americans worked remotely, ditching entire portions of their closets. J. Crew and the owners of Ann Taylor and Men’s Wearhouse also filed for bankruptcy, while sales nose-dived at chains like Banana Republic. Temporary store closures added to the distress, along with the cancellations of special occasions like proms, graduations, weddings and other events.

All that led up to Brooks Brothers’ bankruptcy filing in July, one of the most significant retail collapses of 2020. Brooks Brothers had dressed all but four U.S. presidents at the time of its filing, and prided itself on its American factories, which were also forced to close.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/02/business/brooks-brothers-retail-bankruptcy.html