Al Baskin Co.: Owner of Mark Shale stores files for bankruptcy - Out-of-state stores to close; 3 in Chicago area to remain open

Al Baskin Co.: Owner of Mark Shale stores files for bankruptcy - Out-of-state stores to close; 3 in Chicago area to remain open
By Sandra M. Jones
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
March 24, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue-mark-shale-bankruptcy-mar24,0,1122535.story


The family-owned operator of Mark Shale stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, citing a "dramatic revenue decline" amid the worst retail environment in decades.

The Al Baskin Co., the 80-year-old Woodridge-based retailer, is keeping open three Chicago-area full-price stores as it seeks a buyer for its Chicago operations and Internet business. It closed its outlet store on Elston Avenue in Chicago on Monday and plans to shutter all of its stores in Dallas, Kansas City, St. Louis and Atlanta in April.

Mark Shale, a purveyor of high-end suits and sportswear for men and women, has been a fixture on North Michigan Avenue since 1981. It also operates stores in Northbrook and Oak Brook.

Luxury retailers, typically immune to economic turmoil, have been especially hard hit by this recession as well-to-do customers see their net worth plummet. As customers watched their stock portfolios fall in half, they stopped shopping, said Scott Baskin, co-president and grandson of the company's founder.

"We just got caught in the tsunami of this economy," Baskin said.

Sales declined 30 percent over the holidays, and then tumbled up to 50 percent in recent weeks, Baskin said.

With eight stores and about $50 million in annual sales, Mark Shale didn't have the girth of a big department store to have the leverage with its vendors, yet it wasn't small enough to quickly cut overhead costs like a single boutique can do, he said.

Al Baskin was founded in 1929 in Joliet. The company expanded to the Chicago market in the 1970s and changed the name of its stores to Mark Shale to avoid confusion with the Baskin stores then operated by Hartmarx Corp.

Al Baskin went through Chapter 11 in 1995 after taking on debt to expand, and it emerged in 1997 as a smaller entity.

Al Baskin employs more than 380 people, including 250 in the Chicago area. There will be layoffs at headquarters as it reorganizes, Baskin said.

smjones@tribune.com