Wilkes Bashford in Bankruptcy

Binge and LK will note that the sale is exactly the one I mentioned to them. Glad to see Wilkes will still be around.

"The company's assets and liabilities both range from $10 million to $50 million, the filing said"

A tad bit vague

"The store specializes in suits that run as high as $4,000."

I think they meant starting at $4k......

Sad. Satellites' closing was a bad sign, of course. Now: How will new owner Mitchell's of Westport make it work in CA?

I spoke to a guy who was affiliated with Mitchell's for years, and had competed with Wilkes, about two weeks ago. He said this was coming, and felt that it would be no problem at all for the Mitchell's people. Apparently, Wilkes will stay on, and nobody will really notice the difference, other than the fact that now, instead of just having a team focused on good products, they will actually have people who understand business.

That press often gets the facts wrong. That's why I like to check multiple sources before I believe anything I read.

This is sad. Although I must admit ... even as an SF resident ... I rarely went into Wilkes Bashford ... purchasing relatively little from them. In my 20+ years in town ... I can count on two hands the number of visits I've made.

So, that's about ten or fewer times, right?


- B

out of 5

Don't be too sure:

Malouf's in Burlingame is closing too.

I went to their liqudation sale. It seems they moved all the good stuff to Texas, where they are expanding and added a lot of crap from Patrick James in the city.

I knew they would be gone when Sam left the family business.

That's why I qualified with the word "about."

Not a threadjack: I wonder if Chester Jeffries would make you MTO gloves if you sent tracings of hands with extra fingers...and if so, whether there is a maximum number beyond which they will not go. As in, "There's no friggin' way that I'm making gloves with twenty-three fingers on each hand."

Food for thought.

And to bring things back to the OP: these are trying days in Heinytown.


- B

I was going to say eleven ... but I had my hands in my pockets.

But why make it easy ... when other options are available.

SF being called "Heinytown" is, as we say here, pwn3d.

I have great memories of visiting Wilkes in the early 70's. Having moved from the NYC area, Wilkes was different from anything I had ever seen in Manhattan. He launched many a designer and his store reflected a fun and glamorous way of life.

Now, the store has many of the same things I can get around Union Square. I hope that it can get back in touch with more unique and special merchandise.