Mervyns LLC, the mid-tier department store chain that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for $465 million in interim financing provided by Wachovia Capital Finance Corp.

The Hayward, Calif.-based department store chain, which operates about 175 stores primarily in California, on Thursday said the financing will be used to continue operations and to pay vendors as it restructures under Chapter 11. The final hearing on the debtor-in-possession financing is set for Aug. 26.

Privately held Mervyns also said it received court approval, among other things, to pay pre-petition employee wages, health benefits and other employee wages, health benefits and other employee obligations during its restructuring. In addition, Mervyns is authorized to pay post-petition expenses and to continue to honor all of its current customer policies regarding merchandise returns and all of its outstanding gift cards and loyalty programs without seeking further court approval.

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Lower investment sales volume–exacerbated by the credit crunch–equals fewer commissions. That’s hurting the major brokerage firms.

The tighter lending standards have made borrowing for commercial real estate purchases either difficult and expensive or downright impossible. In the United States, commercial real estate sales have dropped by around 70 percent.

Most of the deals getting done are either seller financed, or already have assumable mortgage debt. More often, unless they are financially strapped, owners are refusing to sell at the prices that the higher financing costs demand.

The lower volume of sales has crimped property brokers’ fees and commissions. After the market close, Jones Lang said its quarterly profits tumbled 69 percent to $24.5 million, or 73 cents a share, from $77.9 million, or $2.23 per share a year earlier.

At CB Richard Ellis Group, second-quarter net income plunged 88 percent to $16.6 million, or 8 cents per share, from $141.1 million, or 59 cents per share.

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Didn’t we go through this already? It looks like the Wild Oats/Whole Foods merger is getting challenged again.

I think the first ruling was correct. Whole Foods competition is not limited to just other organic grocers. Regular grocers are upscaling and increasingly devoting aisle space to organic products.

In a 2-to-1 ruling, a three-member panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in Washington, sent the case back to a lower court to consider the evidence more fully, suggesting that District Judge Paul L. Friedman had rushed a decision.

The ruling left unclear what would happen if the courts find against a merger that has, for all practical purposes, already occurred.

The request to block the $565 million merger was brought by the Federal Trade Commission, which had argued that Whole Foods’ takeover of its competitor would limit competition and increase prices in the marketplace for natural and organic foods.

In a statement, Whole Foods said it was disappointed with the court’s ruling and was considering its legal options. The company, which is based in Austin, Tex., closed the deal with Wild Oats last August, and has already shut four Wild Oats’ stores and reflagged 27 others as Whole Foods stores.

As expected, Mervyns has filed for bankruptcy protection. The good news, at least, is that the firm is not planning any store closures yet.

The Hayward-based, low-end retailer, which employs more than 1,000 at 10 stores in San Diego County, said it intends to keep all its stores open and conduct business as usual as it seeks to reorganize.

“Mervyns needs to reorganize its finances and operations due to the state of the economy and difficult operating environment for our industry,” chief executive John Goodman said in a prepared statement.

The privately held retailer operates about 175 locations in seven states, but primarily in California. According to court documents, Mervyns listed liabilities and assets of $500 million to $1 billion, with Levi Strauss & Co. as its largest unsecured creditor.

Hey. Finally some good news! It’s all relative. It’s a sign of the times that the fact that a retailer is closing “only” 57 stores is reason to celebrate.

Linens ‘n Things is going to close fewer stores than they had previously projected.

Bankrupt retailer Linens ‘n Things on Monday offered a sign that business may be improving slightly, saying it will close fewer stores than originally anticipated.

The home furnishings and bedding retailer, which filed for bankruptcy in May, said it will close 57 stores in the latest part of its restructuring, down from 87 as planned. When combined with the original list of 120 the company announced in May, the company will end up closing a total of 177 stores.

Michael F. Gries, the company’s interim chief executive, attributed the decline in store closings to an improved outlook for these stores this year and 2009.

“While a very difficult decision, the stores that are closing are necessary, given the current retail and economic climate and the need to drive the cost savings and operational efficiencies that will allow us to position Linens ‘n Things for long-term growth,” Gries said in a statement.

Starbucks will close more than two-thirds of its 84 stores in Australia by the end of the week under a cost-cutting plan announced Tuesday that will put almost 700 people out of work.

The surprise announcement came a few weeks after the global coffee shop franchise that has become ubiquitous around the world announced it was closing 600 company-owned stores in the United States to try to bolster its business.

The closure of the 61 “underperforming” stores in Australia was the result of conditions specific to Australia that were not reflected elsewhere in the world, the chief executive Howard Schultz said in a statement

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With absolutely no warning, Bennigan’s shut the doors on all its company-owned restaurants today (about half the chain) and its parent company (which also operates the Steak & Ale chain) has filed for bankruptcy. This was so sudden that reportedly people were showing up to the restaurants this morning for breakfast only to be greeted with the news that the chain was suddenly defunct. Its franchises, for now, are continuing to operate. The company has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which means its moving to liquidate, not to restructure.

Here’s a report from CBS News in Chicago. There’s also a report in the Wall Street Journal that Outback Steakhouse and Ruby Tuesday are in trouble.

Customers showing up for lunch at Bennigan’s restaurants in Chicago and across the country found quite a surprise Tuesday morning, when all the corporate-owned locations had signs on display reading “closed for business.”

As CBS 2’s Joanie Lum reports, Bennigan’s Grill and Tavern closed all of its corporate-owned locations nationwide after filing for bankruptcy. Independent franchises remain open for business as usual.

…

Miller said a Chapter 7 filing usually means a company has “major league debt,” and it is unlikely that employees would get their last paycheck. He said someone could conceivably buy the assets and reopen the full Bennigan’s chain, but that would only be after a long, drawn out court process.

The bankruptcy filing does not affect other two restaurant chains owned by Metromedia, Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouse, Templeton said in the statement.

Boscov’s Inc. is struggling, but the department store chain is not on the brink of collapse, its chairman and chief executive said. Boscov’s has a store in the Susquehanna Valley Mall in Hummels Wharf.

“Sales are weak overall, particularly in the home store, which you can understand: People are not buying houses, they’re not buying sheets or mattresses or beds. As gas prices have gone up, sales have gone down, But we’re not collapsing at all,” Kenneth S. Lakin told the Reading Eagle in response to a report in Friday’s New York Post under the headline “Another retailer’s close to collapse.”

Lakin acknowledged, though, that some suppliers have stopped shipping to his company.

“This happens at different times of the year — they put you on credit hold if you’re one minute late,” Lakin told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We are going to get right with them, as quickly as we can.

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Sherwin Williams Co. on July 17 announced its third price increase in eight months. The company has been having “difficult discussions” with retailers, Chris Connor, chairman and CEO, said on its quarterly conference call.

The price increases are “well supported with facts in terms of why the company needs them,” he said. “Our customers, to the best of their ability, are passing them on.”

Hasbro said the retailers it sells to didn’t like price increases the company announced Monday “but they recognize that their own private-label costs are going up and they’ve accepted it.”

The increases leave retailers in a bind: They can keep prices steady and cut profit margins or raise prices and risk losing sales.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has been in the lead of aggressively keeping prices down, pressuring its competitors to do the same.

“We have seen inflation and we have passed some of that through,” said John Simley, a Wal-Mart spokesman. “We have, wherever possible, worked with our suppliers to reduce the inflationary impact as much as possible.”

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Customers at Bass Pro Shops drive an average of 100 miles to reach the company’s 50 locations and many are known to drive up to 300 miles each way to spend time at the massive outdoor supercenters.

But with the average price of a gallon of regular gas above $4, getting even the most devoted customer to make the trip is becoming increasingly difficult.

That’s why the Springfield, Mo.-based chain is launching a slate of events this weekend, offering outdoor skills workshops, s’mores-making, scavenger hunts and foam shooting competitions for shoppers.

Bass Pro Shops spokesman Larry Whiteley says foot traffic in stores is falling, but the company hopes this weekend’s events give customers more than just one reason to make the drive.

“We’re teaching them how, for less than $100, they can have their own camping outfit and they can go to a lake or a campground or they can use it in their own backyard,” he said.

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