According to an FBR analyst, things may be looking a bit brighter at malls these days.

Adrienne Tennant of Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. said in a client note that consumers are hitting the malls nationwide, trying to find fashionable bargains as spring weather approaches.

“We remain optimistic that if the weather continues to break to spring-like temperatures, sales trends may pick up,” she said. “We believe March is exceeding initial expectations.”

Tennant said there is pent-up demand, especially in the teen sector. Traffic has improved, especially at teen retailers American Eagle Outfitters Inc. and Aeropostale Inc., she said.

In a sign of the times, General Growth has not paid past-due debt and has not won an official extension from bondholders, but remains out of bankruptcy.

General Growth Properties Inc., struggling under a mountain of debt, said Monday that its latest effort to win a reprieve from bondholders had fallen short.

But a bankruptcy filing isn’t imminent for the mall giant, according to people familiar with the matter, and General Growth’s ability to remain out of bankruptcy shows the unusual dynamic between lenders and distressed companies in the recession-ravaged commercial-real-estate market.

Under normal circumstances a company with as much past-due debt as General Growth would have been forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by now. Creditors so far have been willing to let deadlines pass because they believe there is little to be gained and much to be lost through a bankruptcy. General Growth’s mall operations are stable and many bondholders hope for a greater recovery outside of bankruptcy court.

“This is really rare,” said Kevin Starke, an analyst at CRT Capital Group LLC, a research company that tracks distressed securities. “It is corporate-bond limbo like I’ve never seen before.”

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There was some hope last week that Gottschalks would remain as an operating company. However, that has not come to fruition. The company is opting for liquidation.

Liquidators won the battle for Gottschalks Inc. on Monday and will shut down the company, CEO James Famalette said late Monday.

“It’s very difficult to talk right now,” said Famalette, his voice shaking, a little more than an hour after the auction ended in Delaware.

He said Gottschalks would begin notifying employees today about what will happen. Going-out-of-business sales could begin as early as this week.

Gottschalks, founded in Fresno in 1904, operates 58 department stores and three specialty stores, including locations in Antioch, Santa Cruz, Stockton and Tracy. It has about 5,200 employees in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Nevada.

The liquidators were one of three bidders, including another liquidator and a Chinese company, Shandong Commercial Group, that intended to keep some of the stores open.

“We tried as hard as we could to make this work with the Shandong people, but there were too many things financially, with the size of the deal, and regulatory issues, that they just couldn’t get done in time,” Famalette said from Delaware.

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Bankruptcies and Liquidations:

• Jan. 7, Goody’s liquidates, closing 287 stores


• Jan. 8, Against All Odds files for bankruptcy protection, operates 64 stores overall, plans to close West Coast stores


• Jan. 13, Shane Co. files for bankruptcy, operates 23 stores


• Jan. 14, Gottschalks files for bankruptcy, operates 58 stores, Update: March 31, Gottschalks will liquidate


• Jan. 16, Circuit City to Liquidate, closing 567 stores


• Feb. 6, Fortunoff, operates 20 stores


• Feb. 6, Bruno’s, operates 66 stores


• Feb. 12, S&K Famous Brands, operates 136 stores; Update: Feb. 19, plans to close 30.


• Feb. 17, Innovation Luggage, operates 10 stores


• Feb. 23, Ritz Camera, operates about 1,000 stores
  
• March 6, Joe’s Sports & Outdoor, operates 30 stores


• March 25, Bi-Lo, operates 215 stores
  

Potential Bankruptcies & Liquidation Impact: 942 confirmed closures out of about 2,476 stores

Announced Closings

• Jan. 8, New York & Co., 50 stores


• Jan. 8, Macy’s, 11 stores


• Jan. 9, Supervalu, 50 stores


• Jan. 13, Cost Plus, 26 stores


• Jan. 20, Yankee Candle, 28 Illuminations stores


• Jan. 21, Filene’s Basement, 11 stores


• Jan. 22, Phillips-Van Heusen, 175 stores
  
• Jan 22, Brown Shoe, up to 35 Famous Footwear stores
  
• Jan. 26, Home Depot, 48 stores
  
• Jan. 29, Starbucks, 200 U.S. Stores (plus 100 international)


• Jan. 29, Chico’s, up to 25 stores
  
• Feb. 9, Talbots, 20 stores
  
• Feb. 24, Jimmy’Z, 11 stores


• Feb. 24, Z. Gallerie, 25 stores


• Feb. 25, Zale Corp., 115 stores


• Feb. 26, Gap, 50 net closings


• Feb. 27, Sears, 44 stores


• March 3, Virgin Megastores, 6 stores


• March 6, Ann Taylor, 37 stores in 2009, 163 total by end of 2010


• March 18, Drug Fair, 11 stores


• March 23, Pier 1, 80 stores
  

Total Closings: up to 1,058 U.S. stores

Potential Impact of All Announcements to Date: 2,000 closures out of up to 3,534 potentially affected U.S. stores

Two bits of news from troubled retailers. Borders has reached an agreement with a top shareholder to get a loan extension. Meanwhile, Ahold has extended a helping hand to bankrupt grocer Bi-Lo.

After all the hype and all the setbacks, including flood, fire and a seven-month delay, the British clothing retailer will this week open its first US flagship store in midtown Manhattan. “It’s just Topshop mania over here,” said TeenVogue’s fashion news director, Jane Keltner.

For those this side of the pond it is, perhaps, hard to comprehend such febrile anticipation for what is, essentially, a mid-budget fast-fashion chain store found in most high streets.

But a combination of the store’s hitherto elusiveness in the US and the deft hand of Sir Philip Green, chief executive of the Arcadia group that owns Topshop, in ramping up the celebrity content during a whole week of events, means that the opening will go unnoticed by very few people.

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Some good news! Gottschalk’s, which some said might be headed for liquidation, has received some bids including one from a Chinese firm that wants to keep the company operating.

Gottschalks Inc. said Thursday it has three bids for the department-store chain — including one from a government-controlled retail conglomerate in China that hopes to keep the business running.

Shandong Commercial Group General Corp., one of China’s largest retail companies, was named along with the other two bidders in a filing Thursday with the U.S. District Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

It is the only suitor proposing to buy Gottschalks — which filed for bankruptcy protection in mid-January — as a “going concern.”

The other two bids are from companies that would dispose of the merchandise through going-out-of-business sales and close the stores.

Details of the Shandong proposal — such as how many stores it would keep open — were not disclosed Thursday.

Gottschalks Inc., the 104-year-old Central Valley department store chain, is moving closer to liquidation.

Already operating in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Gottschalks designated a team of liquidating firms as the lead bidder in a court-supervised auction set for March 30.

Others will be able to bid. But the lead bidder, also known as the “stalking horse,” has the inside track.

Under procedures proposed by Gottschalks, a company would have to pay the liquidators a breakup fee of up to $995,000 if it outbids them. If this buyer is a rival liquidator, it would have to pay an additional premium of $200,000 to Gottschalks.

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Investors were told to look to to the housing market for signals that the market has bottomed. If that thesis is correct, then perhaps we’re already there. (Clarification Barry Ritholz points out the media has largely misinterpreted the data. Sales were up from January to February, but still down 41 percent year over year). On the flip side, Marcus & Millichap says retail real estate may not recover until 2012. And it probably didn’t help that the lead story in the Wall Street Journal talked of commercial property facing a crisis.

Investors will know an economic recovery is under way when the housing market finds price stability and foreclosures moderate. That’s the majority view of a regional real estate investment group.

“During the housing boom, consumer spending grew faster than income because their wealth was fueled by home equity,” said Sam Chandan, president and chief economist of New York-based Real Estate Economics LLC. “Households lost $5 trillion of wealth in the fourth quarter and about $2 trillion in the third. It’s unprecedented.”

Chandan’s remarks came during a meeting this week of the Southeast chapter of the Real Estate Investment Advisory Council (REIAC), where roughly 165 members voted electronically on current economic topics, offering an instant snapshot of the developers’ and investors’ concerns. Kieran Quinn, vice chairman of Bethesda, Md.-based Walker & Dunlop and outgoing chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association, served as moderator.

Saying its lenders were unable to extend terms on a loan set to mature this week, supermarket chain Bi-Lo LLC here filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. The filing comes only weeks after a former sister chain, Bruno’s Supermarkets, filed its own Chapter 11 petition. Both chains are owned by Lone Star Holdings, a Dallas-based private equity firm, which acquired them together from Ahold in 2005.

Bi-Lo named a new chief executive officer, Michael Byars, last month. Bi-Lo operates 215 supermarkets in the Southern U.S.

Link.

Bankruptcies and Liquidations:

• Jan. 7, Goody’s liquidates, closing 287 stores


• Jan. 8, Against All Odds files for bankruptcy protection, operates 64 stores overall, plans to close West Coast stores


• Jan. 13, Shane Co. files for bankruptcy, operates 23 stores


• Jan. 14, Gottschalks files for bankruptcy, operates 58 stores


• Jan. 16, Circuit City to Liquidate, closing 567 stores


• Feb. 6, Fortunoff, operates 20 stores


• Feb. 6, Bruno’s, operates 66 stores


• Feb. 12, S&K Famous Brands, operates 136 stores; Update: Feb. 19, plans to close 30.


• Feb. 17, Innovation Luggage, operates 10 stores


• Feb. 23, Ritz Camera, operates about 1,000 stores
  
• March 6, Joe’s Sports & Outdoor, operates 30 stores


• March 25, Bi-Lo, operates 215 stores
  

Potential Bankruptcies & Liquidation Impact: 884 confirmed closures out of about 2,476 stores

Announced Closings

• Jan. 8, New York & Co., 50 stores


• Jan. 8, Macy’s, 11 stores


• Jan. 9, Supervalu, 50 stores


• Jan. 13, Cost Plus, 26 stores


• Jan. 20, Yankee Candle, 28 Illuminations stores


• Jan. 21, Filene’s Basement, 11 stores


• Jan. 22, Phillips-Van Heusen, 175 stores
  
• Jan 22, Brown Shoe, up to 35 Famous Footwear stores
  
• Jan. 26, Home Depot, 48 stores
  
• Jan. 29, Starbucks, 200 U.S. Stores (plus 100 international)


• Jan. 29, Chico’s, up to 25 stores
  
• Feb. 9, Talbots, 20 stores
  
• Feb. 24, Jimmy’Z, 11 stores


• Feb. 24, Z. Gallerie, 25 stores


• Feb. 25, Zale Corp., 115 stores


• Feb. 26, Gap, 50 net closings


• Feb. 27, Sears, 44 stores


• March 3, Virgin Megastores, 6 stores


• March 6, Ann Taylor, 37 stores in 2009, 163 total by end of 2010


• March 18, Drug Fair, 11 stores


• March 23, Pier 1, 80 stores
  

Total Closings: up to 1,058 U.S. stores

Potential Impact of All Announcements to Date: 1,942 closures out of up to 3,534 potentially affected U.S. stores

Pier 1 had said last month it was looking to reduce store rents in talks with landlords and that it might execute early termination agreements for up to 125 underperforming stores if negotiations were unsuccessful.

On Friday, Pier 1 said initial agreements had been reached to end leases on 14 stores, and added it decided to close two additional stores for which rental reduction or termination accords had not materialized.

As a result of the real estate negotiations, the company has achieved rental savings of at least $5 million for the fiscal year ending in 2010 and expects it will close no more than 80 locations, it added.

Link.

Bankruptcies and Liquidations:

• Jan. 7, Goody’s liquidates, closing 287 stores


• Jan. 8, Against All Odds files for bankruptcy protection, operates 64 stores overall, plans to close West Coast stores


• Jan. 13, Shane Co. files for bankruptcy, operates 23 stores


• Jan. 14, Gottschalks files for bankruptcy, operates 58 stores


• Jan. 16, Circuit City to Liquidate, closing 567 stores


• Feb. 6, Fortunoff, operates 20 stores


• Feb. 6, Bruno’s, operates 66 stores


• Feb. 12, S&K Famous Brands, operates 136 stores; Update: Feb. 19, plans to close 30.


• Feb. 17, Innovation Luggage, operates 10 stores


• Feb. 23, Ritz Camera, operates about 1,000 stores
  
• March 6, Joe’s Sports & Outdoor, operates 30 stores

Potential Bankruptcies & Liquidation Impact: 884 confirmed closures out of about 2,261 stores

Announced Closings

• Jan. 8, New York & Co., 50 stores


• Jan. 8, Macy’s, 11 stores


• Jan. 9, Supervalu, 50 stores


• Jan. 13, Cost Plus, 26 stores


• Jan. 20, Yankee Candle, 28 Illuminations stores


• Jan. 21, Filene’s Basement, 11 stores


• Jan. 22, Phillips-Van Heusen, 175 stores
  
• Jan 22, Brown Shoe, up to 35 Famous Footwear stores
  
• Jan. 26, Home Depot, 48 stores
  
• Jan. 29, Starbucks, 200 U.S. Stores (plus 100 international)


• Jan. 29, Chico’s, up to 25 stores
  
• Feb. 9, Talbots, 20 stores
  
• Feb. 24, Jimmy’Z, 11 stores


• Feb. 24, Z. Gallerie, 25 stores


• Feb. 25, Zale Corp., 115 stores


• Feb. 26, Gap, 50 net closings


• Feb. 27, Sears, 44 stores


• March 3, Virgin Megastores, 6 stores


• March 6, Ann Taylor, 37 stores in 2009, 163 total by end of 2010


• March 18, Drug Fair, 11 stores

Total Closings: up to 978 U.S. stores

Potential Impact of All Announcements to Date: 1,862 closures out of up to 3,239 potentially affected U.S. stores