Express

Express was launched in 1980 by Les Wexner's Limited Brands as "Limited Express" at Chicago's Water Tower Place, dropped the Limited prefix in 1982, was spun off to Golden Gate Capital in 2007, IPO'd on the NYSE in May 2010, and limped through more than a decade of declining mall traffic before filing for Chapter 11 on April 22, 2024 (with $1.3 billion in assets and $1.2 billion in debt). In June 2024 the bankruptcy court approved the sale of substantially all assets to Phoenix Retail LLC, a joint venture of WHP Global, Simon Property Group, Brookfield Properties, and Centennial, for approximately $174 million ($136 million cash plus $38 million in assumed liabilities). Phoenix closed 95 Express stores and all UpWest doors on entry, and named Greg Scott CEO of Express and Bonobos in late 2024. WHP also operates Bonobos under the same Phoenix vehicle.

Mall landlords (Simon and Brookfield) plus a brand licensing firm (WHP) buying the IP and operations of a bankrupt apparel retailer is a textbook reputation laundering setup. The same CEO now runs both Express and Bonobos under Phoenix, and the New York design team (the people who actually built product) was eliminated during bankruptcy.