Intermix Continues to Shutter Stores
The Intermix saga continues.
The multibrand retailer, which is now owned by private equity firm Regent LLP, has closed 17 of its stores, with five still operating.
More from WWD
Sources claim Regent’s plan for Intermix is to file Chapter 11, renegotiate the leases, reopen some of the stores, then start up again immediately as a new company.
Officials at Regent LP in Beverly Hills didn’t return several phone calls seeking comment. The Intermix office in New York appears to have closed, and sources said only one buyer is left.
“We are advising our clients to sit back and wait until there’s a resolution,” said Gary Wassner, chief executive officer of Hilldun Corp., which factors many of the brands that sell Intermix. He said there are five stores open. He has also told his clients not to ship the retailer. He said there’s a lot of uncertainty in the market until Regent reveals its plans.
Last month, Wassner told WWD that he had paid all of his clients and began approving new orders for Intermix, as reported.
According to employees at the stores, they were closed suddenly, and there was no warning or severance.
One former store employee posted on her Instagram account, “RIP INTERMIX…20+ stores…100+ employees laid off with zero notice on Sunday, Monday corporate was fired and Tuesday they officially changed there [sic] name to Intermix Global…no severance, no insurance, no payouts, pre-meditated, no loyalty…”
Calls to stores in places such as Boca Raton, Florida, and Greenwich, Connecticut, had an answering machine that picked up, saying, “Sorry you cannot leave a message” for that number. Nobody answered the phone at Intermix in SoHo.
The five stores remaining open are 1003 Madison Avenue in New York; Palm Beach, Florida; Brickell City Centre in Miami; Scottsdale, Arizona, and Beverly Hills.
It was learned that some employees were told that they would be rehired under the new Intermix company.
Jeff Rudes, CEO of L’Agence, said, “We are shipping and they just received a beautiful spring assortment which is on the floor and performing extremely well. Our business with them is very good.”
He said he hadn’t heard about store closures, adding, “I do know that they are getting lean and prepared for a strong future.” He said his orders were credit approved by his factors.
As reported, Intermix was sold to Regent LP in November 2022. Regent acquired the entire Intermix business from Altamont Capital Partners, including all assets, stores and e-commerce. While Intermix had a national footprint of 28 boutiques, over the last few months it became evident that the retailer was faced with large overhead and was looking to reduce the number of stores. In fact, the Intermix in Manhasset, New York, has already closed and will reopen in April as a Club Monaco, another Regent investment. The stores in Southampton and East Hampton, New York, were shuttered several months ago and at the time were said to be reopening for the summer season.
The question still hanging over some vendors’ heads is whether or not they will get paid. Over the past few months Intermix had been selectively paying vendors and asking them to take reduced payments. They have been approaching every brand and asking them to make a deal: Take a reduced payment now, and the retailer would buy from the brand next season. Some brands have placed them on collection. Some brands have walked away, and others are hanging in there.
“I will work with them until I get my money back. I’m not walking away,” said one vendor.
Another source said the minute that Divya Mathur, chief merchant of Intermix, left, “there was crickets, silence.” She said it was a shame because the stores resonate with women who live both a casual life and a formal one and wanted one-stop shopping.
Among the brands carried at Intermix are Veronica Beard, A.L.C., L’Agence, Ronny Kobo, Altuzarra, Retrofête, Farm Rio, LaQuan Smith, Frame, AGoldE, Jonathan Simkhai, Ulla Johnson and Zimmermann, among others.
Best of WWD
