Late last week, business casual clothing retailer Eddie Bauer has officially filed for bankruptcy and a private equity firm immediately stepped in to acquire this once-retail giant for a staggering $202 million.
CCMP Capital Advisors will be purchasing the assets of the company for the aforementioned amount. This will proceed subject to the approval of the court.
Eddie Bauer Holdings voluntarily applied for bankruptcy protection last week. This was done under US Bankruptcy Code Chapter 11. The sale to CCMP is expected to officially close within two months. However, there’s a possibility that the court could award the sale to another bidder.
According to reports, Eddie Bauer will still continue with its business despite this development. The retailer asked for the court’s permission to continue paying its employees and suppliers. CCMP also expressed its plans to continue keeping most of the clothing retailer’s stores open. Most of the employees will be retained as well.
Eddie Bauer President and CEO Neil Fiske said that despite the “bad balance sheet,” the company is still a “great band.” He’s optimistic that once the global economy recovers, everything will go smoothly and that employees will be protected from layoffs.
These days, keeping your job is essential now that the global financial crisis is as clear as day and simple things you do for work could be costly and risky, especially when it comes to wearing work clothes. Corporate-image experts say that despite the nearing summer season, it does not mean that employees should now start casual business attire when going to work.
Casual business attire could mean wearing formal upper attire but with an informal lower half. Some could go as far as wearing flip flops when going to work for reasons that “it is summertime.”
Experts said that it is a common fact that the weather gets hotter during this time of the year but employees should never forget that they are still inside a business environment. Resorting to casual business attire is not that answer in combating weather. In fact, it could lead to negative evaluation reports about your conduct.
However, it always pays to ask a personnel or officer from the human resources department to determine what types of casual business attire is acceptable in the company. They could come up with standards in order for employees to be guided.
The global economic crisis has resulted to massive layoffs everywhere. However, this doesn’t mean that there’s no more hope in finding a new job for retrenched workers and even new graduates, thanks to the generous group of individuals.
In Morgantown, West Virginia the Career Closet officially opened to provide assistance to people in terms of dressing up for a job interview without spending a lot of money.
According to reports, the Career Closet has accessories and gowns for special occasions such as proms and weddings. What’s more, there’s also professional clothing which could be availed by aspiring employees.
Christian Help’s Career Closet Director Sherry Smith said that the establishment has something for everyone. The great thing about this is that people can get these clothes at literally no cost.
Smith added that aside from providing the professional clothing needs of jobseekers, their staff also assists them in making resumes, application letters and even practice interviews.
The Career Closet staff is asking for donations of maternity clothes, plus-size dresses and other professional clothing in order to help those who are in need. The said campaign is open every weekend for this month.
United Kingdom’s largest men and women’s business clothing retailer Marks & Spencer Group Plc has reportedly slashed down the prices of its merchandise in its outlets at Ireland to keep up with the tough financial crisis and fluctuations of the local currency.
The price cuts can get as high as 10 percent. The company’s furniture and other home ware products could give a discount of up to 12 percent.
These developments were announced by the London headquarters of the company earlier this week.
According to reports, the increase of the euro’s value against the pound resulted to influx of visitors in Ireland to do the shopping. Consumers are availing of the fluctuation of the currency by buying the latest line of men and women’s business clothing and other merchandise.
The company’s rivals have already resorted to price cuts just recently with the same reasons.
There are about twenty Marks & Spencer stores in Ireland. The price reductions are scheduled to take place later this week. According to company official Jonathan Smith, this is the “right thing” for the company to do in line with the current financial climate.
In an effort to look good, some women tend to accessorize too much in their business clothes to the point that they’ve just become overdressed for work. This is a common mistake that’s usually committed in everyday life.
In fact, this oversight is usually noticed during the summer wherein women try to look beyond the ordinary and stray away from the stricter dress codes. However, it still pays to follow the latter.
In order to avoid bewildered looks from your coworkers, you should be aware with what you wear and as much as possible keep it balanced. Here are some tips you could take into consideration:
- Neat and simple business clothes are still the best choice. No need to wear dresses that have sophisticated designs or very puffy skirts.
- Business clothes should not be very bright. Just choose an appropriately colored dress which you can pair up with a couple of accessories. Accessories should not be big or screaming for attention.
- Avoid a cleavage. Wear underwear that fits well. If you’re not sure: do a bra fitting. A good fitted bra will make you more confident in your work.
- Avoid the usual dark or grey colored business clothes. It’s all about balancing. Don’t wear business clothes that are too long or too short because it is not that comfortable and it will show in your overall look.
A group of academics at an Irish university are scheduled to develop a line of smart clothes that will surely help the elderly with their daily activities through the aid of technology.
According to reports, the researchers from the University of Ulster are now looking into making hi-tech smart clothing where they could place electronic devices into the clothing that will provide valuable information such as the heart rate and timetables when the bus will arrive and many more. The project is set to last for three years.
The New Dynamics of Ageing Program is said to be funding the research and the team will get valuable assistance from a number of universities based within United Kingdom.
The Computer Science Research Institute in the University of Ulster is currently working on “assistive technologies for independent living and healthcare monitoring.”
Professor Bryan Scotney said that intelligent data analysis will take place once the technology is finished. The user-friendly smart clothing will feel as comfortable as the ordinary ones.
One of the teams helping this undertaking is the Smart Clothes and Wearable Technology group at the University of Wales.
