Pink, blue, and yellow "Everything on sale" and "Nothing held back" signs plastered on the windows of the Tweeter shop on Boylston Street signal the end of the struggling electronics chain that is preparing to close in the next four to six weeks, according to store employees.

Hudson Capital Partners and Tiger Capital Group are planning to liquidate the merchandise at the company's 94 stores. Already, Tweeter's distribution centers and headquarters in Canton are shutting down. Tweeter, which opened its first shop next to Boston University in 1972, will stop its high-end installation services on Nov. 14, said employees at six Massachusetts shops who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on behalf of the company.

The planned liquidation of Tweeter comes just over a year after the company filed for bankruptcy protection with about $165 million in debt. Tweeter's assets were purchased by the New York investment firm Schultze Asset Management in July 2007 for $38 million and the firm continued to run the chain. But deteriorating economic conditions and stiffening competition undermined attempts to save the electronics retailer, analysts say. According to an Oct. 20 filing in US Bankruptcy Court, Tweeter listed about $40 million in losses.

"They underestimated the difficulty of turning around the business, given the market dynamics," said Andy Hargreaves, a consumer electronics analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, a technology investment firm in Portland, Ore.

Schultze Asset Management declined to discuss the matter. Hudson Capital Partners in Newton confirmed the liquidation. Tiger Capital Group did not return calls seeking comment.

The final unraveling of Tweeter comes as the electronics industry continues to founder, with Circuit City revealing plans yesterday to close 155 stores (none in Massachusetts) and cut 17 percent of its domestic workforce. Electronics retailers have confronted huge price drops and a slowdown in the flat-panel television business that had helped the industry surge in recent years. Analysts say business is down at least 15 percent this year for some high-end electronics merchants.

It's a dramatic fall for Tweeter, which had cultivated a reputation in the early years as a mecca for people seeking high-end stereo equipment, from direct-drive turntables to pre-amps to acoustic suspension speakers. Over the past three decades, Tweeter became the go-to retailer for early electronics adopters and those seeking custom, upscale home entertainment systems, earning numerous awards along the way. At one point, Tweeter had more than 150 stores and 2,400 employees in at least 18 states, as well as high-profile naming rights, such as the former Tweeter Center in Mansfield (now renamed Comcast Center).

But Tweeter's position was weakened as mass merchants like Best Buy and Circuit City focused on installation and customized home entertainment products, and discounters such as Wal-Mart began carrying high-end electronics. In recent years, Tweeter attempted to expand its playground-store concept, which allows potential buyers to see how products work in situations that simulate their homes.

But the strategy was insufficient, analysts say.

Since spring 2007, Tweeter has shuttered more than a third of its stores, leaving it with just over 90 shops, mainly on the East Coast. The chain cut most of its mass marketing efforts this summer in a move to save money. Last month, Tweeter chief executive George Granoff was replaced with an outside restructuring officer.

Already, the clearance sales are underway. A 46-inch, flat-panel LCD television featured in the Boylston Street shop's window was slashed from $2,899 to $1,688. Inside, however, most of the products were discounted 10 percent, including luxury stereos, GPS navigating systems, and other flat-panel televisions. Analysts expect sales to accelerate when the outside liquidators take control.

The deals were not big enough to lure Vanessa Spilke, a retired Boston resident, inside the store. As she stopped in front of Tweeter's window on Boylston Street, Spilke explained that she used to shop at Tweeter stores but now does most of her electronics buying online. And these days, she's doing very little shopping at all.

"The discounts would have to be truly exceptional for us to think it was worth it to buy anything in these tough economic times," Spilke said. "If it's not food or clothing, we're not buying anything - period."

Globe correspondent Erich Schwartzel contributed to this story.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/11/04/tweeter_to_shutter_remaining_stores/

Shoe Pavilion Inc., the West Coast shoe retailer, won an emergency bankruptcy court order allowing it to hire liquidators to close all its stores after going-out- of-business sales.

The discount retailer entered bankruptcy in July after five straight quarterly losses and will close its last 64 stores, it said in a statement. Ten to 12 weeks of sales will be run by a joint venture group of Great American Group LLC, SB Capital Group LLC, Tiger Capital Group LLC and Hudson Capital Partners.

``Consumers will benefit from the extreme discounts on every item in the stores until all the merchandise is sold,'' Danny Kane, managing member of Tiger Capital Group, said in a statement.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Maureen Tighe approved the liquidation order Oct. 17. Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC was outbid for the task.

Shoe Pavilion expects the sales to bring in $36.3 million, the company said in court papers. Under a sharing agreement with the liquidators, it is to receive 27.7 percent of the retail price of the liquidated merchandise and 75 percent of the proceeds from sales of furniture, fixtures and equipment.

Leaseholders at some of Shoe Pavilion's locations objected to the liquidation, saying the company was in default under its leases.

Shoe Pavilion, based in Sherman Oaks, California, joined retailers such as Steve & Barry's LLC, Levitz Furniture Inc. and Sharper Image Corp. in seeking bankruptcy protection as U.S. consumers struggle with falling home values and rising energy costs.

Shoe Pavilion was unchanged at 2 cents in Nasdaq Stock Market trading yesterday.

The case is Shoe Pavilion Inc., 08-14939, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California (Woodland Hills)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601205&sid=aQ6XzQG.svn0

And there is plenty of competition for a close-out Christmas. Linens 'n Things Inc. began a liquidation sale Friday, and Shoe Pavilion Inc. starts one this weekend, according to firms that said they were hired to liquidate the stores.

Already gone are the novelty retailer Sharper Image Corp., Wickes Furniture and Levitz Furniture, and retail experts say more closings loom.

"This is unprecedented, really, the number of stores that are going to be closing," said Daniel Kane, principal of Tiger Capital Group, one of several firms hired to liquidate Linens 'n Things and Shoe Pavilion. "There's going to be a tremendous amount of bargains out there."

As the economy's decline continues to batter Main Street, shopping centers and strip malls across the nation are becoming home to empty storefronts among the holiday decorations. On Wednesday, the government announced that retail sales had slumped the most in three years.

What are seen as frightening developments for retailers could prove a blessing for shoppers as the gift-giving season approaches. Bargains galore duel with a sense of loss for many old favorite stores.

Some shoppers Friday were looking for deals at the Mervyns in the Glendale Galleria, where sale signs blanketed the racks and tables.

Joann Mendez said she was taken aback by all the discounts, such as half price for KitchenAid spatulas, spoons and other utensils or the 75% off Pierre Cardin men's shirts.

The 34-year-old Sun Valley resident said it was a wonder Mervyns hadn't closed earlier.

"I'm not surprised, considering how the economy is," Mendez said. "But it's too bad, since the store's been around so long."

She then looked at the purse and blouse she had picked up and pondered some liquidation calculus: Should she come back another day when the prices might drop further? Or would the item be gone for good?

Meanwhile, sale signs were plastered across a Linens 'n Things in Burbank. They caught the attention of Julie Alcantar from across the street. Not long after, she exited the store with two cartloads of purchases totaling $800.

"This was a bonus, a pleasant surprise," said Alcantar, 47, of Sun Valley.

The shuttering of Mervyns represents another blow to Southern California's long-declining department-store scene.

"The chain's been going downhill for several years," said Rita Abraham, 36, a shopper at the Glendale store. "Their merchandise just wasn't interesting anymore -- the quality was too cheap. They started dropping way before the economy tanked."

In an environment awash with competitors such as Ross Dress for Less and Kohl's, Mervyns struggled to build an identity, experts said.

First opened in 1949 in San Lorenzo, Calif., by Mervin Morris, the chain was geared toward average, working- to middle-class shoppers.

"We were targeting Joe the Plumber," Morris, 88, said Friday. "We said every customer who came to JCPenney, Sears or Montgomery Ward could be a Mervyns customer. Needless to say, this is a most unpleasant day."

Parent Mervyn's LLC is owned by Sun Capital Partners Inc., an investment firm based in Florida. Sun Capital led a group of investors that bought the retailer from Target Corp. in 2004 for $1.2 billion. Executives at Mervyn's were not available for comment.

As news trickled out Friday of the fire sale, many employees worried about their fates.

Laura Saavedra, a sales associate at a Burbank Mervyns, said she learned of the liquidation through her assistant manager. She said liquidators were taking over the store Nov. 1 and that everyone would be out of a job by Jan. 1.

"We all knew we were going through Chapter 11, but this was a shock," said Saavedra, 21, the mother of two young girls. "We're all very depressed. I feel like a deep part of me was taken away."

Not far from Saavedra's store are a Linens 'n Things and a Shoe Pavilion.

An employee outside Linens 'n Things waved a sign that read "Going out of business." At Shoe Pavilion, small yellow placards touting shoes for $9.99 lined the aisles.

According to its most recent quarterly report released in March, Shoe Pavilion has 113 stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas and New Mexico. It has 44 stores in California. Shoe Pavilion executives could not be reached for comment.

Linens 'n Things was down to 371 locations, 24 in California, according to its website.

To survive, stores will have to appeal to shoppers with deeper discounts on quality brands, said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at Cal State Channel Islands and vice chairman of clothing chain Forever 21 Inc., which is interested in acquiring Mervyns locations.

"People are focused right now on value," he said.

Sohn said Mervyns, which has 129 stores in California, was overstretched.

"During good economic times we overexpanded," he said. "Retailers expanded, not only based on existing demand, but also on anticipated demand. . . . But we've turned a corner now. Quite simply, I think consumers don't have the buying power anymore, and they're scared."

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/18/business/fi-mervyns18?pg=2