Coldwater Creek is back up and running.
The catalog retailer targeting Gen X women shut down operations in July after six years of ownership under Sycamore Partners. Five weeks later, Newtimes Group paid $12.2 million at auction to acquire some of Coldwater’s assets, including inventory, intellectual property, fitting forms and patterns, catalog, fabric, and pattern libraries.
At the time of the acquisition, the understanding was that Newtimes would relaunch the women’s wear company’s website before rolling out a new catalog ahead of the new year. Because the site wasn’t up right away, it wasn’t clear what the timeline would be, particularly given the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on retail supply chains.
That changed on Thursday when former Coldwater customers began receiving e-mails from the company stating, “We’re back. Celebrate the holidays with us.” The email message, trumpeting the site’s new home page, also dangles a discount and subject line touting “Very Merry Savings: 25% Off Today’s Full Priced Styles.”
A quick perusal of the sites shows product that seems in line with past offerings, and at the same price points, consistent with Newtimes’ ownership of Coldwater’s longtime assets. However, selections across misses, petites and women’s sizing remain limited as the site continues to ramp up.
Knit tops ranged in pricing from $14.95 to $34.95, while most sweaters are priced between $49.95 to $89.95. The outerwear selection indicates that Coldwater might be clearing though older pre-shutdown merchandise while also hawking new products.
Founded in 1984 as a catalog firm, Coldwater Creek grew to a chain of 334 retail locations, 31 outlets and seven day spas when it filed its first bankruptcy petition. That’s how Sycamore snapped up the brand, with the intention of operating it as an online e-tailer. Coldwater this year never reopened its 13 stores after coronavirus shutdowns.