Across the year 2020, 7 consumer brand shutdown and distress events are logged here, each one dated, and 7 of them link to their source. Apparel is the largest category at 57.1% of the total. Distress entries make up 57.1% and shutdown entries make up 42.9%. Totals reflect how much was found.
- Every entry is listed below by month, with its source linked.
- The yearly total measures how much was found for 2020.
How to read
these counts.
Read each yearly figure on this page as events logged: the consumer brand shutdown and distress events that have been found and dated for that year. Sourcing got much better over 2020 to 2026, so a larger total in a later year mostly reflects how much more was found. The page never sets one year's total against another's for that reason.
There is no outside census of consumer brand shutdown and distress events to measure coverage against, so the size of that effect is unmeasured here. On the acquisition side, where outside counts do exist, the share of R.L. Hulett's pet count held in these ledgers runs from 1% in 2025 to 6% in 2023.
Several kinds of entry are listed here, and the type column names each one. A shutdown is a brand that stopped trading. Distress covers bankruptcy filings and assignments for the benefit of creditors. A distressed sale is a brand bought out of distress, often still trading under its new owner, so it also appears on the exits tracker. A curated listing is a brand placed here by editorial judgment, such as a rescue financing read as a distress signal.
What holds up across years is the mix inside each year: which categories, what sizes, and who was involved. A month with no table means nothing was found for that month. Each of the 7 is logged once.
Nothing is logged for January, March, April, May, September, October, November 2020. That is a gap in what was found.
Everything logged in
2020, by month.
The monthly tables below list all 7 events logged for 2020.
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Thomas PinkDec 14, 2020 · The Pink shirtmaker went out of business, with LVMH said to be taking offers for the brand. | Apparel | Shutdown | wwd.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Lucky BrandAug 12, 2020 · ABG and Simon completed the purchase of Lucky Brand Dungarees out of Chapter 11; the brand filed July 3, 2020. | Apparel | Distress | SPARC Group (Authentic Brands and Simon Property Group) | wwd.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Brooks BrothersJul 24, 2020 · ABG and Simon made a $305 million stalking-horse bid to buy Brooks Brothers as a going concern out of Chapter 11, after the brand filed July 8, 2020. | Apparel | Distress | SPARC Group (Authentic Brands and Simon Property Group) | wwd.com |
ClarisonicJul 16, 2020 · L'Oreal is shutting down beauty device brand Clarisonic on September 30, 2020, saying it distracted from the core business. | Beauty | Shutdown | beautyindependent.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Borden DairyJun 16, 2020 · KKR and Capitol Peak (led by a former Dean Foods CEO) won the bankruptcy auction for Borden about five months after its Chapter 11 filing; KKR had owned Borden in the 1990s. | Food & bev | Distress | KKR and Capitol Peak Partners | fooddive.com |
| Brand | Category | What happened | Asset buyer | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Super HeroicFeb 28, 2020 · The Foot Locker-backed DTC children's footwear startup shut down. | Apparel | Shutdown | modernretail.co | |
High Ridge Brands (Zest, LA Looks, VO5, Rave, White Rain, Dr. Fresh)Feb 25, 2020 · Tengram agreed to acquire High Ridge Brands out of bankruptcy, subject to bankruptcy court approval; former CEO James Daniels returning. | Beauty | Distress | Tengram Capital Partners | wwd.com |
Most of these brands did not fail at the top line. They ran out of margin, then out of cash. If any of that is starting to rhyme with your own numbers, the earlier we look, the more options you still have.
What 2020 was made of,
by category.
7 events logged in 2020, split by category. The counts below add up to that total.
| Category | Total items logged | Share of ledger | With a disclosed amount | Largest disclosed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Apparel | 4 | 57.1% | 1 | $305M |
Beauty | 2 | 28.6% | 0 | Not disclosed |
Food & bev | 1 | 14.3% | 0 | Not disclosed |
Closures, and brands
that kept trading.
| Type | Events logged | Share |
|---|---|---|
Distress | 4 | 57.1% |
Shutdown | 3 | 42.9% |
The other years,
and the full ledger.
Is your brand healthy, or just still moving?
I've run buy-side diligence on distressed consumer brands and the operator turnaround on brands worth saving. If you want an honest read on your margin, your payback, and the single points of failure a lender would find, I can give you the buy-side version before the market runs it on you. The form takes two minutes.
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