in Jewish News
Jewish Owned Century 21 Department Store Latest COVID-19 Casualty
Century 21, a famous department store with multiple locations concentrated in the northeast, is the latest business casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The brand, founded in the ’60s by the Gindis, a Syrian Sephardic Jewish family, found great success by catering to bargain hunters seeking designer fashions at discounted prices.
The first location was on 86th street in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn but expanded its footprint to include a flagship location in the financial district across from what was then the Twin Towers. The site was badly damaged in the Septemeber 11th attack but successfully reopened a few months afterward. In recent years, the department store moved beyond its founding state’s border to include NJ, Philly, and Florida locations.
Fast forward to the present, and Century 21 joins the growing list of businesses that cannot navigate through the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
With NYC’s lockdown turning the once-bustling financial district that teemed with shoppers from the surrounding skyscrapers into a practical ghost town, the flagship got hit hard. It is not clear how the other locations were performing compared to their historical benchmarks. Still, they too likely suffered considerable losses as there has been a significant decrease in the need for fashion and business attire in the new work from home reality. Century21 specialized in offering these kinds of styles, and with the sudden change, it is likely much of their existing inventory took considerable value haircuts.
Further, the company claimed that monies due under the business interruption insurance, amounting to more than $175 million, went unpaid by the insurer for reasons that are currently unclear. Perhaps like so many contract disputes that came about because of the pandemic, force majeure clauses gave parties a way to act in a manner that would otherwise be deemed a breach.
“We now have no viable alternative but to begin the closure of our beloved family business because our insurers, to whom we have paid significant premiums every year for protection against unforeseen circumstances like we are experiencing today, have turned their backs on us at this most critical time.”
Raymond Gindi – Century 21 Co-CEO
According to bankruptcy experts, the company does not have insurmountable liabilities, which would make restructuring possible. The fact that the company chose to file for bankruptcy speaks volumes about the belief that NYC is indeed in for a very challenging number of years and that the future outlook is bleak.
