The owner of a renovated theater along South Broadway is back on good terms with its lender.
Sonquist LLC, which owns the Jewel Theater at 1912 S. Broadway in Denver, exited bankruptcy Feb. 6.
The entity managed by real estate attorney Doug Norberg and business partner Paul Yaft filed for Chapter 11 on Jan. 23 to prevent the building’s lender, MidWestOne Bank, from foreclosing.
MidWestOne, which took over the building’s $2.3 million loan when it acquired Bank of Denver in 2024, withdrew its foreclosure effort Feb. 3, records show.
“All issues and litigation have been fully resolved,” Norberg and Yaft said in a statement. “On the Jewel, we were navigating occupancy-related delays with the City that required additional time and capital and we took the steps we needed to preserve the property and create runway.”
Norberg previously said the pair skipped mortgage payments so they’d have cash to install a sprinkler system the city mandated.
The Jewel Theater was built as a cinema in 1926. By the 1970s, it was showing pornographic films. In the 1990s, a climbing gym moved in and operated for 25 years before closing in early 2018. Norberg and Yates bought the building for $1.6 million that December and sought to renovate it to its former glory.
“Interest in the property has been strong, and we are actively entertaining lease proposals from operators who recognize its uniqueness, visibility and viability,” the pair said.
Saks Global said last week it had secured roughly $1.75 billion to help finance the company toward hoped-for profitability. The company said it would honor all customer loyalty programs, compensate vendors and pay employees while seeking approval for its plan to pay off outstanding liabilities, which range from $1 billion to $10 billion, according to court documents.
While the retailer’s stores remain open for now, the bankruptcy and restructuring could likely impact the assortment of designer brands customers find online or in their local Neiman Marcus or Saks, according to industry experts.
Many brands stopped shipping their goods weeks ago as Saks Global’s financial distress became more evident and bankruptcy appeared inevitable, experts said. A visit to Saks Fifth Avenue’s flagship store in Manhattan last week revealed noticeable merchandise gaps, including handbags and shoes spread out along shelves.
Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail, a research firm, noted it’s critical for Saks to have a good assortment including trendy items from small niche brands.
“If Saks or Neiman Marcus are not offering that, those customers will find somewhere else to shop,” he said.
The bankruptcy occurred a little over a year after the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue agreed to buy the Neiman Marcus Group, its upscale rival, for $2.65 billion. Amazon took a minority stake in the deal, which saddled the new holding company with significant debt at a time of rising competition and a slowdown in luxury spending.
Here’s a look at some ripple effects from the bankruptcy filing, including the retailers who potentially could stand to benefit:
Major brands like Chanel and Kering — the parent of Gucci and Saint Laurent, among others— top the list of creditors owed the most money. But bankruptcy lawyers and industry executives expect that luxury conglomerates will be fine.
The big worry: the small and medium-size brands that have already been squeezed financially by Saks. Some could shutter their businesses if bills are left unpaid.
“This is very painful,” said Joseph Sarachek, a lawyer who represents roughly 30 brands owed money by Saks. ”A lot of these guys are going to go out of business.”
Sarachek declined to name his clients for fear of retribution by Saks but said that they’re owed anywhere from $600,000 to $10 million. He said his clients don’t operate their own stores, and for some, Saks had been their only big retail account.
He said he has recommended to his clients not to ship to Saks unless they get more clarity on payment terms.
Even before the merger with Neiman Marcus, suppliers were grappling with skipped payments from Saks, creating anger and mistrust.
Over the past year, that relationship only worsened, with management changing the payment terms for brands that supplied the stores, according to Gary Wassner, CEO of Hildun Corp. which provides credit guarantees to roughly 120 brands that sell to Saks.
For some, Saks Global accounted for 40% to 50% of their business, he said.
Wassner advised his clients not to ship to Saks starting in Dec. 19. He said Wednesday he’s hoping to approve shipping next week once agreeable payment terms are negotiated.
Amazon invested $475 million as part of Saks’ purchase of Neiman Marcus in December 2024, in exchange for selling Saks products on the online behemoth’s website under the “Saks at Amazon” shop.
The partnership was supposed to further Amazon’s goal of attracting more luxury brands on its site.
But, as Amazon argued in a court filing to block the financing plan hours after Saks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, “That equity investment is now presumptively worthless.”
“Saks continuously failed to meet its budgets, burned through hundreds of millions of dollars in less than a year, and ran up additional hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid invoices owed to its retail partners,” the court filing said.
Amazon had argued Saks’ financing plan hurts the retailer, and other creditors, because it loads down Saks with additional debt. It also argued the financing plan could unfairly favor other creditors at the expense of Amazon.
Amazon threatened more “drastic remedies” in the court filing if Saks doesn’t resolve the matter, including the appointment of an examiner or a trustee.
A week ago, Saks Global prevailed in court, securing an initial tranche of $500 million from the broader $1.75 billion financial package.
Amazon declined to comment further.
Saks had already revealed plans back in November to close nine Saks Off 5th stores starting this month. That brings the total of Saks Off 5th locations to 70. There are also 33 Saks stores and 36 Neiman Marcus locations, as well as two Bergdorf Goodman stores.
But shoppers can expect more store closures.
Saks said this week it was evaluating its “operational footprint” to ensure it was well positioned to invest in areas with the best opportunities for growth.
Experts think it will close a bulk of Saks Off 5th stores as well as several Saks and Neiman Marcus stores.
David Tawil, president of ProChain Capital, a cryptocurrency hedge fund and a former bankruptcy lawyer and distressed investor, believes the most vulnerable will be Saks Off 5th locations, which haven’t fared well and have faced stiff competition from the likes of T.J. Maxx.
Among rivals that could benefit are luxury department store chains Nordstrom and Macy’s upscale sister Bloomingdale’s, Saunders said. Other beneficiaries could be luxury brands’ own stores as well as online luxury players like the RealReal, which sells gently used luxury items, he added.
Shoppers are seeing generous discounts at Saks, Neiman Marcus and Saks Off 5th.
Saks’ website shows up to 70% on select designer clothing, while Neiman Marcus is marking down select styles at up to 75% off, according to its website. Saks Off 5th website is promoting up to 85% off items.
Saunders noted the retailer is hoping to generate buzz and sales, but once the court approves a plan for store closures and vendor payments, it will likely scale back the discounts — unless that particular store liquidates.
Still, don’t expect to grab a Chanel or Louis Vuitton handbag at 75%, Tawil said. Many of the major iconic brands have clauses triggered by a bankruptcy filing that limit discounts.
New data shows more Americans are filing for bankruptcy, the latest indication that price pressures and an uneven economy are leaving some households strapped for cash.
Total consumer bankruptcy filings jumped 12% from 478,752 in 2024 to 533,949 in 2025, according to Epiq AACER, a platform that provides U.S. bankruptcy filing data. Epiq, which tracks Chapter 7, Chapter 11 and Chapter 13 filings, relies on data provided through the U.S. Courts’ PACER system, an electronic database that houses federal court records.
The surge in filings comes as American consumers — and businesses — face a slate of economic pressures, ranging from sticky inflation to elevated borrowing costs, experts told CBS News.
John Rao, a senior attorney with the National Consumer Law Center, said Americans typically hold off on filing for bankruptcy as long as they can, meaning the conditions that led them to file for bankruptcy may not necessarily be tied to current economic issues.
“There is often a lag before economic conditions translate to higher bankruptcies,” he said.
Still, he said the rising cost of medical insurance, mounting credit card debt and the restart of student loan repayments are serving as some of the major catalysts for bankruptcies. Inflation has also made it tougher for Americans to cover expenses while paying down their debt, he added.
“There comes a point where the mounting bills, the increasing balances on credit cards, all those things just weigh people down so much,” Rao said.
A December CBS News poll found most Americans are struggling to afford basic living costs in the U.S., including health care, food and housing.
A bankruptcy filing can provide consumers with a financial reset, stopping collection calls and wiping out some or all of their debt. But the relief comes with trade-offs: Bankruptcy can severely damage a credit score, delay the ability to buy a home and make it tougher to qualify for loans in the future.
Commercial filings drift higher
Commercial bankruptcies are also on the rise, with filings up 5% from 2024 to 2025, according to Epiq AACER’s data. In 2025, consumers lost a number of national and regional retailers — including Forever 21 and Joann Fabrics — that failed to stay afloat even after seeking bankruptcy protection.
Chapter 11 bankruptcies, which allow companies to restructure their finances, were up just 1% from 2024 to 2025, driven by higher interest rates in 2023 and 2024 along with inflation, according to Christopher Ward, the co-chair of bankruptcy and restructuring at Polsinelli Law Firm.
Among the most notable recent filings is Saks Global, which filed for Chapter 11 on Wednesday. The parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman said it has secured financing that will allow it to keep stores open as the bankruptcy proceeds.
Pre-pandemic normalization
Experts emphasized that the increase in commercial and consumer bankruptcies represents a return to pre-pandemic norms.
Bankruptcies dipped during COVID as an injection of government funding helped prop up cash-strapped businesses and American households. Forbearance plans also gave some mortgage payers and car owners more financial breathing room, said Michael Hunter, vice president of Epiq AACER.
However, once those temporary relief measures faded, bankruptcy filings drifted higher, with data showing an upward trend since 2022.
“We’re just slowly coming back to pre-COVID levels,” Hunter said. “Is it a huge event? No. Is it a big increase from what we’ve experienced over the past five years? Yes.”
While the overall number of bankruptcies is still below their pre-COVID levels, they could start to accelerate, Rao told CBS News.
“There’s a good chance that filings will even be higher through this year and even into next year,” he said.
Saks Global filed for bankruptcy protection late Tuesday, according to court documents entered in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, throwing the future of the roughly century-old high-end department store chain into doubt. Saks Global is the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman.
Saks also said it had secured a $1.75 billion financing package and that it would keep its stores open as the bankruptcy procedure plays out.
Saks recently missed a debt payment stemming from a 2024 deal by its parent company, Hudson’s Bay Company, to buy rival luxury retailer Neiman Marcus for $2.65 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported in late December, citing people familiar with the matter.
Hudson’s Bay raised $2 billion in debt to complete that deal, while Apollo Global Management affiliates provided an additional $1.5 billion in financing. Amazon also took a minority stake in Saks to facilitate the deal.
Saks also missed a more than $100 million interest payment to bondholders, according to the Journal, which said the retailer has fallen behind on payments to vendors. Some suppliers have responded by withholding shipments, leaving Saks with thinner merchandise offerings.
New York-based Saks launched in 1924, opening its first store in Manhattan, according to a historical account of the company posted on its website. The company expanded quickly between the 1970s and 1990s before it was purchased by Hudson’s Bay in 2013. Saks’s brands include luxury retailer Bergdorf Goodman, which was acquired as part of the deal for Neiman Marcus; retailer Saks Off 5th, and home furnishings seller Horchow.
Saks also announced the naming of former Neiman Marcus chief executive officer Geoffroy van Raemdonck as CEO, effective immediately. He succeeds Richard Baker, who stepped down from his role as Saks executive chairman and CEO on Jan. 13. Saks had announced on Jan. 2 that Baker would succeed CEO Marc Metrick as chief executive.
Brick-and-mortar retailers face ongoing competitive challenges from e-commerce and “fast-fashion” sellers such as H&M and Uniqlo. More than 8,100 stores closed across the U.S. in 2025, up roughly 12% from the previous year, according to retail industry analytics firm Coresight Research.
The past year saw a wave of bankruptcies, with a number of major national brands permanently closing their doors amid uncertain economic growth and ongoing challenges among brick-and-mortar businesses.
More than 8,100 stores closed across the U.S. in 2025, up roughly 12% from 2024, according to retail industry analytics firm Coresight Research. Here are some of the larger retailers that closed their stores this year.
Bargain Hunt
Bargain Hunt, a Nashville-based discount retailer, said in February that it would shutter all of its 92 stores in 10 states after declaring bankruptcy.
Forever21
Fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 wound down its U.S. operations in the face of stiff competition from overseas retailers such as Shein and Temu.
Forever 21 blamed “competition from foreign fast-fashion companies, which have been able to take advantage of the de minimis exemption to undercut our brand on pricing and margin.”
Joann Fabrics
Hudson, Ohio-based Joann Fabrics in February shuttered all of its stores across the U.S. after more than 80 years in the business of selling fabrics and craft supplies. It had declared bankruptcy for a second time in January after experiencing flagging sales.
The retail chain failed to find a buyer that would keep its stores open, forcing it to close its stores amid “significant and lasting challenges in the retail environment,” Joann said in a statement at the time.
Liberated Brands
Liberated Brands said in February that it would close all of its 122 stores. The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based retailer focused on sports and outdoor apparel, with its brands including Beachworks, Becker Surfboards, Billabong, Boardriders, Honolua Surf, Quiksilver, ROXY, RVCA, Spyder and Volcom.
Party City
Party City closed hundreds of company-owned and franchise store outlets this year after declaring bankruptcy in late 2024. A handful of independent franchise stores remain open in the U.S. The party supplies seller also continues to operate as an online retailer after its brand was purchased in early 2025 by retailer Ad Populum.
Rite Aid
After filing for bankruptcy twice in two years, national pharmacy chain Rite Aid in October announced the closure of all of its locations.
Rite Aid, founded in 1962, faced sluggish sales and high costs linked to opioid-related lawsuits. The Justice Department filed a complaint against the company in 2023, accusing it of violating the False Claims Act and the Controlled Substances Act by filling unlawful prescriptions for oxycodone and fentanyl, CBS News reported.
What’s left of its website now directs former customers to request old pharmacy records and helps them find a new provider.
Sonder
Former Airbnb rival Sonder, a short-term rental company, abruptly ceased operating in November, leaving guests stranded and, in some cases, locked out of their accommodations.
Sonder went out of business after Marriott ended its licensing deal with the hospitality company.
“Unfortunately, our integration with Marriott International was substantially delayed due to unexpected challenges in aligning our technology frameworks, resulting in significant, unanticipated integration costs, as well as a sharp decline in revenue arising from Sonder’s participation in Marriott’s Bonvoy reservation system,” interim Sonder CEO Janice Sears said in a statement last month.
The land below the Beverly Hills flagship store of luxury retailer Neiman Marcus has been sold to a New York investor as the owners of the department store chain sell property to pay debts.
Neiman Marcus, which has occupied the 9700 Wilshire Boulevard store since it opened in 1979, will continue to serve customers there as a tenant.
“We made the strategic decision to sell the land beneath the Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills store and enter into a long-term lease with the new owner,” said a spokesperson for Saks Global. “This opportunistic real estate transaction does not impact our day-to-day operations. We remain committed to serving our loyal Beverly Hills customers.”
Saks Global, the parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Saks Off 5th and Bergdorf Goodman, sold the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus site for an undisclosed price.
The new owner of the property on the edge of the city’s prestigious Golden Triangle is Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp., a private real estate investment firm owned by Ben Ashkenazy.
Ashkenazy also owns the former Barneys building on Wilshire Boulevard that is now occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue.
“This strategic acquisition significantly expands Ashkenazy’s presence in Beverly Hills and reinforces the firm’s focus on irreplaceable, best-in-class retail assets located in globally recognized luxury corridors,” the company said in a statement.
Executives at Saks Global have signaled plans to shore up cash by offloading stores, or raising emergency financing.
It could also part with a stake in luxury retail chain Bergdorf Goodman to help pay off debts and reinvest in its core retail business, real estate data provider CoStar said.
The company faces a $100-million debt payment deadline at the end of December and is considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy as a last resort, Bloomberg said. The scramble comes a year after Saks Global purchased Neiman Marcus in a $2.7-billion deal.
The Beverly Hills retail property market is still one of the most robust in the country, said real estate broker Jay Luchs of Newmark. He was not involved in the Neiman Marcus property sale, but has brokered sales and leases of luxury stores in Southern California for more than two decades.
“This is probably the best it’s ever been in Beverly Hills,” he said, with “essentially nothing available” on Rodeo Drive for merchants in search of store space and demand climbing on nearby streets such as Wilshire Boulevard.
Some top-shelf brands are making their stores larger, and luxury brands, including LVMH, Chanel, Hermes and Richemont, are buying their stores instead of renting them, he said.
“They don’t do that unless they’re making a tremendous amount of money, unless they want to be there forever,” Luchs said, “and they realize that Los Angeles and Beverly Hills is a very important market for them.”
NEW YORK — The founder of Tricolor Holdings and other executives of the subprime auto lender were charged Wednesday with what federal authorities say was a massive fraud that led the company into bankruptcy.
Daniel Chu, the company’s founder and chief executive, was charged in an indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court with directing multiple executives since 2018 to defraud investors and lending institutions through multiple fraudulent schemes.
A defense lawyer did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
According to the indictment, the scope of the fraud was revealed in late August when lenders confronted Chu and other executives about Tricolor’s collateral.
Chu and others accused of carrying out the fraud initially tried to conceal it, saying the collateral issues were due to an administrative error, the indictment said.
After those efforts failed, Chu extracted over $6 million from the company, the indictment said.
On Sept. 10, Tricolor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy because it owed over $900 million to the company’s largest lenders, the indictment said.
More information was expected to be released at a morning news conference.
Roomba maker iRobot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday and said the robotic vacuum cleaner would sell itself to a Chinese contract manufacturer.
Shenzhen PICEA Robotics Co., which makes Roombas for Bedford, Massachusetts-based iRobot, will buy the company, according to a news release. iRobot said it doesn’t expect any disruptions to its app, customer service or other functions.
Founded in 1990 by MIT roboticists, iRobot initially designed robots for space exploration, according to the company. iRobot debuted the Roomba in 2002, billing it as the first robotic vacuum for household floors. As sales grew, the company went public in 2005, and its stock price once topped $125.
Shares of iRobot fell $3.12, or 72%, to $1.20 in pre-market trading on Monday.
Amazon agreed to buy iRobot for $1.7 billion in 2022, but the deal fell apart last year after pushback from European Union regulators. At that time, Amazon said it would pay iRobot an agreed-upon termination fee of $94 million, while the vacuum maker planned to restructure to help stabilize the business.
In September, iRobot warned that it was struggling with declining sales as consumers cut spending, warning that it was at risk of either shutting down some operations or filing for bankruptcy.
Under the deal with Picea, iRobot said it will continue to operate “in the ordinary course with no anticipated disruption to its app functionality, customer programs, global partners, supply chain relationships or ongoing product support.”
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process.
IRobot, which became well known for its robotic vacuums, has struggled of late, dealing with increased competition, layoffs and a declining stock price. In 2022 Amazon announced that it had agreed to buy iRobot for about $1.7 billion, but that deal was called off last year. Amazon blamed “undue and disproportionate regulatory hurdles” after the European Union signaled its objection to the transaction.
Amazon said at the time that it would pay iRobot a previously agreed termination fee of $94 million and iRobot said that it would undergo a restructuring to help stabilize the company.
iRobot said Sunday that it is now being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea, or Shenzhen PICEA Robotics Co., Ltd., is iRobot’s primary contract manufacturer.. With facilities in China and Vietnam, Picea has built and sold more than 20 million robotic vacuum cleaners.
“The transaction will strengthen our financial position and will help deliver continuity for our consumers, customers, and partners,” iRobot CEO Gary Cohen said in a statement.
iRobot said it will continue to operate as normal during the Chapter 11 process and doesn’t expect any disruption to its app functionality, customer programs, global partners, supply chain relationships, or ongoing product support.
The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
In premarket trading, iRobot shares slid nearly 70% to $1.31.
In the end, Alex Hunter picked the day of his death.
Boulder’s longest-serving district attorney — who defined more than a quarter century of criminal justice for the region and oversaw the early years of the JonBenét Ramsey case — had exhausted all options for medical care after suffering a heart attack in mid-November.
The 89-year-old spent several days in Colorado hospitals, alert and cogent, saying goodbye to colleagues, friends and family.
Then he picked 1:30 p.m. Friday as the time for medical staff to stop the life-supporting medicines keeping him alive. He drifted off and died later that evening, a month shy of his 90th birthday, said his son, Alex “Kip” Hunter III, who is acting as a spokesman for the family.
“He was just crystalline clear,” Hunter III said Monday. “He was intentional and purposeful, gracious and elegant. …He had come to a place where he was totally at peace with the scope of his life.”
Hunter spent 28 years as Boulder County’s elected top prosecutor, serving seven consecutive terms between 1973 and 2001. He forged a community-driven, progressive, victim-focused approach to prosecution and helped shape Boulder’s reputation as a liberal enclave.
He faced intense public scrutiny in the late 1990s after 6-year-old JonBenét was killed and, in the ensuing media firestorm, he chose not to bring charges against her parents — even after a grand jury secretly returned indictments against them during his final term.
Hunter kept a picture of the young beauty queen in his office and, throughout, stood by his controversial decision in the city’s highest-profile murder case, his son said.
“He probably suffered more criticism as a result of that than any other moment in his career,” Hunter III said. “And yet he remained confident till he died that that was the right decision.”
In 1997, Hunter named JonBenét’s parents, John and Patsy, as a focus in the investigation into their daughter’s killing. More than a year later, Hunter announced that Boulder County’s grand jury had completed its work investigating the case, and that there was not sufficient evidence for charges to be filed against the Ramseys.
He was roundly criticized during the early years of the Ramsey case, featured in tabloids and The New Yorker. Some called for a special prosecutor to replace him, and a Boulder detective resigned from the case, accusing Hunter of compromising the investigation. Outsiders said Boulder needed a tough-on-crime prosecutor — decidedly not Hunter — to bring justice to JonBenét’s killer.
What Hunter kept secret in 1999 was that the grand jury had voted to indict the parents on charges of child abuse resulting in death — essentially alleging the Ramseys placed their daughter in a dangerous situation that led to her death — but that he’d declined to sign the indictments and move forward with a prosecution, believing he could not prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.
“It was so like him to refuse the grand jury instruction,” Hunter III said. “Because he believed in his heart that it would have a negative impact on the outcome of the case.”
Over time, Hunter came to realize the Ramsey case would define his career, even if he would rather it did not. He was surprised by how it followed him even years after his retirement, Hunter III said.
“Horrible crimes happen every day, and that was a horrible crime, but it’s had legs, it’s had a life that I think often surprised Dad in particular,” Hunter III said. “I think that a lot of Dad’s 28 years as the district attorney perhaps got lost in the JonBenét Ramsey case.”
From left, Adams County Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Levin, Assistant Boulder County District Attorney Bill Wise, Denver Chief Deputy District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter and the JonBenét Ramsey grand jury’s special prosecutor, Michael Kane, walk outside the Ramsey family’s former Boulder home on Oct. 29, 1998. (Photo by Paul Aiken/Daily Camera)
‘Doing the right thing time and time again’
Through the decades, Hunter was attuned to the Boulder community in a way few others ever were — for years, he invited cohorts of random voters into his office on Tuesday nights for candid discussions on crime and the courts, and he often made decisions and implemented policy based on what he heard in those meetings.
He was a master at reading a room and took pride in surrounding himself with good people, said Dennis Wanebo, a former prosecutor in the Boulder DA’s office.
He rarely faced any serious opposition on the ballot.
“He was there for 28 years,” said Peter Maguire, a longtime Boulder prosecutor during Hunter’s tenure. “And you don’t do that without being the consummate politician who has his finger on the pulse of the community, and by doing the right thing time and time again.”
Hunter was first elected by a narrow margin in 1973 in no small part because he promised to stop prosecuting possession of marijuana as a felony — prompting University of Colorado students to vote for him in droves, said Stan Garnett, who served as Boulder district attorney beginning in 2009.
Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter is pictured in this October 1980 photo. (Photo by Dave Buresh/The Denver Post)
Hunter was part of a wave of Democratic leadership that swept through Boulder in the 1970s. He hosted his own talk radio show for a while in the 1980s, and ran up Flagstaff Road almost every workday, leaving at 11:30 a.m. and having his secretary collect him at the top and return him to the courthouse. He was media-savvy and funny, charming and articulate.
He declared bankruptcy in the 1970s after a failed real estate venture left him $6 million in debt. Hunter married four times and had five children, one of whom, John Hunter-Haulk, died in 2010 at the age of 20 — the “heartbreak of his life,” that Hunter never fully moved past, his son said.
In the late 1970s, after regularly hearing people’s displeasure with plea agreements, Hunter declared that his office would no longer offer plea bargains in any cases, instead requiring defendants to plead guilty to the original charges or take their cases to trial.
The effort quickly failed as the court system buckled under the increased number of jury trials.
“People made fun of him at the time, other DAs mocked him for it and said it was a fool’s errand,” Wanebo said. “And maybe in hindsight it can be looked at that way. And yet there was also a very good secondary effect of that for our office, which was, we got really careful about what we charged people with.”
‘A Renaissance man’
Hunter was moveable when he made mistakes, Maguire said, though he needed to be convinced through either a reasoned or political argument — this is what the community wants — to change his stances.
“Alex was a Renaissance man,” Garnett said. “He was interested in everything. And he was very thoughtful, very kind. He was very ethical.”
Tom Kelley, a former First Amendment attorney for The Denver Post, remembered a time in which he convinced Hunter that he was legally obligated to release some criminal justice records to the newspaper. Kelley swung by the courthouse to pick the records up, and Hunter met him, leading Kelley through the courthouse’s winding back hallways in search of the records.
Boulder County District Attorney Alex Hunter makes his way down a hill in front of the Boulder County Justice Center, through a mass of media and bystanders, on his way to announce that the grand jury in the JonBenét Ramsey case was disbanding without taking action on Oct. 13, 1999. (Photo by Andy Cross/The Denver Post)
After he gave the documents to Kelley, Hunter immediately called up the Rocky Mountain News — The Post’s bitter rival — and let them know the records were publicly available, Kelley said.
“That was classic Alex Hunter,” he said. “He was a very decent person and he tried to give everybody a little bit of something… He had a strong political sense.”
For Hunter III, having the DA as his dad was “fantastic,” he said. His dad was regularly on the newspaper’s front page. He was “always the coolest dad in Boulder,” Hunter III remembered.
His father’s death this week feels like a mountain suddenly disappearing.
He cherishes the conversations they had as a family in the days before Hunter died.
“We were in deep conversation,” he said. “And he taught us more in that last week than you could learn in a lifetime.”
While those sums are above average, Kilner has watched both his tally of clients and the depth of their gambling debts balloon in recent years. “Ten years ago I didn’t see anyone, because you’d actually have to go into a casino,” he added. “It’s just the last two, three years.”
Betting apps put young adults at risk
The rise of online sports betting and casino apps has yielded big profits for gambling companies. But insolvency and psychology experts warn of dire consequences for a growing number of Canadians—young men, in particular—and recommend counselling, a payback plan, and self-examination for those needing to dig themselves out of debt.
Compared to gamblers who exclusively played the lottery, Canadians who reported betting online over the past year were 45 times more likely to qualify as problem gamblers, according to a new report from Greo Evidence Insights, the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, and Mental Health Research Canada.
“Young adults are emerging as the group most at risk,” said Matthew Young, chief research officer at Greo, a not-for-profit research organization with expertise in gambling. Nearly one in three adults aged 18 to 29 place bets online, according to the poll, which was based on data from more than 8,000 respondents. “Those who do are far more likely to develop gambling problems and suffer related harms,” he said in a release.
The sheer ubiquity of betting amounts to a constant risk for some, who carry a virtual casino in their pocket. “You can gamble walking down the street on your phone. You can gamble sitting in the comfort of your living room,” said Scott Terrio, manager of consumer insolvency at Hoyes, Michalos & Associates. “The former barriers to gambling—i.e., getting up off your ass and going to the casino or the track—aren’t there now.”
Gambling losses and debt climb in Ontario
Canada legalized single-event sports betting in August 2021, upending more than a century of prohibition on the practice in the hopes of winning back customers from offshore sites, U.S. casinos, and illegal bookmakers. Ontario threw open the door to private betting platforms, while other provinces including Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta offer sportsbooks run by their lottery and gaming commissions.
On top of being just a click away, daily fantasy sports companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel advertise relentlessly, as anyone who watched the recent Toronto Blue Jays playoff run can attest. “This is so prevalent and in your face,” Terrio said.
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Typical debt totals for his clients range between $20,000 and $80,000, though he’s handled cases of up to $263,000. “I’ve seen statements where somebody was pulling cash advances out over the course of three or four days and it was in the tens of thousands from a few different banks,” he said.
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In Ontario, the internet gambling industry saw monthly cash wagers rise 31% year-over-year to a record $8.6 billion in September, according to iGaming Ontario’s latest market performance report. Online casinos make up the bulk of that total, while non-casino betting—the category includes sports—saw by far the biggest increase at 39%.
Official statistics on gambling debt are hard to come by, but Ontarians lost $329.4 million on the iGaming platform in September, 20% more than in the same month a year earlier.
Managing debt after online gambling losses
The path out of debt isn’t always pleasant. The first step is to acknowledge the problem, stop gambling—including by asking sites to ban you—and contact a non-profit credit counselling agency for financial advice.
If the debt has spiralled, a second step is to work with a licensed insolvency trustee to consider a consumer proposal—an agreement with creditors to repay a portion of what’s owed, often within five years. “They like to see 30%, 40% depending on how bad the gambling was. But you get that at no interest,” said Kilner.
Sometimes, creditors impose harsher terms on gambling debt because it tends to accumulate more rapidly, he said. “Normal debt generally builds up over time. And from the selfish perspective of the banks, they’ve probably made some money off you,” Kilner said. “They’ve been able to charge interest. Generally, with gambling, it’s quick.”
Other experts said the percentage owed can range widely, and hinges on income, assets, and prior bankruptcies.
Declaring bankruptcy is an alternative that typically results in a lower payback amount. But it wreaks havoc on credit scores and usually demands a much shorter timeline, often 18 months, said Terrio.
Why online betting can become addictive
The toughest part of the process may be confronting the deeper reasons behind addictive behaviour. “Ask yourself, am I doing it for entertainment?” said Kilner. If so, set a limit, as you might for a night out.
After a reported decline in sales, Sugar Land, Texas-based CandyWarehouse.com filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Friday, October 24. The company has been in business since 1998, and while it is not ready to close its doors, its filing is an attempt to revive it.
“Like many small businesses, the pandemic and rising costs hit us hard, and we haven’t fully bounced back yet,” president and CEO Mimi Kwan told Newsweek.
But the company has a ways to go. Court documents revealed that Candywarehouse.com estimated its assets at around $224,000 and its liabilities at around $2.8 million. The debtor generated $4.5 million in annual sales last year, which was a 10 to 20 percent decline from 2023, and the trend is expected to pick up.
The filing comes amid concerns that a rise in candy costs because of tariffs will scare away consumers. In fact, a September survey conducted by financial services firm Empower found that 57 percent of Americans are considering spending less on chocolate this holiday.
CandyWarehouse.com is not the only sweets company struggling. Mitchell Cohen, owner of Economy Candy, says its mission has always been to sell affordable sweets, but rising wholesale prices make that a challenge. But recent costs are worrisome, even for the oldest candy store in New York City.
“We are feeling it, but we hope that, you know, quarter to quarter, things will change,” Cohen says. “We’re hoping to stave off raising prices for as long as we can.”
Still, Americans are projected to spend a record $13 billion on Halloween this year, up around $1.5 billion from last year.
CVS has finished buying customer prescription files from hundreds of closed Rite Aid drugstores and is now running 63 of the defunct chain’s locations.
The company said Wednesday that it is operating former Rite Aid and Bartell Drugs stores in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. It also has transferred customer prescription files from 626 pharmacies in 15 states to nearby CVS locations.
CVS Health did not say how much it spent on the stores and prescription files.
Rite Aid recently announced on its website that its stores have closed. The company said in May that it was seeking bankruptcy protection and would look to sell substantially all of its assets.
Philadelphia-based Rite Aid once ran more than 4,000 stores mostly on the East Coast. It initially filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2023 after struggling with debt and posting annual losses for several years.
The chain emerged from that Chapter 11 reorganization in 2024 as a private company. It said then that it had less debt, was more efficient and now operated a “rightsized store footprint.”
But the recovery didn’t stick with Rite Aid down to around 1,200 stores. The chain was attempting to turn around its business in a tough environment.
Major chains and independent pharmacies have been closing stores and struggling with challenges like increased theft and customers who are drifting more to online shopping and discount retailers.
Walgreens, which has more than six times as many stores as Rite Aid, agreed in March to be acquired by the private equity firm Sycamore Partners.
Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based CVS Health Corp. runs several thousand drugstores. It also operates a large pharmacy benefits management business, and its Aetna health insurance segment covers nearly 27 million people.
The number of individuals filing for bankruptcy has soared in 2025, reflecting growing financial pressures and pessimism among Americans about their economic security.
According to a report from the American Bankruptcy Institute, based on figures from data and analytics platform Epiq AACER, there were 249,152 individual chapter 7 bankruptcy filings—the most common type of personal bankruptcy—during the first nine months of 2025. This represents a 15 percent increase over the 216,773 filed in the same period last year.
Why It Matters
Epiq AACER linked the rise to the “mounting financial pressure” faced by Americans in 2025, reflected in rising household debt levels as well as surveys which show growing pessimism among consumers about their personal economic security.
Americans have this year grappled with elevated inflation, as well as a deterioration of the job market and a broader weakening of the nation’s economic outlook.
What To Know
On top of the chapter 7 filings, total bankruptcy filings rose 10 percent to 423,053 year-over-year, with total individual filings seeing an 11 percent jump to 399,387. Individual chapter 13 filings—allowing debt reorganization for those with a steady income—were up 4.3 percent to 149,337.
The figures are broadly in line with those released earlier this year by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which showed that nonbusiness filings rose 11.8 percent in the 12-month period which ended June 30 compared with the previous year.
Sara Greene, a professor at the Duke University School of Law, told Newsweek that this upward trend is “not particularly surprising,” and reflects the fact that “the margin of safety for many Americans has shrunk.”
Greene pointed to a “confluence of pressures” that are pushing more households toward filing, including higher interest rates and debt-servicing burdens, growing debt levels driven by the rising cost of everything from groceries to health care, and the rollback of many COVID-era “rainy-day” measures such as the pause in student loan collections and expanded child tax credits.
“If there is labor market softness or further wage stagnation for low and middle income workers, this will make it difficult for households to weather even modest shocks, potentially leading to further increases in bankruptcy numbers,” she added. “And, if we see even further erosion of the public safety net, which it seems that we may, many more people may turn to credit/debt and overextend themselves, ultimately leading more to reach tipping points and having to file.”
The report coincides with further signs of waning financial confidence among American consumers. According to the latest RealClearMarkets/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, released on Tuesday, economic sentiment fell to 48.3 in October from 48.7 in September—the lowest reading since May and a further drop below the 50-point threshold signaling persistent pessimism.
Tuesday also saw the release of the New York Fed’s latest consumer outlook survey, which showed that fewer consumers anticipate being better off a year from now, and that year-ahead inflation expectations rose to 3.4 percent in September from 3.2 percent in August.
What People Are Saying
Michael Hunter, vice president of Epiq AACER, said: “The sharp rise in individual bankruptcy filings this September compared to 2024 highlights the mounting financial pressure on households across the country. Chapter 7 filings surged 19 percent year-over-year, and the growth in active Chapter 13 case inventory suggests more consumers are turning to bankruptcy as a necessary financial reset.”
Legal scholar Sara Greene told Newsweek: “I think this trend will continue if interest rates remain high (or go higher), as debt servicing burdens will continue to weigh on vulnerable households. Further, we haven’t seen enough inflation relief, and if these pressures related to inflation continue (particularly for food, rent, energy, etc.), I think we will see this bankruptcy trend continue.”
ABI Executive DirectorAmy Quackenboss said: “With household debts climbing, lending terms tightening and geopolitical uncertainty creating challenges within supply chains, bankruptcies continue their ascent toward pre-pandemic levels. Families or businesses overwhelmed by growing debt loads have a financial lifeline through the bankruptcy process.”
What Happens Next?
According to Epiq AACER’s vice president, the trend of rising personal bankruptcies is expected to continue through the remainder of the year “with a strong likelihood of accelerating into 2026.”
To say the last few years have been difficult for Morphe is an understatement. Founded in 2008 by siblings Chris and Linda Tawil as a makeup brush brand, the Los Angeles-based beauty company shot to fame in the late 2010s after releasing products made in collaboration with the era’s most popular beauty YouTubers: James Charles, Jeffree Star, and Jaclyn Hill.
Morphe soon became “an influencer- and collaboration-driven brand” that was heavily reliant on eyeshadow palettes and brushes—“and that worked really well for a period of time,” says Simon Cowell, a beauty executive (not the American Idol judge) who joined Morphe as president in 2019. The brand made $400 million in revenue and reached a $2 billion valuation that year, according to Bloomberg. In 2020, its parent company Forma Brands began building up a portfolio of beauty companies including Ariana Grande’s R.E.M. Beauty and opening retail stores.
Then, many of Morphe’s key influencer partners fell from grace; Star got heat for racist videos while Charles was accused of sending minors sexually explicit messages. Though the brand ended its relationship with each creator, its reputation still took a hit, causing Forma Brands to close all 18 of its retail stores and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2023.
Three months later, creditors Jefferies Finance and Cerberus Capital Management teamed up with consumer brand investment and operation platform &vest to acquire Forma Brands. Since then, &vest and Cowell, who now serves as the company’s CEO, have been trying to steer Morphe back toward profitability. And while the repositioning process is still far from over, the brand has made impressive progress by getting back to basics.
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Simplifying product lines
Morphe’s founders created the brand in order to provide consumers with “elevated, prestige-level quality products at an incredible value,” Cowell says. But when the label’s influencer collaborations—which often featured bold eyeshadow palettes—began selling out, its priorities shifted to sustaining that momentum. The brand lost what “it really stood for,” he adds.
Knowing this, the first moves Cowell and &vest made after the acquisition were to hire a new executive team and re-center the business on this product-led founding ethos. They then went to work on Morphe’s existing offerings, improving quality, conducting detailed SKU reviews, and elevating packaging.
That work is now paying off. After reducing its assortment of makeup brushes from 69 SKUs to about 35 and launching a simplified line in January, overall sales have grown 33 percent year-to-date, per a spokesperson.
At the same time, Morphe started developing a pipeline of new products to release. Just this year, the brand has introduced two new product categories, blushes and lipsticks—each of which, Cowell says, “have blown away our forecast.” He estimates that about 40 percent of Morphe’s sales now come from new product launches.
“What’s really encouraging about the growth that we’re seeing is it’s all unit velocity,” Cowell says. “It’s not like we took a bunch of price increases.”
Sending influencers products rather than collaborating
Throughout this transition, Morphe has overhauled its marketing strategy. Instead of relying on “transactional partnerships” with high-powered influencers to drive brand awareness, Cowell says, the brand now utilizes product-seeding.
By sending mailers to influencers timed with product launches, Morphe nets a 60 percent conversion rate on average, per the CEO—meaning six in ten creators post about the brand online after receiving a mailer. These posts have pushed Morphe’s earned media value (EMV) up 85 percent year-over-year, which translates to real sales: Cowell says the brand makes about 50 times what it spends on product seeding.
Morphe is now doubling down on this strategy by sending out six times more influencer mailers in 2025 than it did in 2024 and building a small influencer relations team, which Cowell says operates similarly to a sales team. Each of the two representatives are tasked with getting to know and staying in touch with 500 influencers who use Morphe products. In doing so, the scrappy team has driven Morphe’s influencer retention rate to reach 70 percent.
Utilizing these two strategies in tandem—growing earned media value through large product seeding initiatives, while at the same time driving retention through influencer representatives—“is the unlock,” Cowell says.
Going all-in on wholesale
Morphe’s business model has shifted too. In the past, the company was focused on opening its own retail stores. Now, it’s going all-in on wholesale—though Cowell notes that Morphe still operates a “small direct to consumer business” through its e-commerce website. All of Morphe’s wholesale channels are growing, according to Cowell. “Last year, we grew mid-single digits,” he says. “This year, year-to-date, we’re up 40 percent” in comparable sales.
The makeup brand achieved this by improving how it shows up at retailers, first launching a national field sales team to offer more support to partners like Ulta and Target. Then, Morphe overhauled its freestanding shelving units to reflect the brand’s new look and product-first focus.
“Overall, we’re more coordinated with our retail partners, aligning on joint marketing plans,” Cowell says. “We’re optimizing assortments by door. We’re using data to drive visual merchandising plans and replenishment decisions, and that has driven these tremendous wholesale results that we’re seeing.”
Morphe’s marketing budget reflects this shift. Cowell says he puts 60 percent of the budget towards wholesale channels and 40 percent towards brand marketing, which has allowed the brand to invest in visual merchandising and ensure retail displays are coordinated with its own campaigns.
Cowell says his goal is to double the business in the next three years by focusing on product and wholesale. Now, he adds, Morphe has “concrete initiatives lined up across expanding consumers, expanding categories, expanding channels,” that will allow it to “drive that growth.”
After a tumultuous last few years, Rite Aid filed again for bankruptcy and then announced that all locations are officially closed
Once a humble discount center in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Rite Aid grew into one of America’s largest pharmacy chains after its founding in 1962. But decades of mounting debt, shrinking profits, and shifting consumer habits have left the company fighting for survival.
Like many national drugstore chains, Rite Aid has faced a perfect storm of pressures, including razor-thin margins on prescriptions, mounting legal settlements tied to the opioid crisis, a wave of organized retail theft, and customers increasingly moving to online pharmacies. Even before its first bankruptcy filing, the company was closing stores and cutting costs to stay afloat.
Rite Aid first sought Chapter 11 protection in October 2023, announcing plans to sell off parts of the business and restructure its operations. Nearly a year later, it reemerged as a private company, but was still far from stable.
Then, in May 2025, came another blow as Rite Aid revealed it would remain in operation as it re-entered bankruptcy proceedings.
The chain, which once boasted more than 2,300 stores across 17 states, has since dramatically downsized. Now under the control of its creditors, Rite Aid operates about 1,245 locations in 15 states, less than half its former footprint, scrambling to chart a future in a rapidly changing retail landscape.
Broward-based Spirit Airlines has reduced destinations and furloughed flight attendants, many in South Florida. Now it’s cutting the number of airplanes it flies in its ongoing quest to survive.
The Dania Beach-headquartered carrier wants to void lease agreements for 87 airplanes, Spirit said in a request last week with a federal bankruptcy court in New York. The court needs to approve this as it does other parts of the company’s restructuring plan.
The move is another way the airline seeks to reduce its financial burden.
“A significant reduction in Spirit’s fleet size and related expenses is required to improve Spirit’s financial position and flexibility,” Fred Cromer, executive vice president and chief officer of Spirit Aviation Holdings, wrote in the Oct. 2 court filing.
Since then, the carrier has said it “intends to use the tools of chapter 11 to realize hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings and lighten its balance sheet by shedding billions of dollars of liabilities.”
That appears to mean fewer destinations, flights and airplanes.
“Spirit is committed to redesigning its network to focus its flying on key markets,” Cromer wrote in the Oct. 2 filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York, the court overseeing the airline’s restructuring.
On Sept. 30, Spirit said it would end the lease for 27 airplanes from its largest lessor, AerCap. That was part of a restructuring contract that included new aircraft leases and an equity injection of $150 million from AerCap.
Including that, for now Spirit will operate about 100 planes, less than half of the 214 it had in August 2025.
Fewer planes, fewer markets
A Spirt Airlines plane gets ready to take off into a cloudy sky, from the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, in Broward County. Spirit Airlines one of America’s largest budget airlines has filled for bankruptcy for the second time in less than 12 months, on Tuesday August 19, 2025. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
The move comes as the carrier is already cutting destinations. In September, Spirit CEO Dave Davis wrote in an email that the company expects to slash flights in November. “You will see a reduction of about 25% in capacity, year over year, as we optimize our network to focus on our strongest markets,” he said.
Two weeks earlier, Spirit said it would stop service to 12 U.S. cities, including fourwith direct service to Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The four were Birmingham, Alabama; Columbia, South Carolina; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Macon, Georgia.
Spirit, which provided FLL more passengers in 2024 than any other airline did, is an important airline there, and to the region.
FLL and MIA crews affected
Employees attend the opening of Spirit Airlines new campus outside the support center on Thursday, April 18, 2024, at Dania Pointe in Dania Beach. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com
The fleet downsizing also comes one week after Spirit said it would furlough approximately 1,800 flight attendants in two phases by year-end.
The union that represents Spirit’s flight attendants, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO, said in a statement that the voluntary furloughs will be offered for six months or one-year time periods, effective Nov. 1. Those eligible to bid for the voluntary furlough can bid for one of those options or both, with a preference of time period.
Based on how the first phase goes, the involuntary furlough will take place starting Dec. 1.
About 40% of the 1,800 employees affected are based in Florida. That’s according to publicly available letters sent by Spirit to Florida officials, required as part of the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, a federal law known as WARN. According to those letters, 309 flights attendants based at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 71 at Miami International Airport and 300 at Orlando International Airport are affected.
WARN requires companies with more than 100 employees to give public notice ahead of mass layoffs or closure of employment sites.
Additionally, 70 ramp service agents, represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at FLL will be furloughed.
Rite Aid, once one of America’s biggest pharmacy chains, shuttered its remaining 89 stores this week after filing for bankruptcy in May for the second time in less than two years.”All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers for their many years of support,” the company said in a statement on its website.The company’s website, which has since removed all of its services, remains available for former customers to request pharmaceutical records or locate another nearby pharmacy to fulfill prescriptions.The full-service pharmacy first opened in 1962 and became well-known for its cult-favorite ice cream brand, Thrifty, which has since been sold due to the store’s bankruptcy. Rite Aid first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, largely because of competition from bigger chains and its debt pile, which topped $4 billion due to expensive legal battles for allegedly filling unlawful opioid prescriptions.Rite Aid emerged from that bankruptcy in September 2024, having slashed $2 billion in debt, securing $2.5 billion in funds to maintain operations and closing about 500 locations. In May, Rite Aid had about 1,250 remaining stores, cut by about half from its 2023 operations.The drugstore announced in May that it sold most of its US stores’ pharmacy services to rivals CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Albertsons and Kroger, which collectively claimed more than 1,000 locations.It’s a saving grace for former Rite Aid customers, who may have otherwise lost access to their nearest pharmacy. When drugstores permanently close, as has been the trend in recent years, patients often have to travel farther to get their medications, posing a larger risk to older adults.CVS announced in November 2021 that it would close 900 stores by 2024 after it had closed 244 stores between 2018 and 2020. Former Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth had told the Wall Street Journal last year that about 25% of its stores aren’t profitable, and the company announced in October 2024 that it would close 1,200 stores.
CNN —
Rite Aid, once one of America’s biggest pharmacy chains, shuttered its remaining 89 stores this week after filing for bankruptcy in May for the second time in less than two years.
“All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers for their many years of support,” the company said in a statement on its website.
The company’s website, which has since removed all of its services, remains available for former customers to request pharmaceutical records or locate another nearby pharmacy to fulfill prescriptions.
The full-service pharmacy first opened in 1962 and became well-known for its cult-favorite ice cream brand, Thrifty, which has since been sold due to the store’s bankruptcy. Rite Aid first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, largely because of competition from bigger chains and its debt pile, which topped $4 billion due to expensive legal battles for allegedly filling unlawful opioid prescriptions.
Rite Aid emerged from that bankruptcy in September 2024, having slashed $2 billion in debt, securing $2.5 billion in funds to maintain operations and closing about 500 locations. In May, Rite Aid had about 1,250 remaining stores, cut by about half from its 2023 operations.
The drugstore announced in May that it sold most of its US stores’ pharmacy services to rivals CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Albertsons and Kroger, which collectively claimed more than 1,000 locations.
It’s a saving grace for former Rite Aid customers, who may have otherwise lost access to their nearest pharmacy. When drugstores permanently close, as has been the trend in recent years, patients often have to travel farther to get their medications, posing a larger risk to older adults.
CVS announced in November 2021 that it would close 900 stores by 2024 after it had closed 244 stores between 2018 and 2020.Former Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth had told the Wall Street Journal last year that about 25% of its stores aren’t profitable, and the company announced in October 2024 that it would close 1,200 stores.
(CNN) — Rite Aid, once one of America’s biggest pharmacy chains, shuttered its remaining 89 stores this week after filing for bankruptcy in May for the second time in less than two years.
“All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers for their many years of support,” the company said in a statement on its website.
The company’s website, which has since removed all of its services, remains available for former customers to request pharmaceutical records or locate another nearby pharmacy to fulfill prescriptions.
The full-service pharmacy first opened in 1962 and became well-known for its cult-favorite ice cream brand, Thrifty, which has since been sold due to the store’s bankruptcy. Rite Aid first filed for bankruptcy in October 2023, largely because of competition from bigger chains and its debt pile, which topped $4 billion due to expensive legal battles for allegedly filling unlawful opioid prescriptions.
Rite Aid emerged from that bankruptcy in September 2024, having slashed $2 billion in debt, securing $2.5 billion in funds to maintain operations and closing about 500 locations. In May, Rite Aid had about 1,250 remaining stores, cut by about half from its 2023 operations.
The drugstore announced in May that it sold most of its US stores’ pharmacy services to rivals CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, Albertsons and Kroger, which collectively claimed more than 1,000 locations.
It’s a saving grace for former Rite Aid customers, who may have otherwise lost access to their nearest pharmacy. When drugstores permanently close, as has been the trend in recent years, patients often have to travel farther to get their medications, posing a larger risk to older adults.
CVS announced in November 2021 that it would close 900 stores by 2024 after it had closed 244 stores between 2018 and 2020.Former Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth had told the Wall Street Journal last year that about 25% of its stores aren’t profitable, and the company announced in October 2024 that it would close 1,200 stores.
This week, Spirit Airlines will end service to nearly a dozen cities. The bankrupt low-cost carrier is cutting staff, grounding planes and slashing its flight schedule as it searches for a route back to profitability.
Spirit will drop service to 11 cities the week of Oct. 2 in the western and southern U.S. The cities where service is impacted include: Albuquerque, New Mexico; Birmingham, Alabama; Boise, Idaho; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Oakland, California; Columbia, South Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego, California; and San Jose, California.
The budget carrier will also ground plans to launch service in Macon, Georgia and in the coming weeks, they’ll exit Hartford and Minneapolis.
“I think it’s unfortunate to have less options and I think it makes it easier for the larger airlines to have a little more leeway over the consumer,” said Steve Harvath, who found a cheap Spirit flight from Portland, Oregon, to meet family in Las Vegas – an option he won’t have again.
Impact on travelers
The cuts from Spirit could impact more than just those who fly with the airline. Airline industry analyst from Atmosphere Research Group, Henry Harteveldt, said as Spirit exits, higher fares may follow.
“Spirit is the incredible shrinking airline right now and unless there are other low cost airlines that compete with Spirit on these routes, consumers should expect to pay more,” Harteveldt said.
Recently, United announced it would add 15 new routes hoping to capitalize on Spirits’ cuts.
“I think there’s always going to be robust competition particularly for price driven customers. Some airlines will fail. Some new ones will come up. It’s not just about price, it’s about the value and what you get for it,” United CEO Scott Kirby said.
Spirit has pushed back on Kirby’s comments about its decline. In an email to employees, the company’s chief commercial officer called the cuts “necessary changes to best position our airline for the future.”
Barry Biffle, the CEO of Frontier Airlines, which is Spirit’s largest direct competitor, said Frontier is “not working on buying Spirit.”
“There’s too much supply in general,” he said, adding that Spirit doesn’t have to go out of business for capacity to be addressed. “I think that is one of the unfortunate outcomes that could happen, but there has to be less capacity for everyone to be healthy.”
Spirit’s planned cuts
Spirit has struggled post-pandemic after a failed merger with JetBlue as flyers have shifted to a more premium experience.
The Florida-based airline previously announced plans to furlough a third of their flight attendants.
“As part of our ongoing restructuring, we are taking steps to align staffing with our fleet size and expected flight volume. In line with this process, we have made the difficult decision to furlough approximately 1,800 Flight Attendants, effective Dec. 1, 2025,” Spirit said in a statement last month to CBS News.
It will also seek pay cuts from pilots and ground planes while reducing its flights by 25%.
On Tuesday, Spirit announced it had secured hundreds of millions of dollars in what it called “significant progress” in its bankruptcy restructuring.
Emmy Award-winning journalist Kris Van Cleave is the senior transportation correspondent for CBS News based in Phoenix, Arizona, where he also serves as a national correspondent reporting for all CBS News broadcasts and platforms.
