If you have a Nine West store near you, you might want to take a photo of it and record of for posterity. There are only 25 Nine West stores still open, and unless things improve for the company soon, there will be none. They're saddled with over one and a half billion dollars of debt, and actively considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is understood to be for sale in whole or in part and has already found buyers for its well-known Easy Spirit brand.
Even if Nine West does survive, it won't be the store you remember. We all associate them with shoes and handbags; the current plan in the boardroom is to move away from that and promote jewelry and clothing instead. Over the past few years, there are fewer people buying heels, sandals and ballet flats, leaving Nine West with piles of unsold stock and even bigger piles of debt.