Edison Bros. Clothier Files for Bankruptcy : Retail: The St. Louis-based specialty firm plans to shutter 500 stores. It is the latest sign of trouble for the apparel industry.

Edison Bros. Stores Inc., which operates more than 300 clothing stores in California, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Friday, in the latest sign of trouble in the nation’s retail apparel industry.

The St. Louis-based specialty retailer, whose 2,700 shoe and apparel stores include Leeds, 5-7-9 Shops and Zeidler & Zeidler, said it plans to close 500 unprofitable stores nationwide by the end of January.

Alan Miller, chairman of Edison Bros., cited a poor specialty retail environment and a bleak holiday season outlook as reasons for the filing. The company is seeking federal Bankruptcy Court protection from creditors while it reorganizes.

“The specialty retail environment remains very difficult,” Miller said. The company does “not expect to see a quick fashion shift that will significantly increase regular-prices sales,” he said. He did not say which stores will be closed.

Competing in malls against retailers with higher brand recognition such as Gap Inc. and Limited Inc., the Edison Bros. stores had trouble standing out during a sluggish period for specialty retail, analysts said.

The retail apparel industry in California, like the rest of the country, has been difficult because of soft consumer demand for apparel as value has become more important to shoppers than keeping up with fashion trends, said analyst Richard Giss of Deloitte & Touche.

“You need to have something different,” said Philip Abbenhaus, senior retail analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in St. Louis, adding that Edison Bros. had too many stores at “marginal locations.”

While the Edison Bros. closures might be good for competitors in the long run, its liquidation of inventory during the winter holiday season will probably force other mall shops to drop prices to compete, analysts said.

“They’re going to move inventory for cash at bargain prices,” Abbenhaus said. “It’s going to create more pressure on the specialty apparel group to promote more heavily” this holiday season, he said.

Edison Bros. operates 318 stores in California, including 159 in the Los Angeles area, said Edison spokeswoman Ann Julsen.

As part of the firm’s restructuring, Edison Bros. will merge its Oak Tree division, which sells menswear, with its Jeans West unit. There are 49 Jeans West stores in California, including 20 in the Los Angeles area, Julsen said. Twenty-one of 38 California Oak Tree stores are in the Los Angeles area, she said.

Other Edison Bros. stores in California include Wild Pair and Precis shoe stores, J. Riggins menswear shops, and Repp Ltd., which specializes in apparel for big and tall men.

Edison Bros. is also in negotiations to sell its chain of high-tech arcades, which would complete its withdrawal from that business to concentrate on its core footwear and apparel operations. Eight such arcades under the name Time Out are in California.

Daily operations at it various stores will continue as usual, but the company is also considering closing additional groups of stores beyond the 500 already cited, Miller said.

The company, which filed for protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., has arranged for $200 million of debtor-in-possession financing from BankAmerica Business Credit to fund operations during bankruptcy proceedings.