Orange County

Hardtime Inc.: Clothestime Inc., the Anaheim-based women’s apparel chain, will seek approval of a $40-million financing package during a 1:30 p.m. hearing today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Santa Ana. Clothestime said in court documents that it needs the financing from CIT Group/Business Credit Inc. to pay vendors and continue operating its stores. The request has drawn little in the way of opposition from Clothestime creditors. The company’s Dec. 8 bankruptcy protection filing was one of several pre-holiday filings in the specialty retailing industry, where weaker chains are being battered by better-financed competitors. U.S. retailers recently suffered their worst holiday season in at least a decade.