Sharper Image, Lillian Vernon latest retailers to declare bankruptcy

NEW YORK -- Sharper Image Corp. and Lillian Vernon Corp. this week became the latest retailers to declare bankruptcy in an increasingly stark retail environment.

Gift and gadget retailer Sharper Image said tough competition and volatile credit markets helped cause a liquidity crisis. The San Francisco-based company will shutter 90 of its 184 stores. Gift retailer Lillian Vernon, based in Virginia Beach, Va., said it will evaluate whether to sell itself.

Some other retailers that have filed bankruptcy over the past several months:

-- Canton, Mass.-based electronics retailer Tweeter Home Entertainment Group filed bankruptcy last June. It was acquired by Schultze Asset Management LLC, which continues to operate the company.

-- Fort Worth, Texas-based home furnishings retailer The Bombay Co. declared bankruptcy in September, and shuttered the last of its stores in January.

-- New York-based Levitz Furniture filed for bankruptcy in November. The company has since been liquidating its inventory.

-- Lyndhurst, N.J.-based Harvey Electronics Inc., a high-end audio-video retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection in December.

-- Wickes Furniture Co., a Wheeling, Ill.-based company owned by private investment firm Sun Capital Partners Inc., filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.

-- Jewelry and home furnishings retailer Fortunoff, based in Uniondale, N.Y., agreed this month to sell its business to NRDC Equity Partners LLC, which owns the Lord & Taylor department store chain, through a bankruptcy process.