Bankrupt Retailers Find New Life as Brand Licensors Revive Defunct Names
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Barneys New York went bankrupt in 2019 but its brand lives on under new ownership that specializes in reviving dead brands.
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Companies like Authentic Brands Group buy the intellectual property of bankrupt retailers and make money by licensing the brand names.
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Authentic Brands Group owns the rights to many brands like Forever 21, Brooks Brothers, and Barneys and profits from licensing deals.
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The model works by having no physical stores or inventory, just owning the brand identity and selling rights to use it.
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Determining which dead brands can be successfully revived and expanded globally is risky but lucrative if done right.
