• J.Crew and Neiman Marcus very well could survive their high-profile bankruptcy filings, but the less-known Stage Stores might not, analysts say. Stage — which operates 738 off-price department stores under the names Bealls, Goody’s, Gordmans, Palais Royal and Peeble’s — is seeking a buyer after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company’s holiday sales were disappointing, and it was unable to borrow the money needed to continue operations after several weeks of COVID-19-related store closures.

On the other hand, J.Crew and Neiman Marcus are famous brands with well-located stores, and their woes were driven by leveraged buyouts that created debt overloads, according to David Silverman, Fitch Ratings senior director. “Both of these retailers could emerge as going concerns, given a combination of good brand equity, relatively strong real estate positions in better malls and shopping districts, and reasonable cash-flow characteristics prior to debt-service expense,” he told MarketWatch.

If managed properly, the companies could reemerge from bankruptcy protection nimbler and ready to grow again, said Joseph Acosta, partner in Dorsey & Whitney’s bankruptcy practice. “Neiman Marcus can utilize the tools in a Chapter 11 process to shed less-profitable locations and deleverage its balance sheet of billions of dollars in debt through a form of recapitalization, leaving it a much stronger company when it emerges from bankruptcy,” he said.

J. C. Penney Inc., meanwhile, is considering such options as bankruptcy protection or spinning off its real estate into a separate company, according to Reuters. The company wants to shutter 200 of its 850 stores and restructure more than $3 billion in debt that is due in 2023. Sources told Reuters that Penney has lined up about $400 million in debtor-in-possession financing to fund ongoing operations if it files for bankruptcy.

• Nordstrom will close 16 of its 116 full-line stores. It also will restructure some headquarters operations and infrastructure so it can fulfill more online orders from more stores. The stores marked for closure — in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, Maryland, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Texas and Virginia — represent 14 percent of the company’s full-line stores.

Nordstrom is generating solid online traffic and conversion and clearing excess inventory through increased marketing and promotional efforts, said Nordstrom Inc. CEO Erik Nordstrom. The company is making stores more profitable by processing online orders through them. More than half of Nordstrom.com orders currently are filled from full-line stores, he said, and 25 percent of Nordstromrack.com and Hautelook.com orders are filled by Nordstrom Rack stores. “More than ever, we need to work with flexibility and speed,” Erik Nordstrom said. “Our market strategy helps with both, bringing inventory closer to where customers live and work, allowing us to use our stores as fulfillment centers to get products to customers faster and connecting digital and physical experiences with services like curbside pickup and returns.”

Nordstrom chose these stores to close because its owns and them and can decide how they're re-used, according to Macerich CEO Tom O'Hern. "Those are all stores that are owned by Nordstrom," he said on his firm's first-quarter earnings call. "They’re good centers. There's probably pretty good demand for the space, but it remains to be seen what’s going to happen with those boxes. They no longer had an operating covenant, and that’s why they chose some of those centers on that list."

• Macy’s Inc. won a large vote of confidence from Czech energy and media magnate Daniel Kretinsky. His purchase of a 5 percent stake in the company makes him one of its five biggest shareholders, according to an SEC filing on which The Motley Fool reported. The department-store chain opened stores in Colorado and Utah this week, adding approximately four dozen outlets to the 68 it reopened last week.