Even Wall Street Couldn’t Protect Toms Shoes From Retail’s Storm

When popular footwear seller Toms Shoes LLC scored a $313 million investment from private equity giant Bain Capital back in 2014, the retailer was poised to grow in a serious way. Valued at more than $600 million, Toms was seen by Wall Street as a rising star. Then everything went sideways. A perfect storm of aggressive competitors, a failure to diversify and the implosion of U.S. retail quickly followed. Four years later, Toms is squirming under a load of debt and struggling to attract new shoppers. Earnings are down by more than half since the Bain deal, and the shoemaker is burning through cash, rating agencies warn. Read more at Bloomberg.