Eddie Bauer Holdings Inc. is the latest big name retail brand to file for bankruptcy.

Eddie Bauer, No. 80 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, on Wednesday filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The retailer also announced that subject to court approval and an auction it will sell its assets for $202 million to CCMP Capital Advisors LLC, a private equity firm that also has a stake in Cabela’s Inc., Guitar Center Inc. and 1-800-Flowers.com Inc. "Eddie Bauer is a good company with a great brand and a bad balance sheet,” says CEO Neil Fiske. “A crushing debt burden placed on the company from the Spiegel reorganization in 2005, combined with the severe recession, have left us with no choice but to use this process to reduce the debt load on the business.”

While going through bankruptcy, Eddie Bauer expects to continue operating its e-commerce sites, which include EddieBauer.com and FirstAscent.com, and its network of 371 stores. Eddie Bauer, which doesn’t break out web sales, saw total first quarter sales decline 15.7% to $179.8 million from $213.2 million in the prior year as comparable store sales decreased 11.3%. Direct market sales, which include catalog and web, declined 10.7% to $56.9 million in the first quarter from $63.7 million. Eddie Bauer posted a Q1 net loss of $44.5 million vs. a net loss of $19.3 million in the prior year.

Eddie Bauer anticipates completing the sale of its assets to CCMP Capital in 60 days or less, the retailer says. Eddie Bauer joins a growing list of big multichannel and direct marketing brands that have filed for bankruptcy in the last two years. Other retailers include Circuit City Stores Inc., The Parent Co., Fortunoff, KB Toys Inc. and Lenox Inc.

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