Jeweler Alex & Ani Files Bankruptcy

The Rhode Island-based jewelry company sells wares like charm bracelets and necklaces and was founded in 2004 by Carolyn Rafaelian. It opened its first store in the state in 2009 and has since expanded locations spanning the United States, Aruba and Panama. Alex and Ani’s filing in Delaware listed assets and liabilities of $100 million to $500 million each. Mall owners Simon Property Group Inc. and Brookfield Property Partners LP are among its largest unsecured creditors; each are owed more than $3 million in rent payments. The filing comes nearly two years after the firm sued Bank of America Corp. for more than $1 billion, in a lawsuit which accused the bank of fraudulently declaring Alex and Ani in default of a $50 million line of credit and of driving it toward bankruptcy. The bank said it strongly disagreed with the allegations at the time. That case was later dropped in August 2019.