had a difficult fiscal year. Following the increase in demand for its products in 1996, the company overproduced and overstocked in 1997. In addition, the newer Eddie Bauer merchandise offerings were not as popular as the prior year's; thus the company was left with an oversupply of merchandise. In the August 17, 1998, issue of the Puget Sound Business Journal, Eddie Bauer's president and CEO, Rick Fersch, commented on the company's problems: "We were overplanned, overstocked, overstyled, overcoloredand it was over warm (last winter) and that meant trouble." The year 1998, brought additional challenges for Eddie Bauer and, subsequently, for Bauer's parent company. Warmer than usual winter weather, brought about by a highly publicized weather phenomenon known as El Nino, once again hurt Bauer's sales figures. Spiegel's overall revenues for the year dropped to $2.94billion as a result. Spiegel set out to halt its downward spiral and achieve profitability again. The company redesigned its main catalog, which in prior years had become something of an amalgam of differingand often conflictingitems and images. The company created a catalog solely to target the working woman and organized its main catalog so as not to place $1,000 designer outfits adjacent to $20 casual shirts, for example. Eddie Bauer also launched efforts to get itself back on track. By the end of the year, Spiegel announced they had improved earnings. Although its revenue decreased during 1998, the company turned a profit and achieved positive cash flow, according to a fiscal year-end document released by Spiegel in early 1999. Eddie Bauer's performance disappointed again during the year, but Spiegel's other subsidiary catalog, Newport News, posted solid results. 2000–2019 After years of shrinking economic fortunes, the company suffered large financial losses and changed ownership three times within the early 2000s. In 2003, Spiegel filed for bankruptcy and reorganization under the bankruptcy code. This included closing 60 Eddie Bauer stores. The following year, a group headed by Golden Gate Capital Partners and Pangea Holdings Ltd., purchased the Spiegel and Newport News catalog businesses. At the same time, the existing, reorganizing company retained its Eddie Bauer unit and eventually assumed the subsidiary name as the company name. From 2004, the Spiegel catalog and the women's fashion catalog Newport News operated under the name Spiegel Brands, Inc. In 2008, Spiegel was sold again to an investment group led by Granite Creek Partners. In June 2009, Spiegel was sold again