Steve & Barry's: Time for a taxpayer-funded bailout!

Back on June 21st, I wrote about Steve & Barry's rapid descent into a serious financial mess. The retailer that has grown to $1 billion in sales on the strength of decent quality, celebrity-endorsed clothing at ridiculously low prices ($8 basketball shoes!) reportedly needed cash badly to avoid bankruptcy.

Today The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that the company is preparing a bankruptcy filing as it desperately seeks at least another $20 million in emergency financing. The company reportedly is set to close 100 stores and, if things don't improve, could go into an all-out liquidation, spelling the effective end of the company.

Now I'm being facetious here, but follow my logic: with election-year politics leading elected officials to consider bills that would provide billions in taxpayer funds to help bailout people who lied on loan applications to buy homes they couldn't afford, is providing $20 or $30 million to help Steve & Barry's stay afloat really so crazy? I mean-- and it will never happen -- but I would argue that it's a company whose survival would do a lot more to help hard-working families than helping Las Vegas speculators keep their McMansions. I'll say it again: $8 basketball shoes.

I'm really hoping that things will work out for Stever & Barry's. The death of this company would be a great loss. Perhaps Warren Buffett could serve as a white knight -- we want out $8 basketball shoes!