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Saturn, the beleaguered General Motors import-fighting marque, will be winding down operations after a proposed sale collapsed Wednesday.

GM had planned to sell Saturn to Penske Automotive Group, the company behind successful trucking and auto-racing businesses. Under the agreement, Roger Penske's company would have become a retail seller of cars eventually manufactured by another company. But the manufacturer (rumored to be Renault SA) rejected the deal. Without a manufacturing agreement, Penske was unwilling to complete its purchase.

Saturn's operations instead will be wound down by GM, which has yet to set a timetable for the brand's closing. Saturn currently has 350 dealers across the United States.

Beleaguered jewelry retailer Finlay Enterprises has decided to close all its specialty stores, including Bailey Banks & Biddle, Carlyle & Co. and other outlets. Finlay, which has endured a restructuring and a bankruptcy filing this year, will apparently be out of the retail jewelry business after store-closing sales are complete.

Finlay Enterprises, the jeweler retailer behind such brands as Bailey Banks & Biddle and Carlyle, filed for bankruptcy protection. The company plans on selling its assets at auction, bringing an end to its current composition. Finlay, which dates to 1887, still has nearly 200 locations including department store installations.

Finlay announced a series of store closings in February, which proved to be insufficient in narrowing the company's losses.

In related news, Zale closed 118 locations in the past fiscal quarter, bringing its total closings to 191 this year as it tries to preserve its own profitability.

Beleaguered southwestern grocer Bashas' filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday night in an attempt to continue operations. The company announced 10 new store closings alongside the filing. Bashas' owns the Food City and AJ's Fine Foods chains in addition to its namesake, a total of 158 stores.

Bashas' made headlines less than two weeks ago with several store closings. The chain first began closing locations in February in an effort to improve profitability.

Ritz Camera's 400 remaining locations are going up for auction following an unsuccessful bankruptcy reorganization. The chain, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, closed half its stores but has run out of cash for continuing operations.

As of now, there are no strong indicators whether a buyer will take over some or all of the locations, although Ritz hopes that is the case. If not, inventory and stores will be liquidated following the auctions, which are to be held later in July.

Two beleaguered grocery store chains, Bashas' and Bruno's are in the news this week following earlier store closing and bankruptcy announcements. The chains first appeared in Timely Demise together in February.

Bashas' is closing at least two more locations as it continues a lengthy restructuring. The chain, which previously had announced five store closings, is being criticized for dragging out the process.

In better news, Bruno's new owner is rapidly reopening stores, having remodeled dozens of locations in the past few weeks. The renewed Bruno's chain has 31 doors and a new pricing structure for its products.

The Filene's Basement discount chain has been purchased by Men's Wearhouse, the men's clothier. Men's Wearhouse outbid two other companies, including fellow discount retailer Syms. The buyer is expected to retain roughly 20 of Filene's Basement's 25 existing stores, shutting a few suburban locations.

Filene's Basement has had an interesting run in the past year, from closing a third of its stores to selling itself to a liquidation firm shortly before filing for bankruptcy in May.

General Motors, once the largest automaker in the world, is filing for bankruptcy Monday morning, the latest step in a long process to try and save some of the company. GM, which has taken billions of dollars in government assistance, is expected to need another $30 billion to complete its reorganization.

The bankruptcy process, which should be complete over the summer, will result in the General's closing or selling many of the brands in its stable. Pontiac is following Oldsmobile into automotive history; Hummer is rumored to be near a sale, and in Europe, Opel was recently sold, with Canada's Magna taking the largest stake.

GM's filing comes barely a month after Chrysler announced its own bankruptcy. Chrysler, like GM, received government bailout funds ahead of its bankruptcy filing.

Op-ed: This author, while generally supportive of domestic manufacturing, has publicly endorsed GM and Chrysler's bankruptcies, and hopes Detroit's once-big three will be able to continue a proud American tradition.

S&K Menswear, which filed for bankruptcy in February, has decided to close all its stores through liquidation. The chain has begun final clearance sales at all 105 stores.

In the wake of its bankruptcy filing, Chrysler has sent shutdown notices to 789 dealers around the United States. The outlets, which are typically well-protected from forced closures, can be closed since Chrysler has declared bankruptcy. The 789 stores are roughly 25 percent of Chrysler's total; the resulting network of around 2300 pales in comparison to the 6000-plus locations open at the company's peak.

General Motors, which is still debating a bankruptcy filing, has announced plans to close 2600 dealerships but details have not been disclosed.

Discount retailer Filene's Basement filed for bankruptcy and agreed to sell 17 of its 25 remaining stores as part of its reorganization. The filing is expected to allow the stores to continue operating while the new owner takes over the chain.

Filene's Basement sold itself to a liquidation firm last month as preparation for the move, three months after closing a third of its stores to eliminate underperforming locations.

Multichannel retailer iFloor, which filed for bankruptcy in December, has returned as a pure-play ecommerce site. The new entity, simply called iFloor.com, is being operated by a Chinese firm that bought iFloor's assets. The new owner is planning on being exclusively online for the time being, as iFloor's stores all closed before the takeover. Before bankruptcy iFloor had at least 35 brick-and-mortar stores along with its web presence.

Struggling discount retailer Filene's Basement has been sold to a liquidation and turnaround specialist. Officials noted "uncertainty" for its 25 doors but no announcement of store closings or liquidation has been made.

Filene's Basement has had difficulty all year; in January it closed 11 stores in a restructuring move.

For what it's worth, Timely Demise is a fan of Filene's Basement (so say many of the clothes in the TD closet) and is rooting for a turnaround and not a liquidation.

Timely Demise read two interesting articles in yesterday's New York Times. First, the news: retail sales fell in March, as did producer prices, as a temporary bump in spending pulled back. While a few chains posted sales gains, the overall retail industry fell 1.1%, suggesting continued weakness but not market contraction.

More curious was the Times' coverage of bankrupt stores resuscitated as brands. Several companies are being leveraged for their well-known identities despite the failure of their store-level businesses. Among them: Sharper Image, which sold its name for a hefty sum to use on a new line of gadgets; as well as Linens 'n Things and Bombay.

Furniture chain Z Gallerie has filed for bankruptcy. The company said the move would strengthen the business and that it had enough cash to continue operations. Z Gallerie closed 21 of its 78 stores last this winter in response to the sales slowdown.