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No one may be sadder that C. Wonder is out of the picture than the founder himself, Chris Burch. The New York Times interviews Burch to see where it all went wrong, and Burch completely owns up to the retail bust. "I take full responsibility for the failure of C. Wonder," Burch says. "Please understand that." He also says that he harbors no hard feelings over losing $70 million in the bankruptcy.
The report pins C. Wonder's failure on Burch's emotion-driven approach to running the company. "There are some people who go careening blindly forward," Robert Burch, Chris's younger brother, says. "Chris is one of those." Indeed, many others have thought the same thing.
But no matter how many times the term "revenge retail" gets tossed around, Burch insists that his relationship with his ex-wife is on solid ground. He explains to Holson that, "Tory and I really get along, O.K.?" and C. Wonder wasn't trying to rip off the Tory Burch brand. Even after all that's happened, Burch isn't quite ready to give up on the C. Wonder brand: he's still trying to buy the brand's name and other assets for a reported $2 million.
· Revenge Retail Gone Awry? Tory Burch's Ex-Husband Describes C. Wonder's Fall [NYT]
· C. Wonder Failed Because of Chris Burch's Anger [Racked]
· Confirmed: C. Wonder Is Shuttering [Racked]