How Spiegel Recovered

2. Spiegel Group then began a series of cost-cutting measures, including the shuttering of its Hampton, Va., call center, layoffs and a cost restructuring to take Eddie Bauer out of the picture.

3. Golden Gate Capital acquired both Spiegel and Newport News in August 2004, then consolidated their respective management teams in Newport's New York headquarters, and cleared out of Spiegel Group's massive Downers Grove, Ill., headquarters.