Edcon, the country's largest non-food retailer, confirmed this week that it was in talks with lenders over a restructuring of its hefty debt. Analysts have expressed concern about where Edcon - which owns blue chip brands including Edgars, Jet, Boardmans and CNA - is headed and what it will take to fix it.In 2007, Bain Capital Partners issued Edcon bonds to help pay the R25-billion price tag for the group in what was at the time, the country's largest private equity deal. But with the financial crisis, Edcon has struggled to repay this debt.Two years ago, it embarked on a capital expenditure programme to upgrade stores and has increased trading space by 5%. But concerns that Edcon may not be able to repay bondholders escalated in September last year when Morgan Stanley said in a note that the capital structure was "unsustainable".story_article_left1Debt advisory firm Houlihan Lokey and investment bank Goldman Sachs are now assisting with Edcon's capital overhaul. This includes possible new debt financing.CEO Jurgen Schreiber, who joined the group in 2011, will step down in August to take up a new role as vice-chairman of Edcon. He has decided not to renew his employment contract, which ends in April next year.Edcon was not planning any restructuring that could lead to job losses, he said.Independent retail analyst Syd Vianello said that if the group did not restructure its debt, there would be no business left to worry about. Vianello also warned that Edcon's competitors would take advantage of its difficult situation.He said Schreiber's move suggested that his turnaround plans had not succeeded.The debt crunch overshadowed news of Edcon's operational performance this week. It reported that full-year sales grew 2% to R25.5-billion, with cash sales up 11% and credit sales down 8%. This seemed like a creditable performance, but sales had grown 5.1% the previous year.While some have raised the prospect of Edcon relisting on the JSE, analysts do not see this happening soon, given its debt.This week, The Foschini Group also missed its earnings estimates, even as it announced a 10% increase in full-year profit. Here, too, the growth in cash sales (up 19.6%) outstripped credit sales (up 4.3%), which are more profitable for companies...