Hilo Hattie filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today, three months after a California company bought the Hawai'i retailer.

The company estimated assets and liabilities both in the $10 million to $50 million range.

Hilo Hattie is one of the state's largest retailers of Hawai'i fashions and gifts. The company was founded in 1963 on Kaua'i by Jim Romig, who began the business as Kaluna Hawaii Sportswear and later purchased a Hilo company that gave him the rights to the Hilo Hattie name, tied to Island entertainer Clarissa Haili.

Romig sold the business in July to a private investor group led by Ted Nelson, doing business as TOC Inc. Nelson, through San Diego-based FS Hawaii Inc., also owns franchise rights to Fantastic Sams salons in Hawai'i and California.