TORONTO – Sherson Group, the operator of Nine West shoe stores in Canada, will ask a judge next week for more time to stave off creditors as it works on a plan to sell itself to its U.S. supplier.

The Toronto-based company says it has reached a purchase agreement with a division of Jones Apparel Group, the New York-based company which has licensed its Nine West brand to Sherson for years and supplied its merchandise.

But Sherson is asking the court to extend its creditor protection until Oct. 4, which it says would provide enough time to draw up a proposal to the other creditors owed money.

Financial details included in the court filings were redacted.

An Ontario Superior Court judge will consider the motion on Thursday.

Sherson Group operates 43 Nine West locations in Canada, two factory outlet stores and a wholesale operation and has 549 employees.

The company owes $32.2 million to more than 60 suppliers, lenders and other businesses, according to documents filed earlier this month.

Of that amount, about $19 million is owed to the Nine West Group, the U.S. company which operated within Jones Apparel.

In documents filed late Thursday, Sherson lawyers said financials at the Canadian company were so tight it couldn’t afford to purchase enough footwear to keep its stores in stock for the fall season.

“The only chance to save the business as a going concern is therefore to sell to Nine West Group,” the company said in the court filing.

The documents say Sherson also considered a liquidation of its stores but concluded that preserving the business would be a benefit to all of the stakeholders and that the undisclosed purchase price “compares favourably to what would be obtained in a liquidation.”

In an affidavit, CEO Stephen Applebaum said Sherson Group was affected by the sudden drop in the value of the Canadian dollar and a “failed pricing and volume purchasing strategy” that was put in place by Nine West Group.

Applebaum, who also owns the company, has been listed as being owed $415,413 while associated company Stephen Applebaum Inc. is owed $3.4-million.

The latest filings say both Applebaum and his company have consented to the sale even though the price tag won’t be enough to repay all the money owed to them.

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