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Bankruptcy

Canadian Distributor HB Fenn Initiates Bankruptcy Proceedings

February 3, 2011
By Sarah Weinman

Meanwhile, the surprise bankruptcy filing came yesterday from Canada, where the country’s largest distributor HB Fenn & Company initiated bankruptcy proceedings under the country’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. In a brief statement Fenn said it had “encountered significant financial challenges due to the loss of distribution lines, shrinking margins and the significant shift to e-books, all of which have significantly reduced the company’s revenues.” The company’s Lisa Winstanley told the National Post more bluntly, “we’re ceasing operations effective immediately.” The paper calls it “the largest collapse of a Canadian publishing company since General Distribution Services/Stoddart Publishing went under in August […]

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Distributor Tells Clients No Cash from Borders

November 7, 2008
By Michael Cader

Distributor IPG told clients in an e-mail (now cited on multiple websites) that Borders “tell us that they will not be paying us for two months due to anticipated excessive returns.” In the letter, clients were told that for new shipments to Borders, the distributor will guarantee only the actual printing cost of those books, for as long as “there are serious concerns about Borders viability.” IPG president Mark Suchomel tells us that “almost all of the clients” have instructed the company to continue shipping orders to Borders. He notes that “we’ve typically been very conservative and that’s been a […]

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When Retailers Go Under

November 5, 2008
By Michael Cader

When times are good, retailers thrive during the holidays and when times are hard, the holiday selling season can be the springboard to bankrupty. Bloomberg explains, “In the last quarter century, about a fifth of large retailers that went bankrupt, including RH Macy & Co. Inc. and FAO Schwarz, did so in January, using holiday sales cash to jump-start reorganizations or finance liquidations.” But “this bankruptcy season is different. Retailers with reduced revenue or bloated debt are closing down early because of a consumer spending slump linked to the credit crunch, dwindling inventory values and restrictive changes in the bankruptcy […]

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Children's Publisher Playmore Files for Bankruptcy

August 5, 2008
By Michael Cader

Facing sharply declining revenue, publisher of value-priced children’s mass market titles Playmore filed for bankruptcy in New Jersey recently. The company, which had sales of $22.8 million in 2006, registered just $3.2 million in sales this year. The NJ Record notes that “the bankruptcy comes 15 months after Playmore sued its partner, Waldman Publishing Corp. of New York, seeking $55 million in damages and compensation. The suit, which has been settled pending certain conditions, claimed that the companies jointly owned the copyright to the books they produced, and accused Waldman of trying to put Playmore out of business. “News story

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Olsson's Wins Conversion to Chapter 11

July 15, 2008
By Michael Cader

Struggling under an involuntary Chapter 7 liquidation filing from a group of creditors, Washington, DC-area bookseller Olsson’s was granted a conversion to Chapter 11 status by a Federal Bankruptcy court of Maryland last Friday. Olsson’s listed assets of $929,428 and liabilities of $1,951,629. In a filing from three major publishers, Random House has an unsecured claim of more than $175,000, while Penguin’s claim is more than $171,500 and Hachette is owed just under $40,000. Principal owner John Olsson still expresses hope that the store group will “maintain operations while implementing a plan for successful restructuring.” Comptroller says all they need […]

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