Retailer Coldwater Creek Files For Bankruptcy

Women’s clothing chain Coldwater Creek has filed for bankruptcy and plans to liquidate its operations.

The Idaho retailer — which has Pittsburgh-area stores in Ross, Monroeville, Mt. Lebanon, Cranberry, Grove City and Erie —announced that it plans to start liquidation sales in early May. The company’s most recent quarterly report listed 343 traditional stores, 36 factory stores and 7 spas.

Coldwater Creek said it has been reviewing its options for the past six months and considered many options, including a sale of the company. But the company wasn’t able to find a buyer or a source of enough capital to turn the business around.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/2014/04/11/Coldwater-Creek-files-for-bankruptcy/stories/201404110175#ixzz2ygqJfoxg

Sbarro Pizza Chain Files For Bankruptcy Protection For Second Time

The pizza restaurant chain Sbarro on Monday filed for bankruptcy protection for the second time in less than three years, after struggling with too much debt and lower customer traffic in the malls that house many of its restaurants.

Sbarro and more than 30 affiliates filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors with the US bankruptcy court in Manhattan.

Read more: http://dfm.timesherald.com/article/sbarro-pizza-chain-files-for-bankruptcy-protection-for-second-time/c8065ce850e3d91ac94aa80ba458c0a0

Harrisburg Mayoral Race: The Bottom Line On Bankruptcy

Harrisburg mayoral candidate Eric Papenfuse has suggested entering bankruptcy would hand control of the city over to an unelected federal judge, but that’s just not true.

Even in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy for businesses, the judge does not take over operation of the company, notes Widener law professor Juliet Moringiello. In a Chapter 9 filing for municipalities, the powers of the judge are even more limited.

Separating fact from fiction is not always easy as bankruptcy becomes a talking point in the Harrisburg mayoral election.

The Patriot-News has talked to a number of bankruptcy experts, including people involved with the Harrisburg Receiver’s negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on the record about the process.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/04/harrisburg_mayoral_race_the_bo.html

Journal Register Co., Parent Company Of The Mercury, Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Digital First Media, which operates MediaNews Group, Journal Register Co. and Digital First Ventures, on Wednesday announced that JRC filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and will seek to implement a prompt sale.

“We expect the auction and sale process to take about 90 days, and we are pleased to announce the company has a signed stalking horse bid for Journal Register Company from 21st CMH Acquisition Co., an affiliate of funds managed by Alden Global Capital LLC,” said John Paton, CEO of Digital First Media.

The filing enables JRC to continue normal business operations during the sale process.

Read more: http://business-news.thestreet.com/the-mercury/story/journal-register-co-parent-company-the-mercury-files-ch-11/1

AFA Foods In King Of Prussia Declares Bankruptcy

Ground beef in industrial grinder (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NEW YORK (AP) – Ground beef processor AFA Foods said Monday that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and selling its assets after the public outcry over the beef filler known as “pink slime” derailed its efforts to save its already struggling business.

A spokesman said in an email that the company does not rely on boneless lean beef trimmings and uses it only based on customer specifications. But he said the controversy over the ammonia-treated meat filler has dramatically reduced demand for all ground beef products.

AFA Foods, based in King of Prussia, Pa., processes more than 500 million pounds of ground beef products a year. It distributes to retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Safeway Inc. and BJ’s Wholesale Club. Fast-food chain customers include Burger King, Jack in the Box and Wendy’s.

Read more: http://business-news.thestreet.com/the-times-herald/story/afa-foods-king-prussia-declares-bankruptcy/1

Kodak Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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ROCHESTER, NY — Eastman Kodak Co., running short of cash and unable to sell 1,100 digital imaging patents that could have rescued it, filed Wednesday for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The iconic Rochester company, whose history dates to the late 19th century and the technical and marketing genius of founder George Eastman, has been besieged for the past three months by rumors that it would make a bankruptcy filing. Those rumors had intensified in the past two weeks.

“After considering the advantages of Chapter 11 at this time, the board of directors and the entire senior management team unanimously believe that this is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak,” CEO Antonio M. Perez said in announcing the decision.

Read more: http://www.stargazette.com/article/20120119/BUSINESS/201190344/Kodak-files-Chapter-11-bankruptcy?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

Friendly’s Files For Bankruptcy – Closes 63 Restaurants

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Another victim of a bad economy is Friendly’s.  The chain has closed 63 restaurants, including their Coventry Mall location in Pottstown.

No other locations have been listed for closure so hopefully Shoemaker Road in Pottstown is safe!

Click the link below to see a complete list of closed locations, by state:

http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=337122

Borders Adds 26 More Stores To Chapter 11 Closing List

Here is the list of Borders stores closing in Pennsylvania taken from their website.  The Philadelphia store was just added Thursday, March 17^th.

Camp Hill, PA	Capital City Commons		3515 Gettysburg Road
Erie, PA	Millcreek Pavilion		2088A Interchange Rd
King of Prussia, PA	The Pavilion at King of Prussia		650 Mall Blvd.
Langhome, PA	Marketplace at Oxford Valley		2343 E. Lincoln Highway
Monroeville, PA		200 Mall Blvd
Philadelphia, PA (closing by late May 2011)		1 South Broad, Suite 100
Pittsburgh, PA	Crossgates Shopping Center		1775 North Highland Road
Pittsburgh, PA	Eastside Shopping Center		5986 Penn Circles South, Ste 101
Reading, PA	Woodmill Commons		1075 Woodland Rd
Whitehall, PA	Whitehall Mall		1937 Whitehall Mall

For a complete list of store closures nationwide:

http://media.bordersstores.com/pdf/Borders_Reorg_Closure_Listupdated3-17.pdf

Borders announced July 18th that it was going out of business and closing their remaining 400 stores after finding a buyer fell through.

Borders Bookstores File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

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Borders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York on Wednesday.

Borders is hemorrhaging cash at the rate of $2 million dollars a day from underperforming stores.  Borders intends to close 200 of its 642 stores nationwide.  The closures will come in the next few weeks.  Clearance sales could start as early as this weekend.

Borders will receive $505 million in debtor-in-possession financing from GE Capital Partners and others to help with the reorganization.  Borders owes over $100 million to various publishers.  Book sales nationwide fell 5 percent in 2010.  Borders controls 14.3 percent of the book selling market.  Barnes & Noble, on the other hand, controls 29.8 percent of the market which is helping them survive the economic downturn.

Borders has been in business since 1971, when it started out with one used bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Borders was owned by Kmart Corp. from 1992 until 2006.  Borders committed a fatal error when it opted out of their e-commerce contract with Amazon.com in 2001.  This decision made it possible for Barnes & Noble to eventually double Borders market share.