Russ Bankruptcies Leave $60-$150 Million in Debts
Creditors include Kid Brands, Encore Chairman
GDA Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 4/26/2011 4:00:54 PM
Wayne, NJ - Russ Berrie U.S. Gift Inc. and The Russ Companies Inc. filed related Chapter 7 bankruptcy petitions on April 21, according to New Jersey court documents.
Russ Berrie U.S. Gift estimates that it has $10-$50 million in assets and $50-$100 million in debts to 1,000-5,000 creditors, but no creditors list has yet been filed.
However The Russ Companies listed only $0-$50,000 in assets with another $10-$50 million in debts to 1-49 creditors and listed three: Eldridge Hanes, chairman of the Encore Group, which bought the Russ Berrie name and gift business in 2008; Russ Berrie and Company Inc. dba Kid Brands Inc.; and Wells Fargo Bank National Association.
Kid Brands, the former Russ Berrie Co., holds a 19.9 percent stake in the company, as well as a promissory note for $19 million that matures in December 2013.
A hearing is scheduled for May 12.
In the meantime, local newspaper The Record reported that the company closed a warehouse and terminated 247 workers.
The company has not yet responded to Gifts & Decorative Accessories inquiries.
Take a number. Who is next to declare the big B.
It will happen.One by one the companies with direct sales forces will fail. The gift industry is over. the mom and pops are declining in numbers every day. if you are in
the industry, get out while you can. retrain and enter another industry. the only stores people need are target and walmart.
gift man - 2011-04-30 12:37:26 EDT
I can't believe that just happened in that way. Our factory is the victim, that, encore owes us around us$1.2 million. Do they really care about on even think about how those vendors feel now??? And we even got no notice from them when they announced bankcruptcy. They should be responsible for all the creaditors. We may doubt that where is all the money heading to (selling profit), after all the vendors shipped the goods to RUSS. Why vendors couldn't get paid after been working so hard on each piece of item....It's more than ironic and ridiculous now.
Jellybean - 2011-04-27 02:00:31 EDTNo related articles for this topic.
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