Speculation Grows Over LNT Bankruptcy Protection Filing
By Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 4/13/2008 9:22:00 PM
New York — An ad hoc group of unsecured creditors – including some major suppliers – is expected to meet today with executives of Linen ‘n Things, according to Home Textiles Today (HTT), the textile industry’s leading trade publication. The meeting comes in the wake of growing speculation that the retailer will file for bankruptcy protection as early as tomorrow.
In addition to household linens, bathroom and kitchen accessories, LNT sells a wide variety of gift products. This merchandise includes gifts for wedding party members, picture frames, engraved and monogrammed gifts, gourmet gift baskets, candle accessories and more. The retailer also sells its gift products, as well as other merchandise, online.
HTT, (sister publication of Gifts & Decorative Accessories), reports that several executives that supplied the chain confirmed the ad hoc meeting, adding that at least two retail liquidators have already conducted inventory valuations and store closing assessments in upward of 100 Linens ’n Things (LNT) units that might be shuttered.
At the same time, many suppliers, including at least some of its majors, have either stopped shipping LNT or placed them on COD status, people familiar with the situation said
While most expect LNT to file for bankruptcy protection tomorrow, some acknowledge it might come as early as today, according to HTT. The beleaguered retailer has apparently been preparing for that eventuality for at least two weeks, not long after its fourth quarter conference call in which it reported a steep net loss of $62 million on anemic sales of $962.9 million. During that time, LNT merchants and others have been calling around to vendors gathering formal corporate information on them — including mailing addresses and names of senior executives — the kind commonly included in court filings listing unsecured creditors.
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