Oh no that's my favorite store! I have one 5 minutes by my house, they know me in there....I'm sad. I even sent my DH christmas shopping in there for me.....they were so nice and helped him find the stuff on my list....

Wow, how sad. I shop there a lot, too. :/
Just in past 6 months we've seen two major local furniture stores close, plus Wickes, plus another one close a location. News articles are saying with housing slump and rising gas/food prices consumers aren't spending as much on home goods.

ok... i have an idea here but what's chapter 11?

Oh no- I love my LNT. They always take my 20% off coupons from Bed, Bath and Beyond, whether or not they're expired. Hmmm...maybe I'm the cause?!

Bankruptcy, Sharee.

The business terrain in our country sure looks different than it used to.

sheesharee - it's a legal way for the company to protect itself from creditors. Hopefully they will be able to regroup and come back in a stronger position.

Jim

Definition
When a troubled business is unable to service its debt or pay its creditors, the business or its creditors can file with a federal bankruptcy court for protection under either chapter 7 or chapter 11. In chapter 7, the business ceases operations and a trustee sells all of its assets and distributes the proceeds to its creditors. This is done in accordance with statutory defined priorities. A chapter 11 filing, on the other hand, is usually an attempt to stay in business while a bankruptcy court supervises the "reorganization" of the company's contractual and debt obligations. The court can grant complete or partial relief from most of the company's debts and its contracts, so that the company can make a fresh start. Often, if the company's debts exceed its assets, then at the completion of bankruptcy the company's owners (stockholders) all end up with nothing; all their rights and interests are terminated and the company's creditors end up with ownership of the newly reorganized company.

Ooohh. well that's not good.

There's not too many places around here to find drapes.

They may be trying to find a buyer for the company, too. As Chijim posted, it gives them time.

The housing slump is hitting all kinds of companies, and home decor will be a part of the sectors affected.

I guess most people are struggling to pay for gas and are putting off buying non-essentials at stores like LNT.

No no! I love that store....much better than BB&B. Hope they get their act together and don't go completely under. Anyone hear anything further on Pier One? Some rumors were flying when Bombay went under that they were next?

By the way, is it true Bombay is coming back under a new name? All these companies are scaring me. We really are in a true recession, aren't we.

I thought I had heard something similar about Bombay lindy, so I checked. Guess what I found!? Their website was not like that before, it was essentially a dead page that said they no longer had online services or something along those lines. I hope these companies can pull out of this. Of course part of the factor is us spending our $$. ;)

Another factor is the increase in online shopping.

Dang. About two weeks ago, the local newspaper printer made an error and sent me about forty 20% off coupons for LNT. I hope BBB continues to take them.

I used to like BBB stores... now they're kinda trashy.

Too bad. I have never shopped there as there is not one in my area.
There is definitely too much retail and also as mclarke mentioned - online shopping.
So only the strong survive ---- which appears to be WalMart. I read the other day that despite the recession, despite the "lack of purchasing" WalMart is continuing to grow. Their sales are up. I will never, ever go there, but can understand why people do. Cheaper, cheaper.
Places like WalMart, Lowe's, HD - are driving companies right out of business.
DH used to be a national sales manager for a company that sold its products mainly to hardware stores, Ace, True Value, etc. We have watched this over the years. As Lowe's and HD grew, the hardware stores shrunk. Some of the buying co-ops merged, some went under.
When they would give a price increase, Lowe's and HD would flat out tell them they would not accept it. So then the manufacturer needs to decide how much they can get squeezed before they can no longer make a profit. And that is one of the reasons the company he was with went under. They had a product superior to other brands --- and wanted to continue to make a quality product. Lowe's and HD didn't care. They bought the cr*p at a cheaper price, and ultimately that is what the consumer has to buy - because that is all that is there. Too bad for all of us --- we are indeed in a recession.

Yes, people are struggling just to pay high gas and food prices, which means reduced sales for overpriced stores like LNT. Yes, it's a neat store, but let's face it, you can buy everything they carry somewhere else for much less. I remember the first time I went in one, I thought I mistakenly had gone in BB&B instead.

Oh this makes me ill!!! I don't have a LNT here (the nearest one is 1.5 hours away) but for another store to close up shop is sooo depressing. My husband is in the financial sector so usually when he gets the remote the channel changes to one with a ticker running across the bottom of the screen (so boring); however, I haven't heard about this one.

I was excited to see what moonshadow found about Bombay though. Two of my favorite items in my home are these gilt wood pictures frames that I found at a Bombay outlet for $8 each!! They totally look like antiques.

no-green-thumb - you are absolutely, 100% correct in your statements about Walmart & the Big Box stores. It happened in the office products industry (my life) before the hardware industry - much was written comparing the two industries' sad demise. Consumers complain about the poor service, poor quality, dangerous products, dirty stores, but they continue to give their hard earned dollars to Walmart, et al. Independent pharmacies, grocers, dry goods stores, appliance stores, are all in danger of disappearing, because of this mindset. It is indeed to bad for all of us.

I agree, n2 --- yes, you can buy whatever they sell cheaper and certainly people have the right to decide where to shop -- but part of my point was that as the big get bigger, they can dictate what prices they are willing to pay their suppliers and they are driving American manufacturing out of business - American manufacturing is for the most part gone. So now we are forced to buy poorly made imports that will last half as long - and we end up spending more in the long run.
But our economy does run on supply and demand.

I also think it's the case of over-saturation. Within a 45 minute drive from me I can come up with at least a dozen LnT's, BB&B, and assorted types of those places. Plus 3 outlet malls. Wicks furniture had two outlets, one at either end of town. One had just been built in a new mall and opened it's doors two weeks before they went out of business.

You can't tell me the corporation wasn't aware of their financial situation when they were stocking that store, much less building it!

Anyone know if they will still take their gift cards? I have a $50 one I need to use.

I'm with you Pesky. There is just too much retail. Around here a few years ago on every corner sprung up either Walgreen's, CVS or Rite-Aid. Some of those have already closed. It's all about who can survive. I have never been in LNT. I do not live close to a major shopping mall. But there are four huge malls/shopping areas within 25 minutes -
each a different direction. They just built another strip mall about 10 miles from here - my closest JoAnn's. I was so happy. But now the whole place is tanking, JoAnn's is gone, I heard Dick's and Office Max are going ---- so what will be left --- WalMart and a bunch of fast food joints.
Then what is left?? -- vacant eyesores!

Anyone know if they will still take their gift cards? I have a $50 one I need to use.

I would use it ASAP.

Linens n Things was here before Bed, Bath, & Beyond showed up on the scene. BBBY did what Walmart did to Target, they opened up a store right across the street from LNT just like Walmart when it opened across the street from Target. I like that because I can hit both stores if one doesn't have what I'm looking for. I've always thought of LNT as a trashier store than BBBY. So after BBBY opened up I took more of my business to that store, and running across the street to LNT whenever BBBY didn't have what I was looking for. They sell similar items but there are so many things you can get at one and not the other, greater variety for customers. I guess LNT couldn't compete against BBBY in the end. Remember when Michaels had Lee Wards as competition? Then Michaels bought out Lee Wards and now there's no competition for Michaels. I hate it when there's not enough competition and we end up with only one craft store. I think LNT was the reason Strouds went out of business. Who knows, maybe BBBY will buy out LNT.

I disagree that you can find every item that LNT sells at other stores, first of all you'd have to drive around to half a dozen stores to hit all the departments you get in one LNT. And second, the prices are cheaper than the housewares dept at Macys. Target and WalMart have only a fraction of the merchandise when compared to LNT and WalMart focuses on the cheaper quality brands. At least we still have BBBY but if they go under then I'm really going to be upset because no other store has the selection. It's a one-stop-shop for household items and that saves GAS! :)

I do hate to see another store close. I'm not a big fan of Walmart, but I am forced to shop there as there's nothing else closer. But even Walmart has gotten high, has anyone noticed? I miss the days of mom and pop stores where customer service was a priority. No one can help you now who knows a thing about the product.

And yes, what is up with a Wal-greens and CVS on every corner? Which one will be next to close? Reminds me of McDonald's who claims they are NOT in the hamburger fast food business, but in the real estate business. I think all of these stores are in the "real estate" business IMHO.

I'm willing to pay more for an item if the store is a well-run local business that has what I want without any hassles. We often shop at our local Ace Hardware even when you can get the same stuff at HD for less because it's closer to our house, it's pleasant, and the staff provides lots of knowledgable help.

What I've been finding is it's getting harder to find a B&M store that has stock anymore. Went to Old Navy last week -- and the shelves were practically empty! I think they are gearing most of their efforts toward Internet ordering. But I like to look at things IRL, actually sit on the furniture, try on the clothes, and so on. It's all very sad.

n2cookin, I think you're right -- for a lot of these businesses, the goods and services they offer seem to be less important than whether they make a profit (at least on paper) on their other assets, like real estate and investments.

I never really shopped there much, but often browsed. Kept holding off getting the curtains I wanted from there. Guess I'd better get them!

The liquidator that oversaw our Bombay store said that Pier One was really close to bankruptcy.

Re Bombay: A few days before our last day open for business I heard a rumour through some mgmt. that Bombay was looking at the possibility of selling wholesale.

Here's an article I just found alluding to that same thing:

Here is a link that might be useful: Bombay Co. Rebranding

Another thing I find interesting is that the prices at these places are so much lower than prices for similar goods at department stores and at higher end specialty stores. That tells me that they are probably not charging enough -- that is, they have been surviving on volume, and now that the volume is lower because of general economic problems, they are all in trouble.

Another thing I have heard in the past couple of months is that a lot of the factories in China that produce cheap goods have been closing -- the government there is trying to create more white-collar jobs -- so perhaps the cheap goods are not so cheap any more, or are not even available.

Maybe this is all for the better. Maybe people will stop buying cheap junk produced in developing countries and will start buying better made, though more expensive, goods produced closer to home.

I had a $100 item to return at LNT -- an hour away from me. I planned to do it today, but read this post early this AM and wondered if I could return it . . . no problem, but because I'd charged on their charge card, I had to take store credit. I also had a $20.00 "thanks" check . . . I wasn't about to expect to be able to use them later, so I bought a few small things and a $$ stock pot I've been eyeing . . .

Re gift card: I'd spend it soon!!

For a real eye-opener about what the big box stores are doing to the U.S. read Stacy Mitchell's book The Big Box Swindle. It's very depressing to read about the power of the big guys and the decline of service. I can't even enjoy my trips to Target any more.

The economy continues to be really scarey, but bad times are necessary I guess, to bring things back to reality. I do think it stinks when a store like K-Mart doesn't respect its debt and honor its commitments to the other companies it does business with, files bankruptcy, and then continues on business as usual. Doing business that way will send others down. I don't see how that can be legal. Wouldn't it be nice if we all just erase our debt and financial obligations. Poof!

I live near a real small LNT and stopped in there today. Now I remember why I never shop there - except towels, they have nothing I like. This one doesn't carry appliances or cookware. I think I'll head over to the larger one tomorrow and use the gift card there.

I just got back from running errands and when I saw LNT om my route took I decided to pull in to see what was up. Saw no signs informing customers the company is going out of business, no drastic clearances, looked same as always.
When it was my turn at the register I asked the clerk if she knew anything about LNT filing Chapter 11 and she said no. Didn't seem to concern her a bit, in face she asked me for my phone number so they can send me coupons. If a customer said that to me and I was an employee I would be very concerned for my job. Maybe she didn't even know what Chapter 11. All too often businesses will shock their employees at the last minute with the bad news so they won't leave in droves before the company is ready.

Chapter 11 does not mean the store is closing. It means the store is formally reorganizing & restructuring their debt and seeking protection from creditors while they work thru this. It may eventually not be able to be profitable again, and close, but at this point, filing for Chapter 11, they would not be posting signs saying the company is going out of business. They are trying to stay in business and they want to emerge from Chapter11.
I absolutely would use all store credits and gift cards asap. That is one of the problems with gift cards. There is no gurantee the store will be there when you want to use it.

*May* file is quite a bit different than filed.
It will probably happen but it hasn't yet.
More than likely that's why there aren't signs and hourly employees with knowledge of things that haven't happened yet.

That said, as a small business (retail decor) owner, the fewer big boxes the better. And, this is jmo btw, Target is no different, better, classier, etc. than WalMart. Tiger of a different stripe. They just make you feel *cooler* about shopping at a big box with the same imported crap and the same ugly, independent business stifling, corporate culture as WalMart, albeit with *cooler* advertising and marketing.

The retail landscape has changed because America has voted with their wallet.

Gift Cards: As of today, yes. I had $100 in gift cards and literally ran out the door as soon as I saw this post. Thank you, judiegal! I remember when Sharper Image filed for Chapter 11, they stopped accepting gift cards (b/c it was considered a loan to the company, not a sale).

I just heard a commercial that the 5 Salem area Wickes stores are having a 'Bankruptcy Liquidation Sale'. "Liquidation, all must go! Store closing" "Save 25% and take it home today!"

25% is liquidation price?!? And what really struck me was the "5 Salem area" stores. Fer cryin out loud, Salem "area" has a population of 350,000 people, and that covers two counties!

I think what happens is that a liquidation company takes over the store and they decide the prices. The original company is no longer in the picture. When the JoAnn's near me closed, I thought some good deals would be there.
They started with all of the yarn at 30% off --- can do better with a coupon at a regular store (they no longer took JoAnn coupons) and anything cut had to be a five yard minimum. Five yards! Clerks are standing there anyway, wouldn't it be better just to cut what people wanted.
Several of the Valu City stores around here closed. I stopped in one a few months ago. I went to the jewelry counter and picked out a few pieces at 40% off. When I went to pay, they rang at 60% off. The clerk told me that, yes, all of the things in the red boxes were 60% off. She said she told the liquidation managers that they should put those boxes on the other table with the 60% off things. ---She was told to leave them - it will be a nice surprise for people when they got 60% off. Perhaps they would have sold more on the 60% table --- go figure, a liquidation big wig with that mentality --- a minimum wage store clerk with common sense!!

"When a troubled business is unable to service its debt or pay its creditors, the business or its creditors can file with a federal bankruptcy court for protection under either chapter 7 or chapter 11. In chapter 7, the business ceases operations and a trustee sells all of its assets and distributes the proceeds to its creditors. This is done in accordance with statutory defined priorities. A chapter 11 filing, on the other hand, is usually an attempt to stay in business while a bankruptcy court supervises the "reorganization" of the company's contractual and debt obligations. The court can grant complete or partial relief from most of the company's debts and its contracts, so that the company can make a fresh start. Often, if the company's debts exceed its assets, then at the completion of bankruptcy the company's owners (stockholders) all end up with nothing; all their rights and interests are terminated and the company's creditors end up with ownership of the newly reorganized company."

I can think of several large companies that have filed chapter 11's over the years and they're still in business. Most would be our airlines including United, Delta, Continental but Ford Motor company and Mervyns a department store in my area have used this to reorganize in the past.

I live in an area that basically has no shopping. Nearest department store (even a Walmart) is a 25 minute drive from me. But what I have noticed is the new construction of "planned" shopping centers...the Walmart, BBB, Petco, Starbucks, Kohls, etc. in one complex that ARE currently being built. It seems more and more small quaint towns are loosing their "personalities" to these giants. DH calls them "cookie cutter" cities. Every one identical to the next towns and every home in those towns decorated identical to their neighbor. As soon as you see the sign go up at the beginning of construction you already KNOW what retail will be in the center and what merchandise each store carries. It seems at least in my area there are no cities with enough vision or want to work hard enough to come up with a solution for shopping without going the easy route and succumbing to these Mr Roboto kind of cities. They seem to be saying it's easier to go with the giants than to help our little unique stores grow with incentives, tax breaks or whatever. I've know several in the city where we have our business that went under when Walmart came in. Stupid thing about it was the city let Walmart have a 20 year no tax free ride while these smaller business that were paying taxes and fees to the city went under. Where's the logic in THAT?

I get much more upset that Mr and Mrs Joe Publics little gem of a store that they've had for 30 years went under because of giants like LNL and Wallymart.

WOW! So sorry! WAY to much coffee this morning .... and it's STARBUCKS!!!
;)

kats, I agree 100%. The town I live in has essentially no new home construction, no real suburban sprawl, no repetitive franchises. Well, there are only a couple, but because of the long standing contsraints that are specific to a small town in the southwest, we largely see none of this. We have mostly small, unique businesses owned by the people who work in them and live here, often for generations. The area is chronically economically depressed to some extent, but I know that the more growth and prosperity would come at the expense of the businesses that make the area so unique. I hope this town can experience some economic development without sacrificing the things that make it special and unique.

Big boys like Walmart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, etc moving deeper into the home furnishings arena. Puts a hurtin' on folks like LNT.

I went to a Linens N Things today here in Southern California (Tustin). I asked the cashier when the big bankruptcy sales begin and she just looked at me puzzled. I told her what I had read here and she said it was the first she had heard of it. I wonder if, like Wickes, some stores will not be affected by the bankruptsy.

Jodi-

I worked for Macy's (was Bullock's here in So. Cal back then) in the early 90's during their bankruptcy. As you well know, they did not shut down.

I have a Pottery Barn gift card here though that I feel the need to use pretty soon. You just never know these days.

Recession is biting us all! The huge company that I work for reduced its employee force by 50%!! Yikes!! DS and I still have our jobs, but nothing is set in stone!
I am sad about L&T...BBB is a trash heap by comparison in our area, and I do not shop Walmart. I occasionally go to Target, but only for vitamins and such that we can't get at our Mom and Pop drug store. I am a fabraholic and the thing that is hitting me the hardest is the loss of all of our fabric shops. I hate to go to Hobby Lobby, but they and Joann's are all that are left for fabrics, and their pickings are slim! Fortunately we still have 3 or 4 locally owned lumber yards and hardware companies...believe you me, I don't shop anywhere else if I can purchase what I need from them!!! and don't get me started about the grocery stores that only sell their brands! You have to beg to get name brands of any food item!!! The place that I have had the most luck getting what I want is the Mercado...if they don't have the brand that you need, they will order it....with a smile and a big thank you for shopping in their store!!

Well it's on the AOL Welcome Screen today that they may file tomorrow. I was just at the store and the clerk there told me that some stores will fare better than others. He said there store looks to be "okay". Whatever that means??

There must be a lot of stores hurting right now....I got a call today from Petsmart telling me my dog was overdue for a trim and a bath. WHAT? We've taken him there maybe once a year?

You remember the reasons given for it being essential to let the market decide which is the best way to go?

That competition will ensure that everyone offers the products and services that people desire ... they claim.

And it's partly true ... the corporations love competition ... among their suppliers. That way, the big guys can dictate to each supplier what they're willing to pay: take it or leave it. If they're big enough, many suppliers will take it ... until they are near bankrupt.

They love competition among their customers: if there are only a few, they have too much negotiating power ... there is more or less a level playing field.

But ... they hate it on their own level. Remember how we had a lot of little (granted, inefficient) dairies?

The locally dominant dairy'd come in and offer the little guy about half what his business was worth. If he refused, they'd undercut his prices till he could no longer survive. Then the big guys came along and ate the middle-sized ones.

When you have half a dozen players doing 80% of the business, do you figure that there's much competition?

We have a small number of gasoline suppliers in Canada. When there's a price rise ... four local stores all put up their price to the same amount ... at the same time.

After many complaints were heard, the government carried out several evaluations, over the years.

They all came up with the conclusion that, yes, there is competition in the petroleum business.

And all is well.

As communism fell in Russia, many very large businesses and agencies were sold off to certain well-placed individuals or small groups. So they start off with heavy centralization, from the start.

The same is going on in China as they gear up for participation in the market eceonomy - many very large companies are being set afloat.

A number of them with close association to the Chinese government ... or the army.

So theirs is to be a mature, over-centralized, economy from the start.

We talk a lot about "freedom" and "democracy" ... which we mean to be operational in the political, and substantially in the social, realm.

But a measure of "economic democracy" that some of us feel to be a worthwhile way to fly, doesn't get much consideration.

Corporations run by the golden rule: he wot has the gold ... makes the rules.

Good wishes for wise management of your life and assets.

ole joyful

Looks like it ain't just LNT, guys.

Use up those giftcards pronto!

Here is a link that might be useful: NYT report on financially wounded retail chains

In that NYT report, it's this line that really caught my eye

"Bombay, which once employed 3,608, now has 20 employees left."

Multiply by all the other store closings and it tells the trickle down story pretty clearly. I keep hearing this is a media manufactured recession - I'm not buying it.

The quality of stuff in Walmart is really poor, even name brands. I do not buy small appliances, most clothes anymore. Their small appliances may or may not be this years. If you check, as I did with some, they have been sitting around, for several years and/or returned with missing parts, no instruction book etc.
Many of their clothes and towels etc are made in a country I will not buy from as the quality is really bad.
I tested a shirt, by "gently" pulling it and it almost ripped.

I am on Linens and Things email distribution list. I just got an email from them advertising "Get Ready for Outdoor Living" with a 20% coupon code for any one item.

There is no way I am going to take a chance with it but how scary! You'd never be able to tell by this advertisement that they were having ANY problems...

I have told everyone I know about their potential issues mentioned above just in case.

"Signs" of our times:

{{!gwi}}