The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, host to every U.S. President since Eisenhower, has endured speculation about a purchaser for some time, as it lost $35 million last year alone. The enormous facility—720 rooms! A 40,000-square-foot spa!—filed for bankruptcy last week and, pending approval, will be "bought" by Marriott, and by "bought" they mean that the current owner, railway giant CSX, will pay Marriott $50 million to operate it in exchange for not much more money than that. Unless that deal goes south. (Get it? South?)
acquisition: March 2009 Archives
Dial-A-Mattress, the well-known mattress retailer who owns 1-800-MATTRESS and 1800mattress.com, has had an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy motion filed against it by three of its creditors. The trio are reportedly angry that 1800mattress.com is not paying its bills. Just last week Dial-A-Mattress announced a plan to be sold to a business entity called Dial Mattress Acquisition LLC, which promised a "swift" injection of cash to keep the company running.
The bankruptcy filing does not affect 1800mattress.com franchisees throughout New England, who noted business continues as usual at their stores.
In New Jersey, pharmacy chain Drug Fair has closed six of 40 locations and reports suggest it is considering a bankruptcy filing. The chain is also selling numerous stores to Walgreen. The store closings began unexpectedly last weekend and continued with in-store announcements today.
Drug Fair, which has a private-equity owner, also operates a dozen Cost Cutter discount stores across the state. Drug Fairs have been open since the 1950s.
Update, March 18: Walgreen is now buying all of Drug Fair and closing 11 locations in total. The rest of the stores will be converted to the Walgreen's name.
Apparel manufacturer VF Corp. has completed the purchase of Mo Industries, the maker of the Splendid and Ella Moss clothing lines. VF already owns a wide variety of clothing lines, from John Varvatos to Wrangler. The former Mo Industries lines are expected to do $70 million in sales this year--after a $95 million 2008 performance.
The credit crisis has impaired Sportsman's Warehouse, a regional outdoor-products retailer in the west. The company is selling 15 of its 67 stores to UFA of Canada, but UFA has not closed the sale. As a result, Sportsman's Warehouse is experiencing a liquidity crisis, and must close 23 of its remaining stores. "We are now a 29-store chain," says CEO Stu Upgaard. The store closings affect a wide swath of states from Idaho to Mississippi.
