Readers in New Jersey may be surprised to learn that one company is responsible for as much as 70 percent of the school supplies sold to school districts in our state and across the nation. The company, School Specialty, supplies not only traditional papers and crayons, but also has divisions for furniture and other school district needs. Now, however, the company is facing a commercial bankruptcy.
The commercial bankruptcy that was recently filed by the company may have come in part due to the economic recession that has affected many businesses in New Jersey over the past few years. In fact, one recent report notes that the furniture division of School Supply, Inc has been hard especially hit by funding cuts that have affected many school districts. In addition, the company has lost approximately 30 percent of its workforce due to layoffs over the past four years.
The commercial bankruptcy petition that was filed indicated that the company has $494.5 million in assets. This is offset by $394.5 million in liabilities. The company reports that they have many creditors, including Crayola, Inc and Bank of New York Mellon Corp.
Like this company, many businesses have found that they must file for a commercial bankruptcy in recent years. This has occurred in some cases because the number of customers for many such organizations has fallen as the country has suffered through the recent recession. The good news is that as a business goes through the bankruptcy process, it may find that it can survive under new ownership, as may occur in the School Supply, Inc case, or that it may be able to emerge from bankruptcy with a fresh financial picture and a return to profitability.
Source: jsonline.com, “School supply distributor School Specialty files for bankruptcy protection,” Rick Barrett, Jan. 28, 2013
