Tattered Cover parent company puts Denver bookstore chain up for sale
The Tattered Cowl is placing itself on the for-sale rack alongside its merchandise, the bookstore introduced Friday.
Bended Web page LLC, which owns and operates the Tattered Cowl E book Retailer, requested the court docket Friday to postpone an upcoming chapter reorganization listening to so the corporate might reply to potential consumers, in line with a Friday information launch from Tattered Cowl.
Whereas the shop didn’t identify the consumers that had already reached out, the corporate is in discussions with a number of people and companies throughout the nation, the discharge said.
The shop additionally “expects further curiosity from different potential consumers as phrase spreads that Colorado’s iconic impartial bookstore is open to being acquired,” the discharge said.
Bended Web page’s board of administrators determined final week that promoting Tattered Cowl to a certified, dedicated new proprietor was in the most effective long-term pursuits of the corporate, buyers, workers, suppliers and Colorado’s literary neighborhood, in line with Tattered Cowl’s launch.
Tattered Cowl initially filed for Chapter 11 chapter on Oct. 16, 2023, closed three of its seven Colorado shops and eradicated greater than 1 / 4 of the bookstore chain’s jobs.
The Chapter 11 restructuring submitting was meant to present Tattered Cowl entry to elevated funds and assist whereas the corporate labored to beat monetary points that pre-existed, however worsened through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Important to the corporate’s restructuring effort was securing a debtor-in-possession mortgage from Learn Colorado LLC, which prolonged Tattered Cowl’s means to function past final October, regardless of its lack of stock and funds, in line with Friday’s launch.
“Learn Colorado’s DIP mortgage was the lifeline that allowed Tattered Cowl to transform itself into a robust place to be acquired by individuals who share our dedication to impartial bookstores,” CEO Brad Dempsey said within the launch. “It supported ongoing operations so we might pay wages and advantages for greater than 70 workers, in addition to severance to these we needed to let go once we consolidated our retailer places. We had been in a position to hold paying lease at our 4 native shops, host many terrific occasions and paid greater than $300,000 in gross sales taxes to the communities we serve.”
Though the bookstore chain misplaced $340,000 in January and projected a $110,000 loss for February — in line with a Feb. 21 replace filed with the U.S. Chapter Court docket — rising curiosity in shopping for the Tattered Cowl chain has been fueled by the shop’s full schedule of occasions, and year-over-year month-to-month gross sales numbers which can be higher than the nationwide common for impartial bookstores, Friday’s launch said.
Tattered Cowl initially proposed a reorganization plan March 7, with a affirmation listening to scheduled for Could 28.
A sale course of would require amendments to the reorganization plan, in addition to clarification and court docket approval of particular procedures for responding to bids from potential consumers.
Within the movement launched Friday, Bended Web page requested the court docket to postpone the listening to to no sooner than June 17.
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