Hilo Hattie, a Hawaiian-themed retailer, on Thursday filed for bankruptcy protection, according to a court document.
The company has 265 full- and part-time employees and operates seven stores in Hawaii and two in Southern California, according to a court document. Its only O.C. store at The Block at Orange spans 20,000 square feet and sells resort fashions, home accessories, gourmet foods and island jewelry, according to its Web site. The other Southern California store is in San Diego.
“We’re not closing. We’re staying in business. We see this as a fresh start,” chief executive Ted Nelson told The Associated Press.
According to the court document: “Unfortunately, due to global uncertainties in the financial markets, historic oil prices, the contraction of the United States economy, the resultant weakening of Hawaii’s tourist driven economy, these additional efforts to restructure the company’s debt were not sufficient to permit the company to avoid seeking relief under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code.”
The company’s gross sales for fiscal year ended Oct. 7 were about $56 million, down from $69 million the prior year. Fiscal 2007 resulted in a loss of about $4.6 million. In the prior year, it had a profit of $500,000.
Total sales for fiscal 2008 will be substantially lower than that of 2007. The company also expects another large loss, according to the court document.
(Photo from Hilo Hattie Web site.)
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For more from OC Retail, see list of links on right-hand side of this blog.
Other business news:
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- Early Sept. O.C. home sales take biggest jump in 5 years
- O.C. firms launch ‘Apple store’ of the airline industry
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Oh No!
Well, this is sad. and yet it’s the way bussines is supposed to operate. At least they are a brick and mortar co. that actually provides goods to the consumer, and they didn’t function in a state of denial until they had borrowed as much as they could before putting up the white flag like all these clowns on Wall Street .
I totally predicted what store it was before I even clicked on the article. Of course the store with some of the most frivolous crap at The Block is going to go bankrupt in today’s economy!
Hawaii is taking a huge hit from the airline fallout, fuel prices and economy. In some areas, retailers are reporting 30-40% in losses. In Kona, shops are reducing staff or closing everything. Even the local hospital if having layoffs.
it is easy to predict the demise of this store.