Shoe company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

A shoe company in another state recently acknowledged that it needed to take major steps to address its debt problem. Specifically, it decided to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. When companies in Massachusetts are facing financial struggles, filing for this type of bankruptcy may be the best move they can make.

In the recent out-of-state case, the shoe company, Rockport Group, asserted that part of the reason for its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is that fewer people today are going to physical shops to buy shoes. The firm also blamed the filing on a rocky separation from Adidas unit Reebok, its former owner. Adidas unit Reedbok in 2015 sold Rockport to a venture that Berkshire Partners and shoe business New Balance created. Rockport Group has brands that include Dunham, Rockport and Aravon.

The company follows Nine West and Payless ShoreSource into the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. Rockport, however, is striving to stay in business by being sold to a private equity company. However, it may have to shutter the doors of all of the company’s standalone retail shops, including a total of 27 throughout the United States.

Sometimes, market conditions and other business-related factors make it difficult for companies in Massachusetts to stay afloat financially. In these situations, the companies fighting to survive may want to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. An attorney can help the owners of businesses both large and small confidently complete each step of the bankruptcy filing process, making sure that the business ownerbs’ rights are protected from beginning to end.

Source: usatoday.com, “Rockport files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy: Shoemaker may close stores“, Nathan Bomey, May 14, 2018