After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month (News, Feb. 19), Crown Books filed a motion last week for a liquidation sale of the remainder of the chain, and an auction was scheduled for the sale of its assets on March 1. A hearing before the Delaware Bankruptcy Court was set for Friday.
Chairman Charlie Cumello told PW that Books-a-Million was expected to bid on some of Crown's stores. "They're looking at a portion of the stores and a couple different options, but it's still in flux," he said.
Cumello anticipates that if the liquidation process begins, remaining Crown stores would stay open for eight to 12 more weeks before closing permanently. He also confirmed that on February 9, three days before filing for bankruptcy, Crown laid off the bulk of its home office staff, including 34 members of the merchandising, marketing and IT departments.
Cumello expressed regret that he couldn't do more to save the company, but said that in the end, it just wasn't possible. "The management team and everyone here fought a good fight over the last year and a half," he said. "But the softness in the book industry last year and the bad Christmas hit us at a bad time. Now, we're trying to get as much as possible back for the creditors."
