Hancock Fabrics is going out of business and is closing its remaining 185 stores across the country.
The fabric chain filed for bankruptcy back in February and at that time said it was going to restructure. The company had said it hoped to be more competitive and expected that it may close some stores.
Great American Group WF LLC acquired the assets of Hancock in a bankruptcy auction when it was the highest bidder on March 31. Great American is a subsidiary of B. Riley Financial Inc.
“Great American Group has worked closely with Hancock Fabrics in a range of capacities over the last several years,” said Scott Carpenter, president of GA’s Retail Solutions division. “This has given us a deep understanding of Hancock’s inventory and assets, which ultimately allowed us to prevail as the highest bidder.”
Great American expects the stores’ going out-of-business sales to last for several weeks until all the merchandise is sold.
The inventory is valued at $280 million and will go towards paying the creditors. The largest debt is $1 million that is owed to Myletex International in New Jersey. Perfect Textiles of New Jersey was also owed $455,000. Simplicity Patterns and McCall Patterns were each owed roughly $300,000.
Hancock Fabrics was founded in 1957 in Tupelo, Mississippi as a low-cost fabric chain. By 1992, the company was operating 482 stores in the U.S. Its peak sales reached $380 million and its employees numbered 7,390.
However, from that point on, the company struggled as sales dropped and debt increased. Store size was reduced and underperforming stores closed. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2007 and closed 104 stores. Hancock Fabrics emerged from that bankruptcy in 2008. Then it made plans to go private in 2014, but those plans fell through as well.