Personal bankruptcy filings fall by 16% in Massachusetts
The final tally for 2011 is in, and banking industry watchdog The Warren Group estimates that personal bankruptcy filings in Massachusetts dropped 16% compared to the previous year. That may make 2010 the high water mark for bankruptcy for all time. The drop was in line with the national figures, which also went down about [...]
Leigh Steinberg — the “real” Jerry Maguire, has filed for bankruptcy
The need to file a bankruptcy case can happen to anyone. Just recently ESPN brought the news that once high-flying sports agent Leigh Steinberg, known as the inspiration for the “show me the money” character of Jerry Maguire in the movie of that name, has filed a Chapter 7 case in California. In his heyday, [...]
Billy Graham comments on the propriety of consumer bankruptcy
The famous evangelist Billy Graham was recently asked in his local newspaper’s question-and answer forum whether it was morally wrong for a married couple to file a consumer bankruptcy case. The couple wrote to Graham’s newspaper advice column saying they had gotten into a financial bind when they moved, couldn’t sell their old house, and [...]
Kodak “one of the most angry companies to file for bankruptcy”
Commentary keeps rolling in on the decision by Eastman Kodak to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Here is a short video by three Wall Street Journal commentators: I was amazed that the expected drop in film sales (by industry analysts) was 10%; the secret internal expected drop at Kodak’s top management was 20%; and the [...]
North Andover cartoonist has a “Wicked Local” take on the Twinkies bankruptcy
Editorial cartoonist Dave Granlund has this take on the recent bankruptcy filing of Twinkies maker Hostess Foods on the North Andover Wicked Local website, and I couldn’t resist putting it here too: Twinkies are still being sold — the company is in Chapter 11, not liquidation — and there are still a lot of people [...]
Twinkies maker bankrupt again
The makers of the once popular lunch snack Twinkies and Ring-Dings have filed for bankruptcy for at least the second time. Hostess Brands still has enough cash to keep store shelves stocked for the time being. But the iconic brands they make have been hurt by a shift to healthier eating habits among Americans. Hostess [...]
Lawrence and Methuen shops spared as Friendly’s emerges from bankruptcy
The Friendly’s restaurants in Lawrence, Methuen and Haverhill / Plaistow were all spared when the chain closed a number of it’s Massachusetts stores right before ending its bankruptcy case. Ten Massachusetts Friendly’s were closed on Sunday January 8th, part of 37 which were shuttered last week across the country. the Massachusetts closures were mainly in [...]
Kodak: another American institution headed to bankruptcy?
We are just a few days in to 2012, and there is already rumors of another possible big bankruptcy filing from a titan of corporate America. This time it is the Eastman Kodak Company that might consider the protection of bankruptcy court. The firm is practically synonymous with photography world wide, but they have obviously [...]
Financial optimism for 2012
At the end of 2011 an Associated Press poll found 62 percent of Americans are optimistic about what 2012 will bring for the nation and 78 percent are hopeful about their family situation, while nearly 70 percent say that 2011 was a year to forget. Food and gas prices surged in 2011, but there are [...]
Filene’s Basement’s final sale
One of the downbeat Massachusetts bankruptcy stories of 2011 had a bitter conclusion on Dec. 29th, when the last of the Filene’s Basement stores closed for good. The Boston retail legend, which filed for bankruptcy for the third time in October, was shuttered after selling off its remaining inventory, plus the store fixtures themselves. The [...]
