Home Bistro has Hit Hard Times: The gourmet food merchant on March 20 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of New York.
Founded in 1999, Home Bistro specializes in vacuum-sealed and flash-frozen meals prepared by chefs and sold through its catalog and its e-commerce site. Steven Jones, CEO of the Plattsburgh, NY-based company, says that Home Bistro will run business as usual as it looks to restructure.
The multichannel company, which employs 60 full-time and eight part-time workers, has until July 20 to submit its restructuring plan, according to the filing. Home Bistro is being represented by Francis Brennan of Nolan and Heller, a law firm based in Albany, according to Plattsburgh’s Press Republican newspaper.
Home Bistro has estimated assets of less than $100,000 and more than $1 million in estimated liabilities, according to its filing. Its largest unsecured claims include printer RR Donnelley ($393,000), United Parcel Service ($188,000) and list firm Millard Group ($70,000).
“No filing surprises me now,” says Stuart Rose, managing director with investment firm Tully & Holland, about Home Bistro’s Chapter 11 status. Business is tough — postage rates hurt, prospecting response is down, he says. “It is a difficult time to be a cataloger, and an even more difficult time to be a small- to mid-size cataloger.”
