Medford, OR—Several weeks ago, Northwest’s Best president Jan Lajoie told CATALOG AGE that her company hoped to raise up to $500,000 through a Small Corporate Offering Registration—a type of mini-IPO for small catalogers. But apparently the cataloger of gifts from the Pacific Northwest couldn’t raise the money quickly enough. On May 15, Northwest’s Best’s 800-number and several office numbers had been disconnected, and the Website’s home page read: “This store is closed. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience.”

Sue Densmore of Communications Strategies, the public relations firm that formerly represented Northwest’s Best, confirmed that the company was closed. Densmore said that she had received notification of the termination of the business last week. Neither Lajoie nor other representatives of Northwest’s Best could be reached for comment.

In her earlier interview with CATALOG AGE, Lajoie said, “If we can raise our minimum of $100,000 [through the public offering], we can take care of our debt and produce two catalogs back to back to grow, generate capital, and move forward.” Lajoie had said that response to the offering, filed in March, has been favorable.

Medford, OR–Handcrafted gifts cataloger Northwest’s Best earlier this month filed for a small corporate offering at $1.00 per share that allows the company to raise $500,000 through 500,000 shares of common stock, CATALOG AGE has learned. The cataloger filed for the offering through a Small Corporate Offering Registration, or SCOR, under which companies can raise up to $1 million through the issuance of stock to individuals. Northwest’s Best’s offering was made effective by state regulators in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, and Utah. The cataloger plans to use the capital generated by the offering to reduce debt, expand catalog circulation, and build up its Website.