Ritz Camera Centers Inc., the largest camera-store chain in the U.S., sought bankruptcy protection from creditors citing slumping sales at one of its units.
The Beltsville, Maryland-based company listed assets and debt of as much as $500 million each in Chapter 11 documents filed late yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. Creditors contend they are owed at least $65 million, according to the filing.
Ritz, which began as a one-man portrait studio, now has more than 1,000 locations in 45 states and is the largest-camera store chain in the country, according to the company’s Web site. A drop in consumer spending and slumping sales at its Boater’s World unit prompted the bankruptcy filing, officials said in court filings.
“The loss of revenues and profit margins from the diminution in the photo-finishing business proved too much of a burden, coupled with the losses experienced by the Boater’s World business, for Ritz Camera to remain a profitable company under its current structure,” Marc Weinsweig, Ritz chief restructuring officer, said in court papers.
Boater’s World Ritz officials sought to diversify their business by launching Boater’s World, a boating-and-fishing supply retailer, in 1987. The chain now operates 137 stores located from Maine to Florida and also in Texas, California, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Nevada, according to the unit’s Web site.
The rise in gas prices and other factors led to a “sharp” drop in sales at Boater’s World’s stores, Weinsweig added in the filing.
Ritz acquired Wolf Camera, the U.S.’s second-largest camera-store chain in 2001. Wolf had sought bankruptcy protection that year in the wake of slumping sales during an economic downturn. Ritz officials bought the chain in a bankruptcy auction for about $85 million.
The 30 largest unsecured creditors without collateral backing their claims are owed about $65.6 million, court papers show. The three biggest creditors listed are: Nikon Inc, owed $26.6 million; Canon USA Inc., owed $13.7 million; and Fuji Photo Film USA Inc., owed $8.4 million.
The case is Ritz Camera Centers Inc., 09-10617, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).
