Nationwide files Chapter 11, names Meiser CEO
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, October 28, 2001
NORCROSS, Ga. — The parent of Top 100 store Nationwide Warehouse & Storage has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and hired a new management team to steer the retailer back to profitability.
NWS Holdings listed assets between $10 million and $50 million and debts of more than $100 million. Eight industry companies owed $3.4 million are listed among the top 20 unsecured creditors.
Rick Meiser has joined the promotionally oriented Nationwide as chief executive officer and president, replacing Chris Prescott, who is staying on as chief operating officer. Fred Rich remains as head of marketing and advertising, the company said.
Also new in the past month are Bob Wilson, chief financial officer and the former CFO of Roberds, which went out of business last year; Jim Wortsman, chief information officer; and Morris Buchanan, controller.
Meiser, most recently a consultant, was president of merchandising at Breuners Home Furnishings Corp. and previously worked at Heilig-Meyers, Montgomery Ward and Sears, where he helped launch HomeLife.
"We are confident that Nationwide can be restored to profitability," Meiser said.
The company has closed 42 stores this year and exited Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky and Texas. Four more stores are expected to close soon, Meiser said.
That would leave the company with 115 stores doing an estimated $165 million a year, he said.
NWS, which operates in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico under the names Nationwide Warehouse & Storage, Nationwide Mattress and Furniture Warehouse, and Grand Furniture Warehouse, had sales last year of $236 million. Furniture/Today estimated U.S. sales at $219.1 million in 2000, making the company No. 30 on the Top 100.
Meiser said the company has secured $7.5 million in debtor-in-possession financing from Quad C, a Charlottesville, Va., venture capital company that purchased what used to be two separate Nationwide companies in the late 1990s.
Nationwide cited the slowdown in furniture retailing and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 for hurting business in its two best markets, New York City and Washington. It also said it was "burdened with a number of unprofitable stores that it was unable to close due to lease commitments."
A spokesman for Quad C acknowledged the retailer also is carrying high debt, but said, "It's a good company or we wouldn't be putting more money into it."
Meiser said the banks "have agreed to a substantial reduction in debt."
He said plans are to emerge from bankruptcy in the spring.
Meiser added that Nationwide has received excellent support from ongoing vendors, noting that several on the unsecured creditors list are no longer active suppliers.
Nationwide's largest case goods source, he said, is Standard Furniture, which isn't among the top 20 unsecured creditors.
Standard Vice President of Sales and Marketing Don Mecke wouldn't say how much money, if any, the company is owed, but noted that Nationwide is among its top 10 accounts and that Standard is supporting the company.
"They've been a good partner," Mecke said. "From what they've told us about the changes they're making, we think it should work for them."
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