High Point's Rose could stay open
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, January 29, 2007
High Point — Rose Furniture, which said last year is was shutting down here, may be staying open after all if the current owners get their way.
Successful closeout sales gave the Top 100 company the time it needed to come up with a new business model and new investors, Rose President Buck Kester told a local television station. He could not be reached for further comment.
Rose said in October that it was winding down its business and might be filing for bankruptcy protection.
A press release from James Cullen, consultant and advisor with Alliance Management, which Rose brought in to assist the company in August, indicated the management plan to keep the business going is just one of several alternatives the retailer is considering.
A bankruptcy filing is not out of the question yet, Cullen said.
The release said the company "has evaluated potential debt repayment alternatives, and it has also solicited and received proposals for the disposition of its remaining assets, including a proposal from its present management group to continue Rose's ongoing retail business...."
Rose will discuss the alternatives with its creditors' committees "and it hopes to embark on a consensual course of action," the statement said. Whether that course turns out to be management's proposal or another plan "remains to be seen," Cullen said later.
"Though Rose continues to believe that the filing of Chapter 11 bankruptcy petitions may prove necessary, it has not made a decision whether to file a bankruptcy case and no such filing is imminent," the release said.
It said Rose intends to remain open at its two stores in High Point "while it finalizes creditor repayment plans."
At the time of the announced closing, 150 of Rose's 250 workers were laid off or resigned, according to the news report.
Last week, those remaining were told they'd be keeping their jobs, the local TV report said.
The local news reports didn't disclose details on management's new plan or the investors involved.
Kester told the TV station that "if all goes well, more details could be revealed — and more employees hired — this summer."
