Reuters reports that Ritz Camera is going to auction its final 400 stores. The company has run out of funds to buy new inventory for the stores and continue operating the stores.
The company, which had 800 stores when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year, said it no longer had enough funds to purchase fall inventory and continue operations, forcing it to sell the remaining locations.
The company said it had "determined for a number of reasons that a plan to exit bankruptcy as a stand-alone going concern business is not a likely option," according to documents filed Tuesday in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware.
The documents said there are two potential bidders that may continue to operate the company's Ritz Camera, Wolf Camera, Kits Cameras, Inkley's and The Camera Shop stores. But the documents contain several provisions, such as waivers of state and local requirements applying to liquidation sales, that would clear the way for an immediate going out of business sale.
Ritz Camera Centers plans to hold the auctions on July 20th. Ritz liquidates 130 Boater's World stores and 400 photography stores earlier this year. There is a Ritz Camera website at RitzCamera.com. The website is run by Ritz Interactiv and is a separate company from Ritz Camera Centers.
