Chapter 11 Files for Same

On Monday, October 17, Georgia's Chapter 11 Bookstore filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. As part of its restructuring plan, Chapter 11 will close five Atlanta area stores, as well as its Gainesville and Athens locations. Stores in Peachtree Battle, Ansley Mall, Sandy Springs, Emory, Northlake/Briarcliff, and Highland Plaza will remain open, and Chapter 11 will maintain its Internet operations and business-to-business branch.

Of the bankruptcy filing, Chapter 11 President Perry Tanner told BTW simply, "We ran out of cash." Citing rising energy costs and the economic effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, he said, "People quit shopping." After examining which stores met certain criteria for a successful business (for example, which have a high-population density within a five-mile radius), Tanner decided to close the seven stores that were being "nursed along."

"In business, you can ratchet down slowly," Tanner said, "or you can bite the bullet and do it all at once. That's what we chose to do." On Monday, four of the stores had already begun the process of closing. Locations closing by the end of the month include Snellville, Conyers, West Paces Ferry, Roswell, Gainesville, Norcross, and Athens.

Product consolidated from closing stores will double the inventory of those remaining, which, Tanner believes, will put them in a good position for the upcoming holiday season. He noted, "Now shoppers will have twice as much to see as before."

Tanner has been in ongoing communication with his creditors and has set up new terms. "I've been on the phone with all of our publishers and distributors to let them know what happened," he explained. "We've been arranging new accounts and book shipments going forward. I've had very positive comments from vendors."

After closing the stores, Tanner plans to "reorganize and serve our customers the best way we can," he said. "My wife and I got into this venture three years ago. Our commitment to the book industry hasn't changed. We still believe that Atlanta deserves a chain of independent bookstores, but it will be a chain of six and not 13.... It saddens me that we're having to downsize, but we'll go on selling books one customer at a time." --Karen Schechner