Furniture company Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams went bankrupt overnight. Here's how.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ต.ค. 2023
- In 1989, Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams founded a furniture store bearing their names. The company became an American success story until last month, when the company went bankrupt. Now, $50 million in customer deposits have vanished. Brook Silva-Braga has the story.
#news #furniturecompany #bankruptcy
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Living in NC, I can tell you this happens in the furniture business over and over again. It is hard to figure out who owns what. But don't let Mitchell Gold fool ya! He made millions and millions as he watched the company go down the drain. He may be on CBS crying crocodile tears for his beloved employees but he is going home to a mansion while they are being evicted from their homes. The average working man always takes the fall!!
Sadly, for many people there is nothing wrong with huge profits for people at the top while low paid workers are considered expendable. Is that what corporate capitalism is all about? Yet millions of poor people continue to worship billionaires and turn some of them into celebrities. The obsession with great wealth is, in a word, perverted.
Exactly right. They say it's awful and act sad. But they walk away with millions. Only the working man loses. Every time.
Bingo!
This country is a business and we are the employees. It will never change.
So true - crocodile tears
This video has a very strange spin. “They decided not to take the gamble” actually means “they decided not to honor their commitments by delivering the furniture that people bought and pay the salaries that their employees are owed”. Or, in simple terms, “They decided to steal.”
don't forget the media companies are just as corrupt as any other industry. they stick together.
Agreed!
You clearly didn't listen to this video, did you?. Or, you just don't get it. It's the Stevens Group, the private equity firms, who are to blame here. It's not William and Gold who did this. They are to be commended for their honesty.
White collar crime is the worst because it is legal.
That’s big media for ya, they won’t say the real words. “They decided they could steal everyone’s money legally, so they did.”
And people wonder why employees aren't loyal to jobs anymore ..here ya go.
And people wonder why rational people would not want employees to get paid for doing nothing. Great logic! Goes both ways buddy.
@@bmorgens People don't get paid for doing nothing, but your comment is nothing but a bad faith argument.
Why would you be loyal to a company? Employees and employers have a business arrangement. I agree to work for you and you pay me. If any party decides the arrangement is no longer beneficial, they have a right to walk away.
Those people don't live in the CBS managers' neighborhood, while the thieves live next door and go to the same club.
No one needs a tool for company's but here we are.
I just went to the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams website and see it is still up and running. I selected a sofa, selected fabric, etc... and went to check out without a word that the company is bankrupt and out of business. Of course I did not go far enough to give my payment information but I wonder how many others are ordering furniture and do not know the company is gone? I also wonder if the parent company is still pocketing people's money???
Same here... This is criminal.
This is fraud and theft!
Pottery Barn sells Gold+Williams furniture --- it's marked Limited Time only. So Pottery Barn is ahead of Gold and Williams,
This should be illegal! Why isn't the Governor of this State weighing in to protect his Constituents? Guess they'll just do nothing and blame it on the Biden Administration.
I did the same their website tells you at the end “temporarily system is down” instead of saying “ ooops out of business we’ll take your money soon after ‘
This is why I love employee owned companies, gives employees incentives and they share in the company's success.
@@JamesDeWalt909 I know what you are thinking.
BOB'S RED MILL!!!!
And losses...
stihl great example
I can't believe a comment like this actually got this many likes. Clueless about how the world works
PRIVATE EQUITY COMPANY, that's all you need to know. They are not trying to build a brand or legacy, just bleed them dry & dump them.
Now they are in the housing market buying up whole neighborhoods & renting them out.
I give the original owner credit for speaking out. It's disgusting that the equity firm gets to just walk away from customers & the employees. Just immoral & absolutely disgusting.
How did they try to bleed them dry? It sounds like they tried to expand and COVID lockdowns killed their growth. This author talks about extracting revenue but it isn't explained here at all. \
Amen! Private equity firms are business killers. The last 2 companies I worked for were killed by private equity. Not only do you lose your job and insurance, communities are maimed as well. Greed, just greed.
Exactly!! Private Equity companies have been doing this for half a century. THIS is America 🇺🇸!! ✨
Right. Vampires. They're also now buying up your local doctor's offices. They will change our entire economy over time if we let them.
Danny de Vito and Gregory Peck. Other People’s Money . A flick so relatable to this event. Only unlike the real event, it ended well.
The movie was released in 1991. But unlike the movie, the founders sold the company. The fictional Robber Baron character , played by Gregory Peck, as Andrew "Jorgy" Jorgenson , refuses adamantly to sell his inherited company , New England Wire & Cable. Despite heavy overtures from “Larry the Liquidator “ brilliantly played by Danny de Vito, who as a shareholder sought , through a hostile takeover to salvage the company.
So, IMHO, all of this Jane Come Lately from the original founders is pure malarkey. They sold their stakeholders down the river. For a cushy payout and a still fattened Estate.
There is a reason why some company owners can claim generational longevity while others can only bemoan their I’ll fate. Pity poor me. I doubt they can even justify as having no heirs l.
This is why local stores and small businesses are so important. Having a retail reach a point where they may be “too big to fail” is so dangerous.
I remember when Walmart came to town 25 years ago. Dozens of high quality Mom and Pop shops went out of business and consumers were stuck with the cheap crap and low wages Walmart offers..
what's the relationship with the story?
@@joannsmith3589 It's a pretty clear analogy to the dangers of when a business becomes the major employer. Once they are out of business the entire community suffers. You can apply this to a larger scale. Amazon/Walmart Etc. Mom and pop stores are getting pushed out and these large corporations are replacing them. It'd great initially but in the long run, it ends up hurting the economy when you begin to have industrial conglomerates.
🤷🏽♂I rob a convenience store for $500 and get years in prison, with Corporate Theft nobody goes to jail.
You live in a Corporatocracy.
Because they're professionals and they work closely with the right people.
Maybe you need to start writing checks to your representatives. That's the only way to influence laws and change in this shole country.
Just like politicians!
These private equity owners have been doing that to small rural hospitals loading up on huge loans then closing the healthcare system leaving communities without any hospital.
One's debt is another person's profit. 😡
Despicable. Their greed is endless.
Bingo!
Private equity funds need to be legislated out of business immediately.
If no one took Private Equity Fund money they would be powerless. Nobody put a gun to anyone’s head and told them to sell their company to one. Owners are blinded by easy money and cannot or will not see the downside.
Why? Private Equity funds is doing a great service! Creating value, jobs, and opportunities by leveraging struggling companies and maximizing profits. That's for us average folks!
Wouldn't that give a backdoor to state ownership?
Flowers Flooring in Cornelius, NC closed its doors recently. It has not returned deposits, it has not paid employees and people are out a lot of money and the state has yet to do anything to help hard-working people who lost so much. Laws need to change to protect people more than protect crooked businesses.
Anyone who paid with a credit card will get their money back.
@@mrtodd3620 Which Private Equity Firm do you work for? So, the credit card companies should take the hit when the Private Equity Pirates take advantage of American citizens?
@@cynthiamason4069 Good try. You sound sorta bitter. Consumers are protected if they used a credit card. As for employees, they will need to use regular avenues to get their compensation and file for unemployment benefits. Elections have consequences. If you care about this issue, then elect people who care about it too.
@@mrtodd3620Not if it was financed. You are required to pay whether you get your furniture or not.
@@mrtodd3620 Why should hard working American citizens have to jump through all those hoops just to avoid being taken advantage of by a group of devious thugs? Private Equity Firms operate like the Mafia. "It's not personal, it's business". Really? They think what they are doing is fine, as you do, because it seems that ethics, a moral compass and humanity means nothing to you, until it's you that is hurt financially. Bitter? Cute. I'm tired of greedy punks thinking destroying people's lives is a dark game for their amusement.
Corporations have more rights than everyday people
Can you give an example?
They are allowed to be considered an individual so they can flood the pockets of our politicians ( which used to be illegal ) and then turn around break the laws (Wells Fargo ) and the "individual" corporation does not go to jail but is lightly fined.
@@tigerlillyjilly I think you have a jumble of legalities going on there. A corporation is considered as a person in accounting and law and this gives it certain rights, such as owning property, entering contracts, and enjoying certain aspects of free speech. It also has certain responsibilities that a human doesn't, such as public disclosures and reporting. When it comes to lining the pockets of politicians, I would imagine that it is illegal for both corporations and humans. As for light fines, many corporations face huge fines for unimaginably mundane infractions. On the other hand, humans often get very light penalties for unimaginable evil and wickedness. Oftentimes the political power of the individual or corporation is what keeps the penalties low. For example, our commander in chief and his son will probably never face punishment for their skullduggery. Also, Jamaal Bowman will probably never face the music for pulling the fire alarm because he has a D next to his name.
Citizens United proved that
@@tigerlillyjilly You are 100% spot-on. Absolutely correct.
I live in Taylorsville and my neighbor was one of those laid-off. This is devastating for our community and economy. 😢
The employees were viewed as disposable. So sad and wrong and should be illegal.
The practice of buying a company and then loading it with debt needs to be outlawed. It's what happened to Toys R Us years ago. They find companies with little to no debt, buy them then load billions on their balance sheets then try to sell them again or just close them down. It really should be illegal.
It's criminal and it is fraud.
The next positive story told about private equity will be the 'first' one I've heard about them. They're called "pirate equity" for a reason. Which is probably an insult to actual pirates!
Hadn't heard that but it is spot on!
My favorite furniture company, I have a couple of pieces that are still in tip top shape 20+ years later. You knew it might be pricey but would last the test of time and heavy use. This absolutely breaks my heart, not to mention anger me for the workers. Companies should not be able to just move states in the 11th hour so they can, for all intents and purpose, break the law!
Private equity just buys up companies, loads them up with debts while slashing costs and than getting out before the music stops
perfect example is Toys R Us and Sears
It happened to me. A laminating company grew like crazy during the Iraq wars. The owner sold it and retired. There was an explosion at the plant. The "Venture Capital" firm did cursory repairs, pocketed the insurance money and then ran it without paying suppliers until the bank shut it; They walked away and two hundred people lost their jobs.
Someone should pay the workers their severance. The workers and town deserve that.
Why don’t you do it you are someone?
I am assuming these were non union jobs. I worked for a union company that went bankrupt and all of our final checks bounced. But because it was a union job the employer was required to put up a bond which we were paid out of in the event they went out of business. We were all paid out of that union required bond.
Gold will remain a millionaire. He is an American parasite, and has already moved on to real estate.
@@jlv3xthat’s exactly why there’s a resurgence of the power of unions. People are tired of being let down.
@@0hffsexactly why most manufacturing jobs have moved overseas. Wall St has sold out Americans, don't you bark on the wrong tree.
Not only did they not "continue their gamble in the company" they refused to honor the commitments to customers their subsidiary had made.
So sad for our area. The employees found out by an email and a note taped to the gate.
I have spent time in Taylorsville, and am so sorry for your situation. Disgusting.
Well I guess that’s at will employment, they can fire you for any reason. Sadly.
I worked for a medical company and we would buy companies for their IP and lay everyone off. We bought a small competitor with a better product and laid everyone off and canceled the product and kept building our inferior product. One company that we bought got the last laugh when the founders started another company and went into direct competition with us. They even tried to buy the building next to ours and poached a lot of our top talent. 10 years of lawsuits between us and them finally settled out of court but in those 10 years the market value of their company surpassed ours. Billion dollar companies so not small change
Usually when you sell your company sign non competes and non disclosures. They usually have big penalties attached.
@@ericeandco You would think that was the case. Probably why we had a 10 year court battle with them. I think with that particular company there was some grey zones on who owned the IP. After10 years the lawsuit was dropped and they paid us some money. By that time their market cap was larger than ours.
@@MikiCab1 😆 *NiFTy food-foR-thoughT liTTLe sToRy...ThanKs.!* 🍻
Medic = A4 then Misys then Allscripts.....same thing. lol Original owner retired at 43 or so, and owns 3 or 4 of the top private golf clubs in the state. Smartly, the employee's bought stock back in the early days and most retired early shortly after the main guy did.
You seem oddly proud…almost like bragging…weird..
"Private equity" really means public parasites.
now now no need to insult parasites
This is such an important news story, very clearly reported for an economic lay person like myself. Very depressing to watch, it also makes me angry we let these "loopholes" exist. It makes me feel so powerless, and that's ehere my anger comes from. Bravo to Mitchell Gold for being open to talk about it Thank you.
Mitchell Gold is an Opportunist too ya know… in addition to the millions he owns, this tactic of going public is his ‘opportunistic’ way of trying to squeeze some back for himself.
He is staying wealthy by buying entire neighborhoods nowadays, don't worry about Gold, he is happy as ever.
Have you heard of crocodile tears? He made millions by selling the company and letting them destroy it. They knew what they were doing.
He could be a decent man and pay all those salaries they didnt pay out of his own pocket and still have plenty of money.
@@user-nn4nv2tt8h he could buy what is left for pennies on the dollar and start over but he didn't say that. He took his profit and now is acting like a martyr.
He says it would be nice to point to a villain. Private equity firms ARE the villains. They are ALWAYS the villains.
Private equity equals asset stripping.
Greed. Greed and more greed from all sides is the reason of its failure.
No, not everybody is greedy.@JamesDeWalt909
@JamesDeWalt909 No, everybody is NOT greedy. We just cannot satisfy the greed of big money firms that only seek return on investment. A stock broker said making money for investors is an impossible situation. No matter how much you make them, they always seem to know somebody who made more and they want that.
@JamesDeWalt909 No, they are not, James, as much as you want to try and normalize hateful behavior to make yourself real better.
I have a Mitchell Gold couch that Pottery Barn sold to me. Was expensive but it has lasted for almost 20 years and still looks great. Quality products.
That's the nature of private equity - it accomplishes its goal by maximizing profits and deferring issues. As an employee, when you hear about a change in management, it's crucial to determine if it involves private equity. If it does, it might be a good time to start considering your next steps.
Just as private equity owners have ruined newspapers they ruined Mitchell Gold. That's also what happened to Sears and Kmart.
With American equity owners doing this, how can American companies ever"make it". Don't dare to expand or we're coming after you? How does this keep jobs here on this continent? (All rhetorical I know, but it matters)
This isn't the first time a bank has killed a business due to a minor technicality. My friend's business was destroyed when the bank called his 20-year note, which he took out to expand, in the second year because they needed the cash to boost their shareholder report. Of course, he didn't have that amount of cash on hand and had to close all of his stores. He had built up his family business over decades, and it was gone in a snap.
How did they justify calling it early? And the timing must have been during a credit crunch, otherwise another loan should have been easy to get.
I feel bad for the company and people who lost their jobs
What's the huge lesson learned here ? When you're going to be selling big tickets items and charging exorbitant prices for those items, you better also back it up with obscene levels of customer service. The customer comments going back the last few years are unbelievable. Purchasing an item and then never being able to reach the store via phone or email ever again only to look out the front door and see the furniture has arrived months later with zero contact or customer service delivery updates. You can almost graph it out. For every dollar increase in an average ticket, there is a direct correlation to increased pressure on customer service and delivering immediate responses to customers, the same day within the same hour. Instant replies to emails, picking up the phone on the first few rings between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. is not just necessary, it's critical. Clearly these guys did not get that memo. They were operating as if they were selling cheap Temu trinkets
I dgaf about companies, particularly ones that ultimately do this to their most vulnerable workers. Companies don’t breathe, companies don’t sweat or work to exhaustion or operate on scant sleep, companies don’t get ill with the inability to pay the medical bills.
At least young people are waking up to the fact that they don’t have to kowtow to the bad actors and malignant forces of hypercapitalism the way we did while they f’d us up and over in the process.
Private Equity is the death knell for American workers.
I live in a small townhouse/condo development. A Private equity company wanted to buy us all out for cheap & most are elderly… yea… NO thanks!
Good for you!!! We must get wise about these sneaky thieves. Please, tell anyone you know to NOT sell to these crooks.
This is what happened to us at Circuit City, we were promised severance and never got it, instead the private equity firm that bought the debt when CC filed for bankruptcy, paid the executives their bonuses and liquidated the company and made a killing from it. Because of the bankruptcy laws, they didn't have to pay back that debt and the money they made from liquidation went straight to paying bonuses to the executives and the company that bought the assets. None of us got anything from it besides a pink slip.
Toys R Us was the same way, they were loaded up with debt after they were "saved" by the equity firm and couldn't even manage to pay that debt away to stay solvent and then went bankrupt.
Sears had it happen to them with K-mart and guess who was part of that scheme? Steve Mnuchin. Trumps soon to be Secretary of Treasury.
Sad to say it’s been going on forever.
I only feel bad for the employees and customers who paid for furniture they won't get. It should be illegal to do ppl like that. I dont know whats going to happen in this country when any employee can be treated this way then have to spend months years suing but then lawyers take a huge cut of that. Just a lot..
Most terrifying words: "I'm from a private equity firm and I'm here to help."
What a shame. Beautiful furniture too.
PE’s are private banks without the regulations. They have some regulations, but not like banks. Furthermore, PE finance people do not know how to run most companies, in specific industries, especially manufacturing .
Then why allow private equity in the first place!
Wonder why banks loan to private equity companies if the record is so bad
💯💯💯 Or healthcare! ✨
@@johnl.7754 the loan is from private people, not banks. They raise their own money promising a return on their investment. Generally less risky than a venture capital, but still private funds.
Absolutely right! These private equity firms need heavily regulation or to be made illegal they are destroying not just retail but our industries as well, everyone needs to press their retirement funds to divest investments with these evil organizations.
I hope the employees and customers receive justice in this situation 🙏🏽
I remember I ended was on their mailing list and I would get the catalog about every 3 months or so. I loved the catalog but couldn’t afford a lot of their furniture, etc. I loved how it was an American company with everything being made in the Carolinas.
This was Mitt Romney's job before he moved to politics. He got rich by saddling companies with depth and giving himself bonuses.
He sure did. He also helped Citizens United become legal.
same goes for Steve Mnuchin, he was responsible for the private equity firm that bailed out Sears Roebuck/Kmart
Private equity is parasitic.
@@NCXDesigns munchin has very little involvement in Sears.
Isn't this the type of business Mitt Romney is (was) in? Now he's being touted as a Republican with a conscience. Give me a break.
Democrats own these same kinds of investments too. It’s legal.
Mr. Romney was with one of the worst of the worst!
Compared with the rest of those misfit miscreants, Mitch IS the one with a conscience. Funny that he's being presented that way though - the exception the proves the rule.
And a majority of these workers voted republican. How are those corporate tax breaks working out for you?
I worked for a pre-employment background screening company that was sold to a series of private equity companies. They grew very quickly, then crashed and burned. They laid off a whole bunch of folks, me included. Some, including management, had been there for decades.
You can retire at a young age if you invest wisely on time, Most times it amazes me greatly how I moved from an average lifestyle to earning over $63k per month, Utter shock is the word. I have understood a lot in the past few years that there are lots of opportunities in the financial market. The only thing is to know where to invest…
I agree with you and I believe that Professionals are currently dominating the market since they have access to both the necessary strategy for making money in this industry and exclusive insider market information.
I keep wondering how people earn money in financial markets, i tried trading bitcoin on my own made a huge loss and now I'm scared of investing more
@@Florencecoxx That won't bother you if you trade with a professional like *Sarah Alma Martinez* my consultant. I found her on a CNBC interview where she was featured and reached out to her afterwards. She has since provide entry and exit points on the securities I focus on. I basically follow her trade pattern and haven’t regretted doing so.
@@izagdlife You allow people to trade for you? that's interesting, How can I be part of this project I earnestly hope to build a strong financial future I'm interested to take part, I would love to learn, hope it’s safe..?
@@debbie765 This is the Fourth time I'm seeing someone talking about Sarah Alma as there are lot of testimonies about her, do you know her ? if yes , did you invest with her.?
Reminds me of what's happening to some hospitals (even BIG) ones, a Company (Tower) takes them over, then before you know it, it closes. Devastating some communities or even cities. GREED is what this is all about.
Gold and Mitchell, and especially the private equity millionaires should be funding the employees obligations upon termination. They easily have the money, and it is unethical for them not to pay for the money owed to the employees. Sickening private equity. I do not see Gold volunteering to contribute ANYTHING to the employees. Why can't he chip in some funds?
I’m sure all their holding are legally structured so nothing can touch the shareholders/ members.
You are assuming they didn't just because it wasn't stated in the story. You have no idea if he lost all of his money in shares, which he very well could have.
So he sold the company a decade ago and now he's being held liable for compensation. They were not even his employees, yet you think he should pony up the money just because he can? You're a Socialist.
We bought our first house 10 years ago. We lived in 2 rental homes prior to that. Always bought antique and second hand, thrift furniture. A month after moving into our new home we were invited to a MG+BW fall showroom party. It was a beautiful night. Bartenders dispensing your favorite cocktail. We had been eyeing an Art Deco style bar cabinet for a couple of years. The next cocktail sealed the deal. It was delivered to our house a few weeks later. Everyone who visited us immediately pointed to it. A few years later, I bought 2 chrome and glass pedestal pieces for my husbands birthday. He loves them. I guess we’ll only be buying vintage MG pieces from now on. How long before MG+BW wind up on “Roadshow”?
No company all of sudden goes bankrupt.
Look what happened to Toys "R" Us...
It didn't happen all of a sudden. They were struggling for some time it sounded like, their owner injected capital, they extended what sounded like an existing line of credit, they presumably burned through both, interest rates rose, bank got uncomfortable, and called in their debt on a technicality.
They didn't even explain where Stevens supposedly did something nefarious.
Any comparisons to the US Government?
@@ipenguin3918Well supposedly the government can print money to pay off it’s debts. I wonder if this furniture company did things to actively decrease it’s revenue like the government has. I wonder if the CEO said “This company is the problem. I’m going to decrease it’s size to the point where we can drown it in the bathtub.” If so no wonder it had a problem with debt. No wonder it went out of business.
Hmph...CBS producers, executives, etc, I like the way you're going about with the constructive questioning. You picked great journalists. 👏
Private equity is ruining entire industries. Nursing homes, veterinary practices, etc
There are plenty of companies that have been owner-run since the beginning. Mitchell and Bob just wanted to make the most money they could and get out while they were ahead. Where's Bob in all this? Only Mitchell felt the need to show his face?
They sold the company nearly 10 years ago, I don’t think they can be blamed for the collapse of the company now
Yet people still blame them. People just like to play the blame game and name calling. @@kickedinthecalfbyacow7549
Great reporting. Shocked that it was done on legacy media.
That PNC Bank pulled their loan doesn't surprise me at all. I dealt with PNC through a company I worked for a long time ago. If you're not absolutely huge, they don't give two cents about you. Because of my experience, I will never personally have a bank account with PNC.
What a terrible charity. Oh wait, they are a business.
I knew the basic story as soon as he said “private equity”.
PNC did this. I had to deal with PNC when they bought my mortgage, then try multiple times to try to default me. They'd lose payments, fail to pay property taxes. Say my home insurance was insufficient to cancel it and make me in default, change the terms of the loan, change due date, call and harrass days before said due date. I will never deal with them again.
this makes me feel a bit uncomfortable having them as my loan provider for my car.
PNC is the worst bank I have ever dealt with. Incompetent at all levels.
Ironically, the same thing happened in Michigan with a furniture store. A private equity firm bought Art Van Furniture and ran it into the ground, eventually filing for bankruptcy.
I've now spent almost half my life asking, the same questions... In the mid 90s I was a millionaire, mostly my stock holdings I received and purchased from the oil and gas equipment manufacture I worked for. I earned a moderate income, was given stock as part of nm salary as a district sales manager. One day we are shut down, no pay check locked doors etc... Chapter 11 then 7... bever paid the salaries owed or expenses and our stock devalued then off the market then .. zip nodda nothing... 90,000 shares valued at over 35 dollars a share gone... worthless... Years of hard work, savings.. investment ... gone... in my mid 30s had to start all over again... from scratch... yep this sort of crap happens to hundreds of thousands of people in America every year... The company's assets patents inventory worth millions.. sold off... attorneys paid IRS paid.. court paid... us.... the share holders and employees.. got zero... nothing... we lost everything... The system is set up to protect the wealthy .. banks attorneys courts IRS... but the workers the employees.. the vendors... have np protections at all.
This is frustrating and bittersweet. My husband and I fell in love with one of their chaise lounge and 'eyed' it for several years in the late 90's. We first saw it at a store and each time we were walking by the store we would go in and take all the throw pillows off and just laid there - Lol. One day it went on sale for 50% off and we couldn't BELIEVE it and bought it!! one of the best furniture investment we ever made! We own classic furniture pieces as well ... Eames, Saarinen, Pollacks and MG & BW is part of our collection. Family members, kiddos and all fought to lay on this chaise - it is the most comfortable, cuddly piece that everyone fell in love with. Until this day, we still have it : ) with all the wear & tears over the years - STILL in very good condition. It's a heirloom piece for sure, in this family anyways.❤
I am sorry for people like ME! I ordered two special order custom chairs for $7,000 and prepaid the full amount and will never receive those chairs. Unbelievable!
You are able to spend $7,000 for two chairs and you feel sorry for yourself alone? Patheic.
If you used a credit card you can file a chargeback
The kids in the opening intro are adorable…I pray the mom finds a great job….
😏😏😏😏
Research Art Van Furniture in Warren Michigan- similar situation put 5000 out of work in same equity company type purchase.
During COVID, there was a boom in home furniture sale. How could they have been losing money then?! Something seems amiss there.
Imagine the supply chain producing all the items worldwide being crushed. North Carolina was only assembling a few materials producing a chair or sofa.
Private equity destroys everything. It destroyed the company I used to work for.
Folks , watch Other People’s Money with Danny de Vito , as Larry the Liquidator , and Gregory Peck cast as the Robber Baron , Andrew “Jorgy” Jorgensen .
The industrialist adamantly refused to give up on his ailing company , New England Wire & Cable , despite aggressive overtures from the NY financier.
These furniture manufacturing founders are not off the hook. They can plead Jane Come Lately. They sold their stakeholders down the river.
There is no upside to private equity!
Private equity is why brick and motor store s are loosing the battle with on line retail.
Sears, JC Penny, JoAnn fabrics, Melisa and Doug, Berts bee, so many many more have been all but destroyed by the acquisition of the companies by private equity.
Pension plans (by in large own too many shares in these equity firms) need to stop investing in these over powerful equity groups that are solely motivated by greed.
I loved Sears, I worked for JoAnn fabrics, while they were owned by private equity, I saw the destruction first hand.
There’s this “rule” of business that you have to expand and make increasing profits, even after years of great profits and expansions. But can a business keep expanding or making an ever increasing profit margin forever? No. They cannot, not without skimming somewhere. That “somewhere” is usually a company’s employees and their benefits. For a businesses’ devoted customers, it’s the promises of fulfillment, warranties and customer service they pledged to their customers. The private equity “pirates” who supposedly cared about the business, take their spoils move on and could care less about its employees & customers.
Mitchell Gold was a very down to earth reasonable caring guy; that’s not just an image. He’s not perfect but he was better than most of the furniture folks who had showrooms in High Point. He was real. He was smart. He was hard worker who was never too good to talk to or listen to anybody. I was sorry when he sold. I knew what it would lead to. I’ve seen it over and over again. But he deserved the cash and he deserved a break. I don’t blame him. A good man.
TRUTH. Mitchell and Bob have ZERO responsibility for this situation. They built a business, worked hard and made countless personal sacrifices to make it a success. The furniture was outstanding. I understand why they sold. They wanted their lives back. Isn't that the dream when one starts a company? Sell it and live well while one can! The anger directed at them shows the ignorance of people.
Are you telling me this guy has/had NO IDEA what private equity firms have been doing for YEARS?
It’s sick the lack of protections working citizens have while our laws have determined corporations have the same rights as people, (even tho corps have been determined to have the mentality of a psychopath) and way more rights to legally evade appropriate consequences as they make “tough” decisions, when the only part of “tough” falls on the workers & customers. (Boy, wouldn’t it be great if real people could move past their medical debts so easily?)
Bisiness owns politicians. Esp the Republican party and voters are mostly people who lobby to remove and prevent any pro-labor legislation. If you vote Republican, you can't complain about predatory rapey capitalists. That's all they are.
This is sad. I have two chairs I bought three years ago and so far so good. I have two other chairs, bought from Crate & Barrel twenty years ago, that I think are MG+BW and have held up beautifully so far.
Once you hear Private Equity, you know people’s lives will be ruined.
This is great reporting. Thank you!
They've had a store in Atlanta for a couple decades. I've never seen a single person in it.
Great reporting. Thx for this vid
Never heard of this company... until this story.
Me either that I can recall, and I spent decades working in the furniture industry, lol.
So scary & sad
It’s easy to assign blame and find a villain. Private equity.
The Private Equity Firms are the villain, and well deserve the blame. Just take a look at Veterinary Hospitals all over are country. Buying them up from the older doctors, using their pat, predatory phase, "We Can Offer You Life Changing Money", destroying their clientele making it unaffordable for long time, sometimes elderly clients and animals. Cutting the wages of the employees and creating a Hell scape to work in. Then, they shudder another business, laughed all the way to the bank. Evil. We are working on making it illegal and closing all those loopholes that cause these brokers to foam at the mouth.
It seems that you strongly support private equity, so could you provide an example where private equity has positively impacted employees' lives?
What? You expect them to take responsibility for their own decisions and actions?
This is the furniture business.Its been going on for years in some sort of fashion. It's an addicting business.thats challenging and fun. I enjoyed it! Funny thing, the 3 companies that I worked for went belly up too!
So sad
dam, an actual story? Thank you LEGIT reporter(s)
Great reporting!
Everything is ruined and we are in a depression, but keep spending and living like it's 2005.
I went into a showroom to look around but wasn't ready to buy anything at thst point in my home reno. The clerk full out Pretty Woman'ed me.
Personal Opinion: When the Private Equity fund refused to rescue the company then intentionally and immediately moved ownership from North Carolina to Delaware to avoid their legal responsibility to customers and employees shows they intended to defraud the employees and customers. This should not be legal and is what should be contested in North Carolina court. I feel this shows criminal intent to defraud. If the move had happened when they acquired the company months earlier that would be acceptable, but doing it after they made the decision to go bankrupt is bull$&!^. This should be litigated in North Carolina because this is the state (and tax payers) that will be covering the cost of the bankruptcy with unemployment benefits.
This reporting is so eloquent
…excellent reporting…thank you!
Regardless of the bankruptcy they should still have to pay their employees severance and refund the buyers money. They have the money they’re just not willing to do the right and honorable thing
Good job on explaining things so well. We play games with geopolitics but every day Americans are losing out daily and struggling.
I've come to realize that the key to amassing wealth lies in making sound investments. I purchased my first home at the age of 21 for $87,000 and sold it for $197,000. My second home, acquired for $170,000, was later sold for $320,000, and my third property, purchased at $300,000, fetched $589,000, with buyers covering all closing costs and expenses. Not reaching a million before retirement feels like an unfulfilled goal.||
I initially started my investment journey with the guidance of a financial advisor named *Jenny Pamogas Canaya.* Her transparent approach granted me full control of my investments, and her fees are reasonable, considering my return on investment. Nonetheless, it's crucial to conduct thorough research before engaging with any financial advisor..|
If you're in your 60s now (normally thought of as retirement age), buying a house forty years ago was far, far more affordable for the average person than it is now. You definitely did well for yourself, but you also benefited greatly from exactly the rising cost of real estate that makes it much harder for a 21 y.o. to replicate your achievement today.
read the room, boomer
Lmao i wish I would have been smarter and bought a house when I was 2 years old so I could’ve gotten those prices
so this is all just spam from you? Are your houses even real? @@tahirisaid2693
Wow, what an insightful case study. Thank you for bringing how PE’s run, and how fragile a business can be in the arms of unscrupulous decision makers.
Private equity companies will literally eat their young to survive. If your company is acquired by a PE firm, you should start planning your next career move.
Private equity is a pump and dump venture. Pump all the profits into other venture, and dump what’s left of the carcass
Bankruptcy is just another way for a company to make money. Stiff all the people you owe, escape from any binding contracts….. keep all the money you can hide ….. just another business strategy. There’s no such thing as business ethics in capitalism
I have a couch from RH with Mitchell Gold fabric and I still have it and it’s incredible. Its unfortunate but private equity companies are a scourge.
Their first mistake was selling their
company to a soulless investment group. It was all down hill from there.
Good luck to all the former employees, they're going to find a new job eventually but it sucks to be unemployed.
Im not surprised, i never saw anyone in the stores
The anchor is jacked. She has not missed shoulders or arm days at all!
This company is clise to my home. All the years I lived here, their parking lot has been empty. This didn't happen overnight. Way too expensive.
Pause the written message from the bank and read it. The business had a problem. $ was disappearing.