By Curtis D. Tucker, Enid Buzz | Sunday, June 12, 2016 | UPDATED: October 16, 2016
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ENID, Okla. - The Enid Hastings Entertainment store closed the doors for good on Saturday, October 15. Enid's Hastings Entertainment – along with all of the other locations across the U.S. – are closing. According to a report from the Amarillo Globe-News, Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners won an auction for Hastings’ assets.
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The Globe-News, citing documents filed in Delaware bankruptcy court, said the auction winners will liquidate the company’s assets in “store closing” sales through Oct. 31.
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Employees would receive seven days’ notice if their employment will end before the stores close, the Globe-News reported.
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Original Story
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Hastings Entertainment Inc., officially filed for bankruptcy on Monday, June 13, 2016 and there were no steps taken to close any stores. The Amarillo-headquartered company said stores will remain open and will operate as usual while the company evaluates potential offers. Here's part of the companies news release:
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To facilitate an orderly sale process while also addressing other legacy liabilities, Draw Another Circle and its subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. SPImages will continue a parallel sale process through Chapter 11, while MovieStop will continue its inventory clearance sales, which are expected to be completed in July.
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Hastings and SPImages will operate in the ordinary course while they evaluate potential offers. All three businesses expect to maintain associates' existing wages and benefit programs. To this end, Bank of America has committed to providing $90 million in new debtor-in-possession ("DIP") financing, which, combined with cash from ongoing operations, will ensure the businesses are able to meet their financial commitments throughout this process.
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As part of the Chapter 11 process, all potential buyers will have the opportunity to submit offers for the Hastings and SPImages business assets, and if more than one offer is received, an auction process will be held to ensure the highest or otherwise best sale is achieved for each business. Hastings and SPImages hope to complete their respective sale processes within 30 days.
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Hastings had announced to its Amarillo distribution center and headquarters employees a 60 day notice of a "mass layoff" or "plant closing." The notification was sent as a necessary part of the companies contingency planning in case a buyer is not found.
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Kevin Ball, Vice President of Marketing and Advertising, released this statement prior to Monday:
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"Hastings has been working diligently to overcome our business challenges and we have made significant progress with a remerchandising strategy and other initiatives aimed at increasing profitability. To continue our transformation, we have initiated a comprehensive process to identify a buyer or investor that will give us the additional financial stability we need to move forward. While we are hopeful a sale agreement will be reached, we also have a responsibility to prepare for all contingencies. As a result, we were obligated to formally notify our associates that, if a sale agreement cannot be achieved in a timely manner, we may need to begin downsizing our corporate office and/or closing the entire Hastings chain due to our continuing financial challenges. Our management team believes there are a number of parties that would be interested in acquiring our brand, and we are doing everything possible to create a strong future for our business and for this great team."
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Hastings was originally owned by the Marmaduke family for more than 40 years and remained a publicly traded company until 2014 when it was sold to Joel Weinshanker, owner of Draw Another Circle and the National Entertainment Collectibles Association.
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Reasons for the decline in brick-and-mortar stores is blamed on the increase in online retail of music, books and movies. Free music streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora as well as major retail distributor Amazon have cut into the profits of stores selling books, music and movies.
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Hastings stores that could be affected locally include Enid, Stillwater, Ponca City. Hastings also has stores in Yukon, Norman, Bartlesville, Lawton, Ada, Altus, and Muskogee.
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