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| Founded | 2012 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | October 4, 2013 |
| Products | Dairy, deli, frozen foods, grocery, meat, produce, general merchandise, health and beauty care |
| Website | www.belle-foods.com |
Belle Foods, LLC was a family-owned chain of American supermarkets headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, run by father-son team Bill White and Jeff White. The company is going through bankruptcy and is scheduled to have all of its stores sold or closed by October 4, 2013.
Information
Belle Foods was owned by father-and-son team Bill and Jeff White and the chain consisted of 57 stores, acquired from Southern Family Markets, on July 1, 2012. Store nameplates currently include Piggly Wiggly, Bruno's, and Food World, but all stores were originally planned to be rebranded as Belle Foods locations. The chain's 57 stores were located in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi. Belle Foods used C&S Wholesale Grocers, former owner of Southern Family Markets, as its supplier. Belle Foods had approximately 2,850 employees, as of July 1, 2013.
Bankruptcy
Belle Foods filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 1, 2013, exactly one year after its founding.
Firing of ~300 Full-Time Workers
Leading up to the bankruptcy, Belle Foods said in April 2013 that it would be "hiring" approx. 300 part-time employees, but what that actually meant was that approx. 300 full-time employees were being let go and some of the laid off workers would be offered part-time positions instead. Bill White at the time said, "I could see that if I didn't move forward with these reductions, even more teammates could be negatively affected."
Cullman, AL Grievance & Subsequent Local Concert/Donations
Later in April, The Cullman Times reported that the affected workers had filed a grievance and were trying to stop the change, which affected the Cullman Food World: "We’ve filed our grievance, so we’ll hopefully have a hearing within a week or so, then the employer has 10 days to respond. After that, if they’ve not responded in favor of membership, the next step would be arbitration." A few short months later in June 2013, Belle Foods was in Cullman, Alabama, spending $50,000 by sponsoring a "Rock the South" music concert and donating to organizations such as The Link of Cullman County (Religious Non-Profit), Brooks' Place (Child Advocacy Center in Cullman) and Cullman Christian School. Rock The South occurred just a week before the company declared bankruptcy.
Original Plan To Close 13 Stores
Accounced on July 1, 2013, the company originally planned to close 13 of its 57 stores by August 3, 2013 to get back on track. This included five Food World locations in Hueytown, Gadsden, Florence, Decatur and Mobile in Alabama. Also, Food World stores in Pensacola, Mary Esther and Niceville in Florida were planned to be shut down. The Piggly Wiggly store in Tifton, Georgia was also going to be closed by August 3. Belle Foods attempted to sell off assets to try reconciling a $42 million debt.
Additional Stores Being Sold Off/Potentially Closed
In mid-July 2013, Belle Foods filed court paperwork indicating its intention to sell off 12 more stores (9 in Mobile, AL area, 1 in Athens, AL and 2 in Mississippi). This would have taken Belle Foods completely out of the Mobile area. Combined with the 13 stores closing by August, this would have reduced Belle Foods store numbers from 57 to just 32 - a 44% size reduction.
Unsecured Creditors Committee Formed
On July 17, 2013, it was announced that an unsecured creditors committee was formed to represent the interest of the companies Belle Foods hasn't been able to pay. Currently the committee is planned to have 11 members selected from a list of the 20 largest unsecured creditors, which are businesses such as Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc., Buffalo Rock Co. and Nestle USA.
Belle Foods Faces $191k Bad Check Claims From Creditors, Preemptively Switches Banks
Also, on the same day (July 17), creditors from Barber’s Dairy, Purity Dairies, Brown’s Dairy, Mrs. Stratton’s Salads and Mayfield Dairy Farms filed new claims stating that Belle Foods had written $191,005.18 worth of bad checks to them - because the checks were not honored by SunTrust. Just one day before these bad check claims were filed, Belle Foods announced they are switching from SunTrust to Cadence Bank.
Selling Off/Closing Of All Remaining Stores
On July 24, 2013, less than a month after saying they were filing bankruptcy, Belle Foods announced they were selling all 44 remaining stores. This was due to their inability to pay off the $42 million in debt that owners Bill White and Jeff White had generated or taken on in less than 12 months while running the company. At the most, the stores will be open until October 4 (unless sold) and Bill and Jeff White will only be with the company for a period of time until a chief restructuring officer is chosen to sell off the remaining locations.
In the July 24 statement to the press, Bill White said, "...our focus is on our customers and teammates." Before Bill White and Jeff White started running Belle Foods in mid-2012, the 57-store grocery chain employed approximately 3,000 people.
At the time of purchase the Whites said they wanted to grow the chain and not close any stores. Early on Bill White said to the press, "We told them we're here for the long-term. We want this to be here for our kids someday." Belle Foods announced bankruptcy exactly one year after its founding.
Belle Foods Bankrupcty May Cause Hundreds More In Job Losses
Due to Belle Foods failure to sustain itself, C&S Wholesale Grocers said they may need to close their Birmingham warehouse (Birmingham Logistics), which has operated for decades. The closure would result in the elimination of 203 jobs. Belle Foods was the warehouse's last major customer and if the closing happens, jobs could be lost starting August 28, 2013. C&S not only owns the warehouse Belle Foods is supplied by, but also the corporate office building for Belle Foods. Belle Foods owes C&S $6 million.
Owners & Employees Buy iPhones, iPads, iMacs, Furniture, etc. For Pennies On Dollar
Bankruptcy filings in late September 2013 revealed that employees at the Corporate Office level were able to buy tens of thousands of dollars of automobiles, electronics and furniture for fractions of what they were worth in an internal auction. Bill White managed to get an iMac and iPhone for a mere $300 - while last year's iPhone model still retails for $675 and the cheapest iMac retails for $1,299. Jeff White cleaned up as well, by buying a computer, an iPad and a chair just $330 (keep in mind the cheapest iPad model retails for approx. $340 ). The other iMac was sold to Jeff Ashland for only $100 – It's worth mentioning Jeff Ashland is the VP of Information Technology and has been with Belle Foods since 2012, even though the company cited "technical issues with its accounting system in 2012" as a cause for the bankruptcty. Other employees were able to get one of over a dozen iPads for as little as $150.
In total, a mere $31,075 from the auction was raised, despite 10 company vehicles (2004 or newer), 17 iPads, 2 iMacs, 1 iPhone, 7 computers, 5 laptops, a chair and a button machine being sold.
Auction Of Remaining Open Stores
On September 24, 2013 it was revealed that AWG (Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc.) had bid $16.13 million as a "stalking horse" bidder (a group of bidders, working together) for the remaining 43 stores and agreed to a set of conditions that would ensure other bidders would offer bids the primary creditor would find acceptable. The plan is to close down 13 of the 43 still-open stores. This basically means that for a $16.13 million amount, each store remaining opened is being purchased for ajust $537,000, on average. On top of this bid that doesn't even make up 50% of what is owed, there is further evidence of the remaining stores' continued financial problems - between July 28 and August 24, Belle Foods lost $1.5 million. In total, as of the September auction, Belle Foods still owes over $40 million to creditors. The final bids will be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama at a September 27 hearing.
Cherry Picked, Renovated Locations Likely To Be Bought By Former Belle Foods Owner In Auction
One of the bidders was labeled as '4Wall LLC (Bill White)' and it wants to purchase the flagship Belle Foods Hoover store, along with a Tuscaloosa store. According to LegalZoom, '4Wall LLC' was formed on September 15, 2013, in Alabama, with no individuals listed in the filing. On August 30, 2013, another company was formed by Bill White and son Jeff White called 'White Phoenix Advisors' - a company that aims to "help retail chains with their financial and HR struggles." In other words, the two people who caused Belle Foods to enter bankruptcty in just 12 months have not only created a company that offers assistance with retail chain financial and HR struggles, they also plan to use a mysterious company made weeks ago to buy two of the first three rebranded Belle Foods stores. The same people who ran the company while it went into bankruptcty are now cherry picking stores they renovated and rebranded in 2012.
Belle Foods Awards/Recognition, Pre-Bankruptcy
In an ironic twist, not only was Belle Foods named "Retailer of the Year" in late 2012, its CEO, Bill White, was elected to the National Grocers Association's Board of Directors in February 2013, about four months before Belle Foods declared bankruptcy.
The Associated Wholesale Grocers Bid
In September 2013 the Associated Wholesale Grocers founded in Kansas City, Kansas which currently owns Price Chopper / Price Mart and IGA was the only bidder for Belle Foods. The US Bankruptcy Court Judge of Northern Alabama will decide to accept or reject the Associated Wholesale Grocers bid of $16.1 million.
Management Details
In February 2012, Jeff White remarked to the press, "We consider ourselves average Joes." Before Belle Foods, Bill White worked with the financials of Big Y Foods Inc. as their Chief Financial Officer. Jeff White worked at Big Y as well, with his father and also did some 'consulting' work. The Whites decided to bring in their own senior management team in when starting Belle Foods, instead of retaining all of the senior management who were already there, in their pre-Belle Foods positions. This was done, despite Bill White saying, "Management has done a good job of turning the stores around in the last few years, and there are a lot of great, dedicated employees."
Regarding union workers and compensation, even though the majority of Southern Family Markets' union contracts were set to expire when the acquisition deal closed in mid-2012, the Whites started to re-negotiate them months in advance, as early as February 2012.
Jeff White also commented that, "It's a thin-margin business, which makes it fun." When asked about other grocery businesses near their soon-to-be-owned stores, Bill White said, "We don't fear them. We will attack what we feel are the weaknesses of our competitors." He also remarked that they had a capital budget to implement the changes they planned.
Ultimately, Bill White and Jeff White became just another set of names on Bruno's long list of out-of-state owners.
References
- "Contact." Belle Foods. Retrieved on October 5, 2012. "800 Lakeshore Pkwy Birmingham Alabama 35211"
- ^ "Belle Foods to sell remaining 44 stores". AL.com. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- Belle Foods Finalizes Purchase Of Southern Family Markets Stores , theshelbyreport.com, July 2, 2012
- ^ Belle Foods files bankruptcy "Belle Foods files bankruptcy". Birmingham Business Journal. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help) - "Birmingham-based Belle Foods to hire 300 part-time employees and reduce its full-time workforce". AL.com. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- "Food World union filing grievance over layoffs, part-time transition". Cullman Times. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- "Giving Back - Rock the South". Belle Foods. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- "Ala.-based grocer looking to close 13 stores". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- "Belle Foods wants to sell a dozen stores, mostly in Mobile". Birmingham Business Journal. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ^ "Belle Foods faces bounced check claims, new creditors' committee". AL.com. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- ^ "Father, son pursue dream with purchase of Southern Family's 57 grocery stores in 4 states". AL.com. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- "C&S may close Birmingham warehouse, eliminating more than 200 jobs". AL.com. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- ^ "Belle Foods' leaders buy company cars, iPads at bargain prices". AL.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- "iPhone 5 Price-$674 Unlocked". Amazon.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- "iMac 2012 Price-$1299 (Cheapest Version)". Apple.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- "iPad Mini Price-$343 (Cheapest iPad Model)". Amazon.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- "VPITBelleFoods.jpg". WikiMedia&LinkedIn. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ^ "Belle Foods bankruptcy auction hopes to ring up high bids". AL.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- ^ "New Bruno's owner Belle Foods continues rebranding; North and South Alabama stores up next". AL.com. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
- "Birmingham-based Belle Foods named Southeast Retailer of the Year". Birmingham Business Journal. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- "NGA Elects Belle Foods' Bill White To Board". The Shelby Report. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
- AWG is a Lone Bidder for Belle Foods; The Associated Grocers could have several new stores
