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| Founded | July 1, 2012 |
|---|---|
| Defunct | October 18, 2013 |
| Products | Dairy, Deli, Frozen Foods, Grocery, Meat, Produce, Health & Beauty Care |
| Website | www.belle-foods.com |
Belle Foods, LLC was a family-owned chain of American supermarkets headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, unsuccessfully operated by father-son team Bill White and Jeff White. The company filed for bankruptcy in July 2013 and ceased operations in October 2013. Before Bill White and Jeff White started running Belle Foods in mid-2012, the 57-store grocery chain employed approximately 3,000 people.
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 hire approx. 300 part-time employees. In order for this to happen, many full time employees with over 20 years of experience had to be reduced to part time or take a layoff. 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 2013, 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 (which was a Belle Foods store): "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, sponsoring a "Rock the South" music concert which gave funds 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. Belle Foods did not have to pay the sponsorship fees of $50,000 due to their donations given to the charities Rock the South was benefiting. The money was raised during the Belle Foods Golf Tournament in May of 2013.
Bad Checks/Changing Banks Details
On July 17, 2013 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 were switching from SunTrust to Cadence Bank.
Announcement To Close Remaining Stores
On July 24, 2013, less than a month after saying they were filing bankruptcy, Belle Foods announced they were selling all of their stores. This was due to their inability to pay off the $24 million in debt the company had generated or taken on in 12 months while owning the grocery stores. The stores were only permitted to be open until October 18, 2013 (unless sold) and Bill and Jeff White were quickly removed from their positions after a chief restructuring officer was chosen to oversee the bankruptcy so that they could potentially purchase stores in the auction.
Internal Auction Details
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. The auction was performed by Carl Marks, the firm that swooped in as the restructuring officers. Bill White managed to get a computer and iPhone for a mere $300. Jeff White bought a computer, and a chair for just $330. An iMac was sold to Jeff Ashland for only $100. 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), 16 iPads, 1iMac, 1 iPhone, 7 computers, 5 laptops, a chair and a button machine being sold.
Bankrupcty Auction
In September 2013, Associated Wholesale Grocers was the only bidder (in a stalking horse bid) for Belle Foods stores being auctioned and offered just $16.1 million.
One of the stalking horse companies was labeled as '4Wall LLC (Bill White)' and it wanted to purchase a depleted Belle Foods Hoover store, along with a flagship 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 aimed to "help retail chains with their financial and HR struggles."
Management Details
In February 2012, Jeff White remarked to the press, "We consider ourselves average Joes." Before Belle Foods, Bill White worked at Big Y Foods Inc. as their Chief Financial Officer. Jeff White worked with his father at Big Y Foods Inc. 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. 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."
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.
Union Involvement Details
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.
Company Vehicle Details
During the September 2013 internal bankruptcy auction, it was revealed that a vehicle not available to be purchased was a 2012 Chrysler Town & Country minivan. This vehicle was bought in 2012 with a $40,537 loan taken out by Jeff White, who was co-owner of Belle Foods. During bankruptcy proceedings (and after Bill White and Jeff White were ousted), Belle Foods asked to have Jeff White made the sole owner, but bank BBVA Compass would only do so if the location of the vehicle was disclosed to Compass and Compass be allowed to repossess and sell the vehicle. The car also had Belle Foods on the title of the vehicle.
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.
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.
- ^ "Father, son pursue dream with purchase of Southern Family's 57 grocery stores in 4 states". AL.com. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
- 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.
- "Belle Foods faces bounced check claims, new creditors' committee". AL.com. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
- AWG is a Lone Bidder for Belle Foods; The Associated Grocers could have several new stores
- "Belle Foods bankruptcy auction hopes to ring up high bids". 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.
