The national retailer Sur La Table, which specializes in offering kitchenware as well as cooking classes, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to reorganize, downsize and reemerge.
The filing was made in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey in Trenton. Sur La Table is headquartered in Seattle and in court papers shows 150 Quaker Bridge Mall Road in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, as the debtor”™s address.
The company said while it had reopened 121 of its stores around the country as of July 4, it “contemplates the sale of Sur La Table retail stores after the rationalization of its national store footprint and closure of certain stores to prosper in the current retail environment and position the company for a vibrant future.”
Sur La Table already has closed the store it operated at The Westchester in White Plains. It says its stores at Ridge Hill in Yonkers, The Shops at Nanuet in Rockland County and Shoppes at Farmington Valley in Connecticut are to be permanently closed in August or September.
According to court documents, among the creditors who have the 20 largest unsecured claims is The Westchester, which is owed $245,330. The Cookware Co., a manufacturer in Irvington and Tarrytown, is listed as being owed $547,419. Zwelling J.A. Henckels LLC in Pleasantville, which is a wholesale distributor of cutlery products, cookwares and scissors, is shown as have an unsecured claim of $2,244,687.
The company said that it plans, subject to court approval, to consummate a restructuring and sale of the company as a going-concern.
“This sale process will result in a revitalized Sur La Table positioned to thrive in a post COVID-19 retail environment,” said Jason Goldberger, CEO of the company. “Sur La Table will have a balance sheet and retail footprint optimized to position the company for a bright future that continues our nearly 50-year tradition of offering high-quality cooking products and experiences to our customers.”
Sur La Table was founded in Seattle in 1972 by Shirley Collins. According to biographical material from the company, she had been trying to make recipes from Julia Child”™s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” but couldn”™t find a place in Seattle to buy the necessary kitchen supplies, such as wooden spoons and French knives. She became inspired to establish just such a store, took out a bank loan and found space at Seattle”™s Pike Place Market.
Her 750-square-foot store soon established a reputation for being a special place to visit, find cooking supplies and learn how to prepare gourmet dishes. Its reputation grew and the store attracted even more attention when celebrities such as Julia Child, Danny Kaye and Jacques Pepin started coming in.
Before the pandemic struck, the chain had grown to the point where its resident chefs were holding cooking classes for more than 700,000 people a year.
