Calumet Photographic declares bankruptcy

Calumet Photographic declares bankruptcy

In a last-minute announcement, Chicago-based Calumet Photographic announced that it was filing for protection under Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy law on March 12, according to The Wall Street Journal. The chain announced its plan to liquidate “with a heavy heart” on Facebook, saying that it would be closing all of its U.S. locations, though it will still be operating in Europe.

According to the news source, Calumet Photographic is just one of the several photography chains that have announced bankruptcy filings in recent years. Ritz Camera, for example, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. After the filing, Ritz was bought by members of the founding family, who had plans to revive it, but in 2012 the company was forced to liquidate when it declared bankruptcy again.

In court papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago, there are two, separate bankruptcies: Calumet Photographic, Inc., and the company’s website, Calumetphoto.com, LLC filed separately. While Calumet Photographic, Inc. listed between $50 million to $100 million in assets and only $10 million to $50 million in liabilities, Calumetphoto.com, LLC listed another $10 million to $50 million in liabilities and less than $50,000 in assets.

The main company Calumet also seems to have waited until the last possible moment to announce its closure, according to PetaPixel. A former employee of the company told the news source about just how late the internal notice went around.

“According to my coworker, management was notified of this decision late last night, and told not to open for work the next day,” the former employee said. “My friend is still waiting to hear when/if he will be allowed to go back to the store and collect some personal belongings left on his desk.”