Oldest U.S. Cutlery Maker Files For Bankruptcy

Oldest U.S. Cutlery Maker Files For Bankruptcy

Lamson & Goodnow Manufacturing Co., the self-described  oldest U.S. cutlery maker, has filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy law, according to Reuters.

The Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts-based manufacturer announced the move Aug. 15, citing decisions by prior management and the tightening of credit by secured lender Newtek Business Credit, according to the news source. It plans to sell its main factory to repay a loan of $1.07 million to the U.S. Small Business Administration, which holds a first mortgage on the property. With this move, it hopes to generate a positive cash flow as early as this November.

Lamson & Goodnow real estate agent Robert Cohn, of Cohn & Co., told Greenfield, Massachusetts-based publication The Recorder that the 18.3-acre factory complex is on the market for $2.1 million as of this week. The complex measures 59,000 square feet and includes seven buildings.

“We will sell all of it or part of it,” Cohn told the news source. “It’s a great opportunity for renewal of mixed use.”

The empty factory complex with locked doors and no sign of life observed by The Recorder in the late afternoon on Aug. 19 is far removed from the knife maker’s prime, when it opened its doors as one of the largest cutlers in the U.S. This was in 1837 – the same year that Queen Victory began her reign in the U.K. and Michigan became the 26th state of the U.S.

By 1869, it had showrooms in Boston, New York, Chicago and San Francisco, the news source reported. That same year, it presented a 62-piece set of fine table cutlery to President Ulysses S. Grant, which is now on display at the Smithsonian Institute.

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