Boaters World Marine Centers is closing all its 129 stores nationally

[dmx10101]

Boaters World stores closing
By Wayne Faulkner
Business Editor

Published: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 12:00 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 at 3:03 p.m.

Boaters World Marine Centers is closing all its 129 stores nationally, including locations in Wilmington, Southport and Myrtle Beach.

The company is being liquidated as a result of the late February Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of its parent firm, Ritz Camera. Ritz Camera also operates 800 photo stores nationwide, according to the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

Hilco Merchant Resources won the right to liquidate the stores' merchandise, equipment and fixtures in bankruptcy court, Hilco Executive Vice President Richard L. Kaye said Tuesday.

Hilco Merchant Resources is a joint venture of The Hilco Organization, based in Northbrook, Ill., and Boston-based Gordon Brothers Group LLC.

An employee of the Wilmington Boaters World, at 317 S. College Road, would not comment Tuesday for publication. An employee at the Southport store, at 5091 Southport-Supply Road S.E. referred questions to Ritz Camera headquarters in Beltsville, Md.

A Ritz representative did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on the number of jobs affected by the Boaters World closings.

Liquidation of the stores, located in 27 states, could take eight to 12 weeks, but there is no set timetable, Kaye said. Most of the stores are in leased space, so the liquidation will include very little real estate, he added. "Generally we are looking at a sale period that will run probably to the end of June," he said.

Other North Carolina Boaters World stores are in Atlantic Beach, Mooresville, Pineville, Raleigh and Winterville. The company's South Carolina locations include two in Myrtle Beach and three in the Charleston area.

Kaye said that Hilco's bid guarantees that "we will pay the bankrupcty court X number of dollars for the right to sell. If we sell fewer than X number of dollars we have to make up the difference out of our pocket."

If the liquidation fetches more, Hilco gets to retain all or a portion of that money, he added.

Hilco was involved the sale of inventory and closing of the Sharper Image and Bombay Co.

In the Southeast, it was involved in inventory sales of Goody's Family Clothing Inc., when that Knoxville, Tenn.-based company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. Goody's said then that it would close six North Carolina stores.