Is Grand Rapids Losing Another Big Retailer to Bankruptcy?

They are not going out of business totally, but this popular home improvement chain of stores just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is closing 94 stores in 31 states, and that includes Michigan. Sadly, it also included their Grand Rapids store.

They are now known as LL Flooring, but formerly known at Lumber Liquidators, and they are shuttering about one quarter of all of their stores including the Kentwood store, 4260 28th Street, SE.

In addition to the Kentwood store, the Battle Creek store is closing as well. So, seemingly, that only leaves the Brighton store, close to Detroit, still in business.

So what went wrong?

News9.com reported that for one thing, the CBS "60 Minutes" story. The report found dangerous levels of formaldehyde in the flooring sold there. The company agreed to a deal in 2019 that had it pay $33 million in fines for misleading investors about the levels of formaldehyde in its laminate flooring.

They changed their name to LL Flooring hoping to distance themselves from the expose.

But, it wasn't all that simple since the business climate and landscape has changed so much since the pandemic. Consumers seem to be cutting back on big ticket spending and focusing on the basics, only.

Our sister station, CARS108 reported in their story about the closings:

Charles Tyson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of LL Flooring, says the Chapter 11 reorganization will provide LL Flooring with additional time and flexibility while it pursues a permanent solution to seek a sale of the 30-year old business.

Tyson said in a statement:

"After comprehensive efforts to enhance our liquidity position in a challenging macro environment, a determination was made that initiating this Chapter 11 process is the best path forward for the Company."