Ben Moss Jewellers loses its glimmer, seeks creditor protection

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This article was published 19/05/2016 (3464 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Long-time Winnipeg-based jewellery chain, Ben Moss Jewellers, has sought creditor protection in an Ontario court so that it can undertake a restructuring.

Currently all of the 66 stores remain open but liquidation of the inventory in 11 stores has begun and it is expected that a process to close those 11 underperforming retail locations will be initiated over the coming weeks. None of those locations is in Manitoba.

In 2013 the Winnipeg Trepel family sold the busines to the JSN Group, a private wholesale business that has a manufacturing and distribution operation in Toronto and interests and operations in the U.K. 

There are no changes to Ben Moss gift cards, credit cards or store credit program. The layaway purchase program will be temporarily unavailable for new purchases, but customers already registered will continue to have their deposits honoured and may complete their payment to receive their purchases.

Court records state that since 2013 sales have declined because of currency exchange issues and the weakened economy in Western Canada.

Sales peaked in the fiscal year ending March 29, 2014 at $86.6 million, declined by $1.2 million the following year and a further $6.7 miilion of 7.8 per cent in the year ending March 29, 2016.

The company owes creditors $68.18 million.

In an affafavit filed by Nazeed Manzoor, the chief restructuring officer, he said as a result of poor economic conditions, “Ben Moss has impaired cash flow and is experiencing a severe liquidity crisis.”

The planned restructuring is expected to allow the business to continue as “a viable business with significant future potential” according to Manzoor.

But in his affadavit, he said, “Ben Moss is facing immediate and serious challenges to its continued operations, including the threat of a demand for repayment from (from lenders), decreased sales levels, increasing costs due to the appreciation of tthe U.S. dollar relative to the Canadian dollar, a number of severely underperrforming stores and a misaligned fixed overhead cost structure.”

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca