When some chains go bankrupt, they may owe vendors and employees money, but very few customers get affected. Individual shoppers may end up with gift cards they can’t use or items they wanted to return, but in most cases that’s the worst of it.
That’s what happened when Bed Bath & Beyond, Tuesday Morning and Christmas Tree Shops went through the Chapter 11 process and ended up in liquidation. It was sad for longtime customers — all three of those brands had dedicated fanbases — but few of those customers ended up not getting the items they ordered.
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When furniture chain Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams abruptly closed, however, thousands of customers were left in limbo. Some had orders outstanding and had paid for shipping, but the bankrupt company had not paid its delivery partners, leaving those orders stranded at various shipping companies.
In that case, the bankruptcy court approved a deal where people who had furniture sitting at various shipping companies could pay again and then have their orders delivered. That wasn’t a fair solution for people who had already paid, but it was likely worth it for them to do so to get their orders delivered.