Homecrest closes

-- Casual Living, 11/1/2007 12:00:00 AM

Homecrest closed its operations the first week in October after its efforts to refinance or find a buyer failed.

President and CEO John Sundet said the Wadena, Minn.-based outdoor furniture manufacturer did not intend to file for bankruptcy protection. “We'll just go through a liquidation process,” he said. “We will be selling our machinery, equipment and inventory over the next several months.”

When asked what factors played into the company's decline, Sundet noted challenges within the outdoor furniture channel. “But the cataclysmic event for Homecrest was the experience we had with slate and marble tabletops,” he said. “The cost to replace those tabletops that we purchased was several million dollars and we weren't capitalized to withstand that kind of extraordinary expense we didn't anticipate. We had significant warranty fulfillment we went through with those tabletops that was really devastating.”