ICONIC NEW YORK HOME DÉCOR RETAILER FOLDS

ABC Carpet and Home, a purveyor of luxury home décor to New York City’s upper crust for more than a century, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, blaming its woes on the COVID-era lockdown and a “mass exodus” of its customer base from Manhattan.
An investment vehicle called 888 Capital Partners has offered $15.3 million to buy the company out of bankruptcy and take over its two locations, one at 888 Broadway and the other in Brooklyn.
Paulette Cole, ABC’s controlling owner, helped fund the buyout and would retain an interest in the reformulated company.
The deal also includes a $5.7-million loan to keep the stores open and the business functioning during the bankruptcy process, The Wall Street Journal reported.
TREND FORECAST: Business centers across the country, such as New York, Chicago, and San Francisco will continue to see the demise of touchstone businesses as the diaspora of at-home workers continues to drain affluent consumers from northern commercial hubs to secondary cities, particularly across the U.S. South and Southwest.