Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Michael's on 47th Hits the Mat


posted by chicago pop

 
 The 47th Street location is accursed. 

At least for grocery stores. According to the Chicago Tribune, Michael's Fresh Market is applying for bankruptcy.  The entire chain is going down due to difficulties obtaining financing from the grocer's creditor, Premier Bank of Wilmette. So in this case, in contrast to what transpired here before, the crisis is exogenous to Hyde Park. It appears to even be exogenous to Michael's. Rather, this one appears to be a direct local casualty of the 2008 financial crisis as it continues to unwind.

According to the lawyer for Michael's:

The financial difficulties experienced by the debtors are due in large part to the freeze on lending imposed by the lender beginning in the fall of 2010," the grocer said in a filing. "This freeze on the lender's extension on working  capital to the debtors was due not to problems with the financial performance of the debtors, but primarily was caused by the lender's own financial and regulatory problems.

So there may be a chance Michael's could convince another lender to help float the daily operations of what it claims is still a viable business. Sound familiar? 

5 comments:

jw said...

Who cares? This neighborhood doesn't need another grocery store and we sure don't need Whole Foods. We need more restaurants and at least one place that we can buy clothes.

Pathetic.

Chris said...

It's a decent grocery and an employer in an area that can use both. I hope they find another lender.

Chason said...

It is also a nice, cheaper alternative to Treasure Island and the future Whole Foods, an option that will be lost with Village Foods. Unless, of course, those Trader Joe's rumors are more than rumors...

Foxy Knitter said...

I have to disagree with JW. I live at 45th and Drexel, and we definitely need a grocery store in the Michael's location. The Save-a-Lot at 47th and Cottage is not a full-service grocery store, and to get to Treasure Island, I have to take 2 buses. The 47th and Lake Park location is perfect for a grocery store, for those of us who live in Kenwood and North Kenwood. I'm praying that Michael's parent company will be reorganized, not closed, so the store can survive.

Foxy Knitter said...

Looks like Michael's is closed. I walked by there yesterday, and the place is completely empty. Another one bites the dust. Too bad they won't put a Dominick's there.