Olsson’s Files for Chapter 11

by Judith Rosen -- Publishers Weekly, 7/10/2008 7:14:00 AM

Close to a month after three publishers filed a petition with the Maryland Bankruptcy Court to force Olsson’s Books and Records into Chapter 7 liquidation, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area bookseller has filed a response, asking the court to convert the Chapter 7 to a Chapter 11 that would give the store a chance to continuing operating while its tries to reorganize. In late June, Hachette Book Group, Random House and Penguin Group filed a motion seeking to recover claims totaling $386,541 from Olsson’s. As part of its motion, Olsson’s denied that it has not been paying its debts as they become due as was claimed in the publishers’ motion.

Earlier this month, Horning Brothers Corp., which owns the property Olsson’s recently vacated on 7th Street in Washington, stepped forward to use the Chapter 7 petition to attempt to collect the approximately $165,631 that it claims it is owed in unpaid rental charges and real estate taxes on that location.