December 4, 2008 – 10:25 am
Kimball Homes, based in suburban Chicago, is shutting down. The company has built homes in markets all over the country, including in 4 Texas cities: “A spokeswoman said more than half of the company’s workers were laid off Tuesday, including an undisclosed number in the Houston area, where the company was active in 11 communities in the western and northwestern suburbs, Spring, the Humble area and Friendswood. Kimball Hill had 704 closings in the Houston area in 2007, down from 903 closings in 2006, according to Metrostudy.” The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April. (The Chicago Tribune reports Kimball Hill had 1,100 employees as recently as last year.) [Houston Chronicle, via Swamplot inbox]
Read more about: Bankruptcies, Homebuilders, Openings and Closings
November 11, 2008 – 9:03 am
The Sugar Land location of bankrupted Bill Heard Chevrolet has a new owner. And the new place is gonna be . . . a car dealership! “[Jean] Durdin, who owns Parkway Chevrolet in northwest metro Houston, outbid fellow Houston dealer Mac Haik for the Heard store in southwest Houston. Durdin added more than $7.7 million to Haik’s original bid to buy the store for $20 million, not including vehicle and parts inventory. Durdin also outbid two other competitors, but [turnaround consultant Fred] Caruso declined to name them.” [Automotive News, via Swamplot inbox; previously]
Read more about: 77037, Bankruptcies, Buying and Selling, Retail, Sugar-Land
In one fell soup, Bennigan’s has apparently shuttered all of its U.S. locations. And the store is taking its sister restaurant, the ailing Steak & Ale, along with it. The chains’ are filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Both are subsidiaries of Metromedia Restaurant Group, based in Plano.
Over at Houstonist, Katherine Shilcutt Gleave surveys the confusion resulting from the unannounced overnight shutdowns:
Houston is home to at least 20 Bennigan’s restaurants in the city and surrounding metropolitan areas. Calls placed this morning by Houstonist to the locations netted the same result each time: a phone ringing off the hook and no answering service. Only one location answered the phone when we called: the Bennigan’s in Greenspoint off Beltway 8. The befuddled-sounding manager at that location politely told us that they were, in fact, closed. He further confirmed that all other Bennigan’s in Houston were closed as well.
Steak & Ale had 6 Houston-area locations.
Photo: Flickr user alex_user
Read more about: Bankruptcies, Franchises and Chain Stores, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail
