Will Smith & Hawken Be Liquidated?

Popular garden and outdoor entertaining company Smith & Hawken has been struggling lately. Now Reuters reports that the company will call in the liquidators for its 56 stores unless its corporate parent Scotts Miracle-Gro Company reaches a last minute deal with potential buyers. Scotts bought Smith & Hawken for around $70 million in 2004. The recession has hit the company hard. Financial statements reveal that sales were down 22 percent during the first two quarters of the current fiscal year. Reuters sources say that the 700 employees of the company will be notified soon if no deal is reached. If the company is not bought out, then the going-out-of-business sales could start as soon as the end of the week.

UPDATE: Scotts Miracle-Gro has announced that it will shut down Smith & Hawken. All of Smith & Hawken's 56 U.S. stores will be shut down by the end of the year and the website and call center will stop taking catalog orders immediately.