Another iconic jewelry company has filed Chapter 11. It has been announced that David Webb filed Chapter 11 yesterday reporting assets of $10.3 million and liabilities of $6.9 million. Diamonds,net had a look at the documents which show that while gross sales for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, were $13.2 million, total sales for the coming fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 were not expected to top $5 million. The company estimated operating expenses for the next 30 days at $377,927 with expected sales of approximately $400,000. The "Silberstein Family Partnership" is listed as sole owner of the company. The company has been in business over sixty years and has provided jewelry for some of the most legendary jewel connoisseurs in the world including Elizabeth Taylor, The Duchess of Windsor and Princess Grace. David Webb pieces which often feature animals and naturalistic themes remain some of the most collectible pieces in the jewelry world.

It's trendy lately to rage against the cushy deals that retired execs get but it saddens me a little to learn that Lee Iacocca, the car executive who turned Chrysler around n the 1980s, may lose a major part of his pension and a guaranteed life-long company car as part of the fall-out from Chrysler's bankruptcy deal. Reuters reports that Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli told a U.S. bankruptcy court that Iacocca's pension would be among the obligations Chrysler won't be paying if it gets bankruptcy court approval to sell itself to a "New Chrysler" to be owned by its union, the U.S. and Canadian governments and Fiat. Iacocca's retirement was part of a supplemental executive retirement plan including non-IRS qualified pension funds that are therefore subject to bankruptcy. Chrysler is also stopping a program that gave company cars for life to former executives and directors including Iacocca (shown above in 2005 with a Mercedes Maybach).

Iacocca, who was the president of Ford in the mid 1960s, came to national attention in the 1980s when he starred in the Chrylser commercials touting the quality and durability of his American-made cars. The gallery below traces Iacocca's career including his ill-fated adventure in selling electric bicycles. In a commercial from 1984, placed after the jump, it's interesting to see how Iacocca dealt with the bankruptcy facing his company over two decades ago. His straight talking approach and focus on hard work appealed directly to the American people buying his cars. As he says in the commercial: "I have one, and only one, ambition for Chrysler, to be the best."

While the Lambertson Truex line has been a favorite for fashionistas it never became a household name. But now the company, which filed for bankruptcy in March, will have a second life under the aegis of Tiffany & Co. Tiffany bought the brand likely to bring the label's talented namesakes Richard Lambertson and John Truex into the company. Just what is Tiffany going to do with handbag designers? It seems likely that Tiffany may be looking into creating a line of purses and small leather accessories. Not many details have been made public yet and no financial terms were revealed.

High-end jewelry line Doris Panos Designs has become the latest jeweler to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Papers filed in New York show that the company estimates that its assets and liabilities each total between $1 million and $10 million. Doris Panos is a jeweler who created her own business in 1993 after years in the field. Her dramatic pieces featuring large gemstones have been worn on the red carpet and appeared in many fashion magazines. Her line is sold at Neiman Marcus and other fine stores. The jewelry industry has been hit by many bankruptcies lately including Whitehall Jewelers, Fortunoff, Robbins Brothers and Ultra Diamonds.

I wrote last week about the problems facing Fortunoff, the fine jewelry and furniture retailer. Now as National Jeweler reports, a bankruptcy court judge had decided to allow Fortunoff Fine Jewelry and Silverware LLC's request to auction off its assets (aside from goods obtained on consignment) later this month. The auction is being pushed through quickly partially because Fortunoff is facing a major liquidity crisis and needs help fast if it is to continue as a going concern, the brand has been actively seeking a buyer. The auction will take place at the offices of law firm Sidley Austin LLP, 787 Seventh Ave. in Manhattan on February 23. Those who want a chance to bid on Fortunoff's assets must submit a qualified bid in writing to the offices of Sidley Austin LLP on or before Feb. 19 at 4:00 p.m. The company could be sold in its entirety or a separate bidder could emerge for the company's inventory. Fortunoff is seeking to continue to run an ongoing business but if no buyer emerges then it will likely face liquidation. Finding someone to buy Fortunoff seems an iffy proposition at best currently, especially considering the fact that Fortunoff's main categories of furniture and jewelry are two of the hardest hit sectors. A special website has been set up with information on the bankrptcy filing.

More troubles for jewelry and homes goods retailer Fortunoff. The company just announced that it is closing the store at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City now that its lease is up. The jewelry business from there was supposed to move into Lord & Taylor stores but that move may never happen because Fortunoff's parent company, NRDC Equity Partners may either sell the brand or file for bankruptcy protection.

Fortunoff filed for bankruptcy last February which is when NRDC picked them up and promised to open new stores and bring Fortunoff jewelry into Lord & Taylor. NRDC owns Lord & Taylor as well as other retailers including Hudson's Bay Co. Finding someone to buy Fortunoff seems an iffy proposition at best currently, especially considering the fact that jewelry, which is Fortunoff's bread and butter, isn't selling well right now. A more likely scenario is, as Bloomberg reports, a liquidation of merchandise. Yesterday afternoon, Fortunoff spokeswoman Arlene Putterman confirmed to National Jeweler that the company was looking at filing Chapter 11 again.

Just last August, my colleague Jared Paul Stern reported that the Lusso Collection, a luxury destination club, had assembled a portfolio of multi-million dollar residences and announced an exclusive new membership club to augment their existing offers. Now, the club is in financial trouble. The Lusso Collection filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month, leaving many members and visitors wondering what this means for their vacations and their money. Members paid one-time, refundable enrollment fees of $325,000 to $445,000 and annual dues of $21,000 to $31,000 depending on the type of properties and amount of vacation time used.

The combination of the falling stock market and the depressed market led to both less membership sales and less value for Lusso's existing properties. Lusso has more than 150 members and homes in 16 locations around the world. It is currently reorganizing and members are still be able to book stays at the club properties. Lusso joins another luxury club Yellowstone, which filed Chapter 11 in November.

[via Minneapolis Star-Tribune]

As a sign of the times, another watch company is buckling under the economic difficulties especially present in the luxury industry. Bedat & Co. which started in 1996 will close its doors and cease operations soon, according to multiple industry sources. The luxury watch maker had a number of interesting watches for both men and women, such as favorites like the No.3, No. 7, and No. 8.

Bedat & Co. was founded by Simone Bedat who branched off after being a business partner of Raymond Weil. The brand enjoyed healthy distribution in high-end watch retailers and department stores alike. While it isn't clear exactly why certain watch brands are suffering more than others, I speculate it has to do with the annual sales volume a brand needs to survive. Interestingly, Bedat & Co. was purchased by Gucci in 2000, which means that its closure might be a preemptive financial security measure taken by Gucci in anticipation of harder times ahead for the luxury group of brands.

At this time there is no specific date for Bedat & Co. to close up shop, or indication of whether it has filed for bankruptcy. Though, several sources indicate that we will be seeing the end of Bedat & Co. soon. It is a shame, and the worst part is that we never know what brand will kick the bucket next.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Another jewelry and accessories company has closed down. The Colibri Group is most well-known for their lighters but the brand also manufactures and markets other brands including Seth Thomas, Dolan Bullock and Krementz. The merchandise was sold in 20,000 outlets across the U.S. including both chain and independent jewelry stores The 80-year-old company has gone into receivership with the State of Rhode Island and immediately closed its doors laying off all workers.

Posh Tots, the purveyor of some of the most extravagant baby and child gear we've seen, is in financial trouble. Posh Tots is a subsidiary of the Parent Co., a Denver-based online retailer of products for children and babies which filed for bankruptcy protection recently. The company listed assets of $20.6 million and debt of $35.7 million in Chapter 11 documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware. The reason for the problem, that old bugbear, lack of sales. Bloomberg reports that net sales were about $20 million in the first half of fiscal 2008, compared with about $106 million for all of the previous year. Parent Company had about 946 employees at the beginning of December and now has just 103 people people. Other subsidiaries in the filing include Etoys Direct, BabyUniverse, Dreamtime Baby, Gift Acquisition and My Twinn. The company plans to sell its assets at auction.

UPDATE: The founder of Posh Tots, Andrea Edmunds, has bought back the company for just $735,000 and it is still in operation.

China and collectibles maker, The Lenox Group has become the latest company to stumble in the current economic climate. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week. Lenox usually does a brisk business this time of year in gifts, ornaments and holiday dinnerware. The company was known as Department 56 until 2005 when it changed its name after buying Lenox Inc., a fine-china maker. It says debt related to the acquisition and the weakening financial markets lead to the filing. Like many other companies, Lenox will continue to operate during the bankruptcy. It is seeking $85 million in financing from its lenders to pay employees and normal operating expenses.

One of the icons of the Las Vegas Strip is in big trouble. The owner of Tropicana casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It's been a rough year for the Tropicana, in December the New Jersey Casino Control Commission said that the company wasn't capable of running the operation in accordance with state law and the Tropicana in Atlantic City lost its license. That decision led to a funding crisis which eventually led to the bankruptcy filing. The company has reported assets of $2.8 billion and liabilities of $3.3 billion. Tropicana Entertainment has said it will keep their properties running throughout the country and Scott C. Butera, the company's president, has urged people to continue to patronize Tropicana's properties which include The Tropicana Casino & Resort in Las Vegas; Bayou Caddy's Jubilee Casino in Greenville, Miss.; Casino Aztar in Evansville, Ind.; Horizon Casino Hotel in Vicksburg, Miss.; Horizon Casino Resort and the MontBleu Resort Casino & Spa, both in Lake Tahoe, Nev.; the Tropicana Express Hotel & Casino in Laughlin, Nev.; River Palms Resort & Casino in Laughlin, Nev.; and the Sheraton Hotel and Belle of Baton Rogue Casino in Baton Rouge, La.

The Tropicana in Atlantic City isn't part of the filing because it has to be sold by a state-appointed conservator which was mandated when the former owners lost their license in December. The company will get the money from that sale but it's not the best time to be selling real estate and so the price may be lower than would usually be expected. The company may also sell other properties as the restructuring process continues. The Las Vegas casino is the property with the most value, it occupies a nice chunk of prime Strip real estate. I'm sure developers will eagerly snap it up if the Tropicana is unable to save itself.

A couple months ago we mentioned that high-end gadget retailer Sharper Image had filed for bankruptcy, now the company is up for sale. The retailer has said they want to be sold by the end of May and are preparing for an auction of the business as soon as possible. A Reuters article features a quote from Robert Conway, Sharper Image's chief executive which says in part that the current retail climate and the limited financing options available have prompted the sale. A potential buyer may be found in Jerry Levin, the former chairman of Sharper Image's board who recently resigned and has stated publicly that he is interested in working investors to buy the company. Like RedEnvelope, which is also up for sale, the Sharper Image has continued to keep doing business which leads me to wonder how many people are aware that the businesses they are shopping with are inches from going under.

Popular catalog and online gift company RedEnvelope has fallen on hard times. On Friday the company reported that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 17 with the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco. The company will also be sold. They have entered into an agreement with Creative Catalogs Corp. to purchase RedEnvelope's assets and assume some of the company's liabilities for $5.7 million. RedEnvelope has also gotten a $4.5 million debtor-in-possession credit facility and loan from Creative Catalogs and Granite Creek FlexCap so that the business does not have to shut down during the transition process (guess that explains why their catalog is still showing up in my mailbox). The final sale price will be will be less the outstanding amount from that loan.

The nine-year-old company was one of the few e-commerce sites with a successful catalog business but the recent tough economic climate and the bank's stricter lending policy for retailers found the company in trouble this year. The company catered mainly to the middle class and upper middle class brackets which are now cutting back on spending due to economic concerns. Order shipments had dropped 20% during the third quarter compared to last year. DM News says that in February, RedEnvelope reported a loss of $4.3 million versus a net income of $5.3 million during the same time last year. The RedEnvelope sale must be completed by May 30 and during that time RedEnvelope can accept other bids.

The Sharper Image, home over the years of all kinds of iconic gadgets like Razor Scooters and the Ionic Breeze air purifier line, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They've seen net losses for the last 3 years, and earlier this week their stock plummeted all the way down to $0.41 per share.

Their downfall seems tied to the fact that they've always been so focused and dependent on the success of very limited and focused products. They're hoping to make a comeback, though, borrowing $60 million dollars and closing 60 of 183 stores nationwide.

I've always loved shopping in their stores and browsing their catalogs -- I hope they get it together and recover from this!