Content area
Full text
squeezed on one end by the Internet and on the other by larger national rivals, Learningsmith Inc. is shutting down its entire chain of 87 toy shops - including a White Plains store at The Westchester mall.
Leamingsmith will shutter its 5,327-square-foot store at The Westchester and all its other sites by mid-January, following a going-out-ofbusiness sale that began early in December.
"The company anticipates liquidating all of its assets Learningsmith said in a Dec. 10 statement.
The closing was announced on the same day Learningsmith filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in US. Bankruptcy Court in Boston, Mass. In its petition, Learningsmith reported liabilities of $65 million and assets of only $60.7 million.
With most of its top management gone, Learningsimth is now represented by the Boston law firm Hanify and King. The firm's Harold B. Murphy was unavailable for comment, so the status of severance packages and the size of Learningsmith's staff - reported at 850
full-timers and more than 1,500 parttimers could not be confirmed at deadline.
Struggling for identity
The demise of Learningsmith snuffs out an upscale toy chain that has struggled in recent years to maintain a consistent identity with customers. When it opened its first store in Cambridge, Mass., in 1991, Learningsmith envisioned itself...