Waterloo Gardens, a mainstay of suburban Philadelphia’s Main Line for 70 years, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late June and is struggling to keep its last remaining location open,
the
Philadelphia Inquirer
reported.
The family-owned store’s flagship location in Devon, Pa., has closed and is up for sale. The family “has scraped for weeks to stay open” at its Exton, Pa., store, the article said. The business’s troubles stem from a failed expansion in 2007, just before the economy collapsed, according to the report.
Second-generation CEO Zelinda LeBoutillier died of cancer last year at age 76; her son, Bobby LeBoutillier, is “determined to rescue what is left of the business,” the
Inquirer
article said.
James Paolini, Zelinda LeBoutillier’s father, founded the business in Devon 1942. In 1959, he opened nurseries in Exton to stock the Devon store; the site became a Waterloo Gardens store in the 1970s. In 1972, Paolini sold the business to his daughter and her husband; at the time, suburbia was expanding and gardening had become trendy, the report noted.
Paolini died in 1990 and left most of his assets to his housekeeper, prompting a legal battle. “The family rift would play out in court for several years before fading away,” the
Inquirer
article said.
Part of the business’ financial problems stemmed from its emphasis on having a wide selection of stock; excess inventory ate into cash flow, the article said.
The company prospered from 2005 through 2997; it did not foresee the economic collapse. In 2007, the company spent about $8 million to acquire a store in Warminster, Pa., and opened a location in Wilmington, Del. The Warminster store closed at the end of 2008 and the Wilmington location closed in December 2011. At the two remaining locations, revenue fell 80% in 2010, 12% in 2011 and 20% so far this year, according to the report. Payment terms for deliveries were tightened, and the company’s lender “has resisted Waterloo’s efforts to continue spending its cash to finance operations in Exton,” the
Inquirer
report noted. (Source:
Philadelphia Inquirer,
Aug. 12, 2012.)
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