OHIO : INKSTOP APRUPTLY CLOSES ALL 152 RETAI L STORES

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Date: Tuesday October 6, 2009 11:32:15 am
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    http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2009/10/inkstop_abruptly_closed_all_15.html
    OHIO : INKSTOP APRUPTLY CLOSES ALL 152 RETAI L STORES.
    InkStop abruptly closes all 152 retail stores and lays off all workers

    WARRENSVILLE
    HEIGHTS, Ohio — InkStop Inc., a specialty retailer of ink, toner,
    consumer electronics and other supplies for small businesses and home
    offices, abruptly told its employees that it was shuttering all 152
    stores nationwide as of Friday and laying off all workers until further
    notice.”The company has elected to temporarily close all stores at the
    close of business today, Oct. 1, to focus on a restructuring plan in an
    effort to improve the overall operations of the organization,” the
    Warrensville Heights company told employees in a letter sent late
    Thursday.”Paychecks will not be issued on Friday due to our cash
    constraints. We are working on a plan to improve our cash flow
    situation and reopen under better circumstances.”

    The letter,
    signed by the Inkstop board of directors, went on to say that medical
    coverage and other insurance had been paid only through Aug. 31. “Your
    patience during this difficult time is appreciated,” it said.

    That
    means not only will employees not be paid for the past two weeks, but
    they will also be financially responsible for their medical benefits
    since Sept. 1.”We all knew the hammer was going to come down. We just
    didn’t think it would happen in one day,” Linda Mastellone, an
    assistant store manager at InkStop in Newtown, Pa., said via e-mail.
    “We all saw that the lack of ink [the main reason for the store’s
    existence] was a big sign that the company clearly didn’t have the
    capital to purchase product.”The company has been doing poorly since I
    came aboard in August,” she said. “I frankly couldn’t see how they were
    still in business. We didn’t have much ink/toner, and we couldn’t order
    stock that we usually kept on the shelves.”According to its profile
    page on LinkedIn.com, InkStop operates 152 stores in 14 states,
    including 14 stores in Northeast Ohio. “We are on track to have over
    200 stores opened by the end of 2010,” it said. The site also says
    InkStop, founded in 2005, has 550 employees.

    Phone calls to
    several retail stores went into voicemail, as did calls to several
    executives and to the company’s headquarters at 4400 Renaissance
    Parkway in Warrensville Heights.Next-door tenant Michael Feuer, chief
    executive and co-founder of Max-Wellness LLC and MaxVentures LLC, said
    InkStop’s lights were off and the offices appeared unoccupied.

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