Norwalk, lender meet with equity firms
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, August 4, 2008
Norwalk, Ohio — Officials at Norwalk Furniture Corp. were busy last week trying to get new financing and restore retailers' confidence in the custom upholstery manufacturer.
Bob Wanat, Norwalk's chief operating officer, said executives of the company met with representatives of its lender, Comerica, last week to seek a solution to an $11 million debt that Norwalk owes the Dallas-based bank.
Wanat said the company and bank also met with private equity groups to work out a possible resolution. There was no indication of when a conclusion might be reached.
Norwalk had announced earlier that Comerica, which initially had refused to negotiate, had agreed to come to the table.
Also last week, Norwalk restarted operations at its Norwalk, Ohio, and Fulton, Miss., plants, to fill existing orders. The company said it suspended operations July 21 after the bank cut its credit line.
As a brand, Norwalk was represented at the Las Vegas Market in the showroom of Charles Ray and Associates, which sells the line to the design trade, but company officials were not in the showroom. Ray said his showroom held 90% Norwalk product.
"Norwalk has only missed five business days," Ray said last week, noting that the factory was down for 30 days in 1992 when the Teamsters Union went on strike. He said he was happy that the Norwalk factories were back running, even though they were filling existing orders and not taking new ones.
"For me, it's like a bump in the road," said Ray.
Comerica has taken a public relations beating over the Norwalk closing, with public officials decrying the loss of some 850 jobs and the United Steelworkers and Teamsters unions showing up at the bank's offices in Cleveland to protest.
The state of Ohio said it would provide a $2 million low-interest loan to Norwalk to keep it afloat until a solution could be found, and Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher was at last week's meeting.
