Jackson & Perkins, Park Seed
Filings Reflect the Times
Aug 20, 2010 4:05 PM, By Tim Parry
While seed mailers tend to do well
in a recession, their ornamental plant counterparts tend to struggle.
Which means the timing of George W. Park Seed Co.'s 2007 acquisition of
Jackson & Perkins Co. may have put both merchants on a crash course with
Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Park Seed, which owns Park Seed
Wholesale, and J&P Acquisition, which owns J&P Co. and J&P Wholesale,
filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 in the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court of South Carolina on April 2. The lead debtor, Park Seed,
listed assets of $8.33 million and liabilities of $44.79 million.
"There's a big difference between
ornamental plants and fruit trees and vegetable plants," says Jim
Zuckermandel, owner of direct marketing agency ZED Marketing and a past
president of the Mailorder Gardening Association. "2009 was a booming year
when it came to edibles, but sales in ornamentals have gone a bit like the
recession."
The reason: Zuckermandel says that
the priority during a recession is fruits and vegetables, since growing
your own food can help save money.
"The consumer's priority is not a
$100 ornamental plant during a recession," Zuckermandel says.
While the Park Seed customer is a
much different demographic than the Jackson & Perkins customer, Jim Coogan,
president of consultancy Catalog Marketing Economics, says there is some
overlap.
"Mailing to these two different
demographics even though both are gardening catalogs has a unique set of
challenges," Coogan says. "But management should be able to distinguish
between the two catalogers’ circulation plans and mail based on their past
results."
An auction scheduled for Aug. 23
will determine the collective fate of the horticultural catalogers; on
July 22 the bankruptcy court granted substantive consolidation for the
five entities in the Chapter 11 filing.
The stalking horse bidder is J&P
Park Acquisitions, with a purchase price of $7.09 million. Bids closed on
Aug. 18.
Jackson & Perkins—founded in 1872
and famous for its roses— became part of the Park Seed group in 2007.
Former owner Harry & David Holdings sold most of the assets of the $73.8
million Jackson & Perkins for roughly $21 million to an investment group.
Source:
http://multichannelmerchant.com/news/0820-jackson-perkins-park-seed-chapter-11/
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