RAPAPORT... The parent company of Bailey Banks & Biddle, which
claims to be the US’s oldest nationwide jeweler, has filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy in Texas, according to a court document.
Houston-based BBB Group estimated both assets and
liabilities of up to $50,000 in the November 6 voluntary petition.
Joseph Trowbridge Bailey and Andrew Kitchen founded the
company in 1832 as Bailey & Kitchen, according to its website. Over the
years, it created important pieces in US history, including a mortuary medal to
mark the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. It changed its
name to Bailey Banks & Biddle in 1878.
Last year, the retailer became tied up in the
investigation into an alleged bank fraud in Nirav Modi’s global jewelry empire.
The Indian tycoon’s American businesses funneled proceeds from the alleged
fraud into Bailey Banks & Biddle to fund its operations, a US court examiner
claimed.
The company closed its stores in Dallas and
Plano, Texas, last year, leaving it with just the one shop in Houston,
according to its website.
Jesse Aguinaga, attorney for the company, declined to
comment.
Image: Bailey Banks & Biddle store in Houston, Texas. (Bailey Banks & Biddle)
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