Whitehall
Jewelers Credit Card
Whitehall Jewelers, which was incorporated in 1895, opened its first store in Chicago to give an excellent jewelry
shopping experience with good customer service and affordable prices.
More than a century has now passed, and on December 2008, Whitehall Jewelers Credit Card ceased to
exist after the company had an approved request from the United States Bankruptcy Court District of Delaware to end
the credit card program.
The Whitehall Jewelers Credit Card was managed by GE Money Bank, which Whitehall Jewelers tried to bargain with in
order to carry on the program based on post-petition. With the request to finish off the credit card program filed
in November, the court however sided with Whitehall Jewelers despite the claims of GE Money Bank regarding the
provisions of the company’s rights in the termination of the said program.
Although a Whitehall Jewelers Credit Card can be used in other jewelry stores, the jewelry industry has plummeted
downward, and recently, there had been a lot of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filings from jewelry companies, such as Ultra
Diamonds, Robbins Brothers, Fortunoff, and Whitehall Jewelers. A judge from Delaware already approved Whitehall
Jewelers’ request for a going-out-of-business sale.
The Chapter 11 Bankruptcy filed by Whitehall Jewelers last June 2008 is waiting for the United States Bankruptcy
Court to grant a debtor-in-possession financing worth $80 million from Bank of America, GMAC Commercial Finance,
and Wells Fargo Retail Finance. Within a span of three years, the company had many losses, declaring $207 million
in assets and $185 million in liabilities. It has also closed around 70 to 90 stores since 2005, although it has
bought around 80 stores from Friedman’s Jewelers for $14.3 million, who also filed earlier for bankruptcy.
Ironically, the purchase was done in order to avoid bankruptcy.
Beginning in August 2008, Whitehall Jewelers started to sell family jewels and liquidate around 370 stores as
approved by the bankruptcy court. This is also because of the reduction in the number of customers, sales, and
retail lenders. Judge Kevin J. Gross stated a court order to allow sales to push through until December 2008.
Stores in Illinois and Missouri were lined up for selling, although there were no possible buyers recorded. The
inventory will also clear up precious and semi-precious stones, including gold and diamond, which would be better
bought with cash instead of a Whitehall Jewelers Credit Card.
The credit card crisis, which definitely affected the Whitehall Jewelers Credit Card, has contributed greatly in
many company bankruptcies. Any form of credit or lending is now viewed as a high risk transaction, and matters are
getting worse since buyers of companies which are bankrupt are decreasing in number.
To recover from the loss, chances are you will be called by collections agencies if you own a Whitehall
Jewelers Credit Card, especially if you have an unsettled account. The credit card may not have a good use
now, thanks to the Chapter 11 filing and the end of the credit card program, but it wouldn’t bid goodbye yet as
long as there are still accounts that can be squeezed.
Source: Credit Cards For People With Bad Credit Rating
 Print this
page |  Bookmark this page
| 