The whereabouts of David Belford remain a mystery.
NEW YORK — The NY Post today said that David Belford, owner of United Furniture, who abruptly shut the company down without notifying workers in advance, has “disappeared” after disagreeing with the company’s board of directors over a potential bankruptcy filing.
Belford, who invested in United Furniture and owns an investment firm, Stage Capital Partners, is based in Ohio. Furniture Today has attempted to contact Belford at the United Furniture factories in Mississippi, North Carolina and California, as well as via his Stage Capital Partners office in Columbus, Ohio. He did not return a voice mail message seeking comment.
According to the Post, on Nov. 20, United Furniture’s board held an emergency meeting and decided to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But the next day, Belford said no to the strategy, according to Philip Hearn, an attorney who is representing 600 ex-employees in Mississippi.
The Post reported that, according to Hearn, “Belford said ‘We are not going forward with a Chapter 11.’ It sounds like the management team came up with a plan to save the company and Belford said, ‘That’s a wrap-not doing it.’”
Those remaining lenders and others “close to the company” are trying to untangle the issues around the company’s assets, leases and former employees, according to the Post.
The Post said that Hearn alleges that Belford is trying to place blame on the company’s lenders, including Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo told the Post that it had no knowledge of United’s decision to close and issued this statement to the Post:
“Wells Fargo was saddened to learn of the abrupt shutdown of United Furniture Industries Inc. and its affiliated companies (“UFI”). Once notified of the company owner’s decision, we immediately reached out to UFI’s senior leadership to address the consequences of the actions taken by the company’s owner and support its employees.”
In the meantime, employee lawsuits are mounting and employees are looking for work after being let go with no warning and no COBRA coverage.
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Jean Marie Layton is senior editor for upholstery at Furniture Today. A design and furniture aficionado, she has worked as a writer/editor in industry and non-profits, in academic administration and in retail furniture sales. She pursued a master’s degree in the history of design at Parsons/Cooper-Hewitt and has a BA in history from Mount Holyoke College and an MA in liberal arts from Stanford University. Reach out to Jean Marie with your story ideas, tips and more at jlayton@furnituretoday.com
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