Hilo Hattie, a popular chain for Hawaii’s tourists in search of souvenirs, laid out a plan to get out of bankruptcy and repay some of its debts after selling its most valuable location for $5.1 million earlier this year, the Wall Street Journal Bankruptcy Beat blog reported yesterday. In court papers, Hilo Hattie lawyers proposed to use the sale money to repay a portion of the company’s debts, including a $360,000 chunk of sale money that would flow to unsecured creditors who are owed more than $3 million. The plan projects that the 52-worker chain, which has downsized from seven to three locations, will start seeing sales grow starting next year. By 2020, the chain expects to take in about $7.5 million from the sale of its travel trinkets, Hawaiian floral-printed shirts and other inventory, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu.
