Goodwill Industries of Southern Nevada, which runs 50 donation centers and retail stores in Las Vegas, filed bankruptcy 20 months after issuing about $22 million of unrated municipal bonds to finance the acquisition of three retail facilities, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The nonprofit issued the debt through a Wisconsin agency, the Public Finance Authority, which specializes in acting as a conduit for risky debt. Borrowers for speculative projects sometimes forgo credit ratings rather than risk the taint of being labeled junk. Sales at Goodwill stores began declining in the fall of 2016, corresponding with a nationwide retail downturn. “The recent expansion, the retail downturn, and increased operating costs to run our retail stores have led us to make the difficult decision to filed for Chapter 11 reorganization," the charity said on its website.
