Goodwill of Southern Nevada emerged from bankruptcy last week, almost two years after it filed for chapter 11 protection, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. The thrift-store chain’s reorganization plan, approved this month by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Beesley, took effect last Thursday, court records show. The plan calls for some debt forgiveness and a new debt-payment structure, and cements previously renegotiated retail leases, according to Goodwill CEO John Helderman. Goodwill had 21 stores and about 1,000 employees at the time it filed for bankruptcy protection. It now has 17 locations and roughly 800 employees, Helderman said in a recent interview. Helderman said that the company took on rents that were too high, adding Goodwill “fell in love” with so-called build-to-suit projects, or custom-built stores. Five build-to-suit locations were developed for Goodwill between 2015 and 2017, he said. Goodwill also issued around $22 million in bonds in late 2015. Helderman said the group borrowed the money mainly to buy three of the custom-built stores, but also to refinance some debt. However, retail sales were far from robust, and stores had an “overabundance of labor,” according to a mid-2017 management consultant report from Jim Martin, president and CEO of the Goodwill networks in Eugene, Oregon and Alaska.
