Endurance

This is a blog I never in my wildest nightmares thought I would have to write.

Last Thursday evening Shabby Chic filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Business has been hard for a while, but the notion that my beloved company would become as broken as it has was never a consideration for me.
I thought there would be other solutions. But with great sadness, in the end, it was the best choice of some very not nice choices.



What this means to me is an opportunity to try to restructure and save Shabby Chic.

Over the past couple of years we opened about 10 new stores. Largely due to an economy that took a dramatic turn, the timing was very poor to try and expand. There are other reasons that caused the cracks, which one day I will explain just to pass on my lessons.



The road to recovery for Shabby Chic will be hard and recovery is by no means certain. I find myself in a situation of having to understand parts of business that are challenging for a flea market girl.

I was never much of a negotiator and for 17 and one half years I grew my company in a manageable way.



I find the rise and the fall of Shabby Chic very parallel to my family.

My son Jake was born 20 years ago in May and Shabby Chic's doors opened in august twenty years ago.



Their growth and lessons have often been very parallel.

And then twenty years later, as many of you know, I lost my mum. Even though she was still so lovely and her heart-beat was strong, her broken pieces couldn't be fixed.



Shabby Chic's heart and soul beats as strong as ever.



And if I say so myself, Shabby Chic has never been so beautiful.





I have a strong team who believes in our future. We know the problems and every minute of every day is being spent making Shabby Chic strong again.



I am touched by the demand for our products. Some of which we cannot supply at this time. I thank you for loving Shabby Chic. And somehow we will shrink down to a place that we can get our feet back on the ground.



If you see a store closing it is not because we didn't try, or love the neighbourhood. We just have to focus our energies and resources to gain our strength back and take care of our customers through remaining store locations.

Your patience will be needed and so very appreciated. My staff will answer your questions as best they can.

I thank you for your faith in me.

With love, respect, gratitude.