Hancock Fabrics

Hancock Fabrics
Company type	Public
Traded as	OTC Pink No Information: HKFIQ
Industry	Retail
Founded	1957; 67 years ago (Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S.)
Defunct	July 27, 2016; 8 years ago
Fate	Filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy; Assets liquidated
Headquarters	Baldwyn, Mississippi, United States
Number of locations	185 (at the time of closure)
Key people	Steve Morgan (CEO)
Number of employees	N/A
Website	www.hancockfabrics.com

Hancock Fabrics was a specialty retailer of crafts and fabrics based in Baldwyn, Mississippi, United States. Hancock Fabrics operated as many as 266 stores in 37 states under the Hancock Fabrics name. Hancock Fabrics was established by the late Lawrence D. Hancock. On July 27, 2016, all of the stores were closed, marking the end of the chain.

Retail History

Early history

Hancock Fabrics was founded in 1957 in Tupelo, Mississippi by Elaine (1922-2015) and Lawrence Doyce (L.D.) Hancock (1913-1998), started out as a cost-efficient retail store and offered a greater selection of merchandise to its customers at lower prices.^[1]

By 1971, when Lucky Stores bought Hancock Fabrics, the chain owned 81 stores and had 265 additional franchise stores in 19 states.^[2]

Growth and reorganization

In 1985, Hancock Fabrics acquired Minnesota Fabrics, which was based in Charlotte, North Carolina and operated over one hundred stores under the names Minnesota Fabrics and Fabric Warehouse. Fabric Warehouse had originally been part of Hancock before they bought Minnesota Fabrics.

Lucky Stores demerged Hancock in 1987, floating it as a public company.^[3] By 1992, the company was one of seven major retail piece-goods chains operating 482 stores in the United States.^[1]

Closure

On March 21, 2007, Hancock Fabrics announced it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.^[4] The company closed 104 stores and emerged from bankruptcy in August 2008.^[5]

In 2014, Hancock announced plans to take the company private,^[6] but later withdrew the proposal.^[7]^[8]

On April 1, 2016, the U. S. Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of the remaining assets to Great American Group, who announced that the remaining 185 stores will be closed and their assets liquidated.^[9] In August 2016, Michaels Stores, Inc. announced its intent to acquire Hancock Fabrics' intellectual property and customer database.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b Hancock Fabrics, Inc. -- Company History
^ Claudia H. Deutsch, "Lawrence Doyce Hancock, 85, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist", New York Times, October 29, 1998. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
^ Maturi, Richard J. (June 1989). "Making money in unmergers". Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Retrieved May 1, 2015. This retailer was a favorite of Bear Sterns analyst Charles Neuhauser, who specializes in spin-off stocks, before its stock soared to more than $22 a share. Hancock operates 366 stores in 29 states under the names Minnesota Fabrics, Fabric Warehouse and Fabric Market. It was spawned by Lucky Stores in 1987 ...
^ Hancock Fabrics Files for Chapter 11 Reorganization ^{[dead link‍]}
^ Hancok Fabrics was established by the late Lawrence D. Hancock. Hancock Fabrics Investor Overview]
^ "Miss.-based Hancock Fabrics plans to go private", Associated Press in The Washington Times, April 26, 2014.
^ "Hancock Fabrics withdraws bid to go private". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Aug 4, 2014. Archived from the original on May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
^ "Hancock Fabrics drops plan to go private", WAPT, August 6, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
^ "Hancock Fabrics to close remaining stores". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved Apr 1, 2016.
^ "Michaels buys Hancock Fabrics IP assets, including customer info". Daily Journal. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.

External links

Hancock Fabrics Archived 2008-11-01 at the Wayback Machine

[hancock-1] Hancock Fabrics, Inc. -- Company History

[NYTObit-2] Claudia H. Deutsch, "Lawrence Doyce Hancock, 85, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist", New York Times, October 29, 1998. Retrieved May 7, 2015.

[3] Maturi, Richard J. (June 1989). "Making money in unmergers". Kiplinger's Personal Finance. Retrieved May 1, 2015. This retailer was a favorite of Bear Sterns analyst Charles Neuhauser, who specializes in spin-off stocks, before its stock soared to more than $22 a share. Hancock operates 366 stores in 29 states under the names Minnesota Fabrics, Fabric Warehouse and Fabric Market. It was spawned by Lucky Stores in 1987 ...

[4] Hancock Fabrics Files for Chapter 11 Reorganization ^{[dead link‍]}

[hancock1-5] Hancok Fabrics was established by the late Lawrence D. Hancock. Hancock Fabrics Investor Overview]

[6] "Miss.-based Hancock Fabrics plans to go private", Associated Press in The Washington Times, April 26, 2014.

[7] "Hancock Fabrics withdraws bid to go private". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. Aug 4, 2014. Archived from the original on May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.

[8] "Hancock Fabrics drops plan to go private", WAPT, August 6, 2014. Retrieved May 7, 2015.

[9] "Hancock Fabrics to close remaining stores". Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal. 1 April 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved Apr 1, 2016.

[dj-michaelsip-10] "Michaels buys Hancock Fabrics IP assets, including customer info". Daily Journal. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.

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