Applejack Art Partners' Rapid Expansion Drives It Into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Applejack Art Partners Inc., which manufactures fine art prints and sells sports memorabilia, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy after efforts to rapidly expand their company met with a faltering economy. The company which sells everything from Andy Warhol prints to chunks of turf from the Dallas Cowboys’ end zone is hoping to sell its assets in Chapter 11 bankruptcy which it says is the only way they can survive.

“The company made some expansion decisions in the past few years which turned out to be improvident in light of the circumstances surrounding the purchases and the declining state of the economy,” he said. “Without the sale, the company believes it would not be able to continue.”

When the company acquired Bruce McGraw graphics in August 2009, gaining the exclusive rights to images from the Walt Disney Co., the Museum of Modern Art and Andy Warhol they could not imagine that a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was on the horizon.  Before filing bankruptcy, the company had announced their plans to transform some of the Disney images into promotional pieces and display them in J.C. Penney department stores across the country.  They also had pre-bankruptcy plans of customizing the famous Andy Warhol prints of Marilyn Monroe.  But instead the company fell deep into debt forcing it to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection or face total insolvency.

Applejack Art Partners filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy with debts ranging from $10 million to $50 million and assets of only $1 million to $10 million according to the bankruptcy petition. Also, the company is facing litigation that includes its appeal against a $1.5 million judgment and a $1.6 million judgment.