Report: Finlay Fighting Bankruptcy

Vendor financing is not the answer to move forward for our industry. As much as vendors want to produce orders and help support our customers, it is too risky to enter into extended terms or memo. The current business climate is really tough, and orders are fewer and smaller. With credit drying up, it\'s almost impossible to finance the retailers, and it\'s not smart to do it w/ vendor money. You ship, they end up going bankrupt ANYWAY, and you\'re not going to get paid. Factories close, but they don\'t make the headlines, because they are often private companies. The vendors who are still in business can\'t afford to make the same mistakes again. Smaller orders that can be paid on time will keep our industry moving forward while we weather the storm. One step at a time.

Vendor financing is not the answer to move forward for our industry. As much as vendors want to produce orders and help support our customers, it is too risky to enter into extended terms or memo. The current business climate is really tough, and orders are fewer and smaller. With credit drying up, it's almost impossible to finance the retailers, and it's not smart to do it w/ vendor money. You ship, they end up going bankrupt ANYWAY, and you're not going to get paid. Factories close, but they don't make the headlines, because they are often private companies. The vendors who are still in business can't afford to make the same mistakes again.
Smaller orders that can be paid on time will keep our industry moving forward while we weather the storm. One step at a time.

Finlay, like many major retailers, have taken advantage of the vendor community for quite some time by forcing threatening terms on them. The vendors who capitalized where the ones able to make Finlay play by their rules as well. That worked for a while, perhaps in a growing economy but not in a shrinking economy. Ultimately Finlay relied on vendor financing, while the strong vendors shoved overpriced collections into the cases. It was a house of cards. I personally worked at a company that did over 70 million with them annually. We owned them, or at least we thought that. And they needed our product support. If Finlay had been pro-active, and got off their butts when business was good, they would have found out ways to purchase jewelry better......but they were lazy and lacked the courage to pioneer the planet for the correct sourcing, and the operations needed to support it. So the house of cards falls down. Even if they are able to convince vendors to hold off, they will still fall within the year because the entire business model does not work any more. This is not the old days! Their laziness, self rightousness and arrogance has now come back to haunt them. And the biggest vendors for Finlay have already gone bankrupt, or have just recently sold out. There is no where for Finlay to turn now. And to perpetuate themselves is just putting off the inevitable.

Finlay, like many major retailers, have taken advantage of the vendor community for quite some time by forcing threatening terms on them. The vendors who capitalized where the ones able to make Finlay play by their rules as well. That worked for a while, perhaps in a growing economy but not in a shrinking economy. Ultimately Finlay relied on vendor financing, while the strong vendors shoved overpriced collections into the cases. It was a house of cards.

I personally worked at a company that did over 70 million with them annually. We owned them, or at least we thought that. And they needed our product support.

If Finlay had been pro-active, and got off their butts when business was good, they would have found out ways to purchase jewelry better......but they were lazy and lacked the courage to pioneer the planet for the correct sourcing, and the operations needed to support it.

So the house of cards falls down. Even if they are able to convince vendors to hold off, they will still fall within the year because the entire business model does not work any more. This is not the old days! Their laziness, self rightousness and arrogance has now come back to haunt them.

And the biggest vendors for Finlay have already gone bankrupt, or have just recently sold out. There is no where for Finlay to turn now. And to perpetuate themselves is just putting off the inevitable.

All I want to know is when they are going to \"own\" up and tell their employees something. We work really hard and do not deserve to be treated like children and them pretend its not there.

All I want to know is when they are going to "own" up and tell their employees something. We work really hard and do not deserve to be treated like children and them pretend its not there.

Finlay made a decission to change their business model a few years ago. The purchase of Bailey Banks & Biddle was scene as the final addition to their new business structure. The issue was that they had no idea how to run a guild business and their timing was very poor. They had no idea how to run a true Swiss watch business or a successful Bridal business. They are paying the price for their own arrogance. I predict that they will be liquidated before the end of the summer.

Finlay made a decission to change their business model a few years ago. The purchase of Bailey Banks & Biddle was scene as the final addition to their new business structure. The issue was that they had no idea how to run a guild business and their timing was very poor. They had no idea how to run a true Swiss watch business or a successful Bridal business. They are paying the price for their own arrogance. I predict that they will be liquidated before the end of the summer.

Really? You don\'t think it had anything to do with vendors shoving crappy designs down their throat and forcing them to pay for it? The whole business is messed up and it starts with the vendors. Skimming retailers are secondary.

Really? You don't think it had anything to do with vendors shoving crappy designs down their throat and forcing them to pay for it? The whole business is messed up and it starts with the vendors. Skimming retailers are secondary.