The owners of Chelsea Village Hardware, which closed its doors Jan. 5, are holding a bankruptcy auction of the store’s inventory as part of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.
Owners of the store, Tom and Pattie Clemons, claimed in court documents they received no profit from operating the store in 2012 and $20,250 in 2011.
Chelsea Village Hardware is auctioning off its remaining inventory after closing in January and declaring bankruptcy in February.
John Counts | AnnArbor.com
According to the bankruptcy filings, Chelsea Village Hardware has $86,491.50 in personal property that can be used to pay off debts, and the store is attempting to make up at least part of the $371,871.02 difference between its assets and liabilities by auctioning off remaining inventory.
The auction will be occurring online through RJM Auctioneers. According to the bankruptcy filing, the wholesale value of the items is $224,804.05 while the retail value is $370,699.48.
As of Friday evening, nearly all of the items were up for auction, which ranged from the store’s neon “OPEN” sign to heavy-duty hardware to clocks and kitchenware. The auction only is available online, and bidding began June 3 and is scheduled to end Monday.
Chelsea Village Hardware first opened as Gambles in 1940. Since then, the store has gone through a number of iterations before the Clemons took over ownership in 2001.
The owners sent a letter to the Chelsea Update in January saying closing the store was a very difficult decision.
According to online city tax records, the store also has not paid $313.61 in property taxes for the winter of 2012. Winter taxes usually are paid in the late winter or early spring of the following year.
The Clemons could not be reached for comment on this story.
Ben Freed covers business for AnnArbor.com. You can sign up here to receive Business Review updates every week. Reach out to Ben at 734-623-2528 or email him at benfreed@annarbor.com. Follow him on twitter @BFreedinA2.