Dear Sugarloaf Exhibitors,
It is with a heavy heart that we announce that Sugarloaf Mountain Works, Inc. is forced to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy. During our 45 years of producing Sugarloaf Craft Festivals, we have been through a lot together: wars, terrorism, recessions, hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, health scares, and more. Through it all we all managed to make it work year after year.
We started 2020 anticipating a record year for everyone. Were it not for the global pandemic, our shows would still be going stronger than ever. When the pandemic caused governments everywhere to close all large public events we were devastated as show after show was cancelled.
We did everything we could to avoid this outcome, including negotiating with facilities, rescheduling shows to later dates and pursuing a partnership or full sale to other promoters in an effort to preserve the business. But with no shows open now and no clarity from the governments as to when or how they may open, our options were limited.
For months there have been almost no application fees coming in for fall shows. This is expected to continue for at least several more months. Unfortunately, without cash flow, even a well-managed business simply cannot survive.
We apologize for the disruption this will likely cause all of you and wish it were otherwise. But in the end, we did not cause this problem to happen and we have absolutely no way to fix it in time to save these shows. This is a situation caused by forces far bigger than any of us and we deeply regret that we are unable to continue serving this wonderful community.
You may have a claim to file for fees you have paid. In the coming weeks, you should receive important information from the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland, including Case Numbers and Trustee contact information. Please note that no one at Sugarloaf can make any managerial decisions at all going forward.
We are devastated to share this news after 45 years of great shows, great friends and great memories.
Replies
Has anyone received anything from their bankruptcy claim? It appears that the trustee liquidated several tractor trailers and other business equipment that SL owned and there might be other recoveries. Im just curious if anyone has heard anything. I filed a claim and have heard nothing.
...I'm out $6500! I early paid for all 11 shows 2020. I don't know how they sleep at night knowing what they did to so many people.
I’m really sorry to hear that. This whole thing is starting to smell like a scam. The postponed dates never appeared on the venues calandars. I wonder if a fraud investigation could be started.
I don't think it was a scam, the government did shut everything down without a reopen plan. I think it was a perfect opportunity time wise, to get out of the business. The only part I'm having a hard time with is...why not offer it to someone else?
Because they can use bankruptcy to walk away from their problems today and restart later under another name. Look at the math.. say there were 300 booths at each show at an average price of $450. That is $135,000 in fees for each show. There were 11 shows so they collected nearly $1.5 million in fees for the 2020 shows. Thats a lot of money to burn through but they managed to do it.
I think your math is way low. Probably closer to 350-400 exhibitors and $700 per show including elec.(another scam). I also know of people who have paid fees for the spring of 2021 to get the discount. I have heard of people being out more than $10k. I think were are looking at a couple of mil at least. This whole thing stinks and I wish I knew how to get it investigated. People talk of their overhead, what? a couple salaries, an office, a three computers and a few desks and chairs? That's why there is no tangible property to liquidate. Like I said earlier, if they had intended to do the right thing, they would have refunded our fees before declaring. This is a cowardly theft of millions of dollars.
FYI, when your bankruptcy papers arrive, they will come in a white envelope from BAE Systems which is processing the notices to all interested parties. It may look like junk mail so watch for it. Mine came on 6/20 but I live close by. If you read the notice, pay close attention to #8 on the back of the notice page. It says "No property appears to be available to pay creditors. Therefore, please do not file a proof of claim now." So that means that there is no cash left in the company bank account and that all of our fees are gone. Thanks, George, Deann and Jackie.
I didn't do every Sugarloaf show but I did enough of them to see that certain vendors were favorites among the show management. I wasn't one of those. I wonder how many of the favorite vendors received refunds before they filed??? And I'm sure that the family collected their paychecks before filling too.
I was able to get all my money back from their canceled shows by calling American Express. Took about 10min. explained the situation and was credited my lost fees. If you charged your sugarloaf fees on your AE card you may want to call them. Not sure if it matters what particular AE card you have (I have a Hilton Honors AE Card) but mine was covered.
I filed a claim with my visa card as David suggested. It will take up to 60 days to resolve and who knows how the bankruptcy will effect the outcome. Thanks all for the guidance.
Thank you, David, for that information. Do you think it has to be an AE card? Wouldn't a Visa or MC work also? If not, I'm foreseeing a run on American Express cards.
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