Harry & David
Harry & David is an American company that was founded in 1910, when Seattle hotelier Samuel Rosenberg purchased 240 acres (97 ha) of pear orchards in Medford, Oregon.[1] His sons, Harry and David, took the company over upon his death in 1914.[1] The company is best known for beginning the business of mail order direct marketing of fruit, especially through its "Fruit-of-the-Month Club." Their "Harry & David" brand specializes in high-end gift baskets and holiday gift towers.
The company is owned by private investment firms Wasserstein & Company and Highfields Capital Management, who bought the company in 2004. In 2005, Wasserstein and other investors took out dividends exceeding $100 million, and charged millions more in "management fees." Harry and David defaulted on its debt in 2011, also terminating its employee pension obligations.[2]
Harry and David added Jackson & Perkins, a mail-order rose marketer, to its brands in 1966. However, Jackson and Perkins was sold to an outside group of investors for $49 million in 2007.[3]
In 2008, Harry and David announced it acquired Wolferman's from Williams Foods[4] and Cushman's, a family-owned marketer of citrus and specialty foods.[5]
Harry and David's Chapter 11 bankruptcy was filed on March 28, 2011[6]. The company completed its bankruptcy reorganization on September 13, 2011.
[edit] References
- ^ a b Jeff LaLande. Harry & David in the Oregon Encyclopedia
- ^ "Private Inequity, The New Yorker". January 30, 2012. http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/01/30/120130ta_talk_surowiecki. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
- ^ "Harry & David sells Jackson & Perkins". Portland Business Journal. April 2, 2007. http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/04/02/daily4.html.
- ^ "Harry & David Holdings, Inc. Acquires Wolferman's, Leading Multi-Channel Marketer". Press Release. Reuters. January 15, 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS213313+15-Jan-2008+PRN20080115. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^ "Harry & David Holdings, Inc. Announces Acquisition of Cushman Fruit Company". Press Release. Reuters. August 11, 2008. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS225077+11-Aug-2008+PRN20080811. Retrieved 2010-12-16.
- ^ "Harry & David seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection". USA Today. March 28, 2011. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2011-03-28-harry-david-bankruptcy.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
[edit] External links
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