On Tuesday, Painted Tree Boutiques announced it was filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an email sent to its vendors.
The company rented out space to local businesses to have a physical store to operate from.
The email said in part, “We understand the impact this has on you and your business, and we are truly sorry. We know many of you have invested significant time, energy, and resources into building your spaces at Painted Tree, and this is not the outcome any of us hoped for.”
One vendor said she was first tipped off about the closure after checking her security cameras.
"I noticed that all my security cameras were off. There was no electricity. So I ran over here to check it out and see what was going on. And we had a big sign on the door saying chapter seven,” said Jamie Dent, owner of Sweet Pickin’s.
Star Monreal, who ran a shop called 1111, said when she got the news via email, she had to move her stuff to her other location, Dolce Vida on Wells Avenue.
“I thought it was a joke,” she said, “and I texted the general manager, Annette, and she said that it was true, and she had no idea that that was happening."
Even though the email gave vendors until April 24th to remove the inventory. Jose Valenzuela said managers told him to get his stuff out immediately.
“Even the management was letting us know the sooner the better. They don't trust the corporation after what they were able to do. They didn't even give us the 30-day notice. We got a 10-day notice,” Valenzuela said. He operated a store called Bodacious Bugs.
Rebecca Price left Painted Tree back in March because she was having issues getting paid for her sales. When she called the store to sort out the issue, they asked her to call the home office, who didn’t respond to her calls right away.
Price ran In the Stars at Painted Trees. She started a Facebook group for other vendors with similar issues nationwide. It has 488 members.
"There was talk within that Facebook group like, oh, I bet it won't be long before they file bankruptcy. And my group just kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger with all these people who weren't getting paid across the United States,” she said.
Some new vendors got a rude awakening at other stores.
“There were vendors in my group that said in different locations that there were new vendors moving in, like as recent as Sunday, all excited, setting up their booth. Not in Sparks, but, you know, other places,” Price said.
The same day the company closed its doors, it posted to its Instagram about a Ladies Night scheduled for Thursday evening. This sign was also at our local store, just a few feet from the bankruptcy sign on the door. There's no official word if this event was canceled.
At the time of publication, Painted Tree has announced the closure on its website. However, the link to the form to sign up for a shop is still on the website directly below the announcement.
We’ve reached out to Painted Tree Boutiques for more information on why the company shut down so abruptly, but we have not heard back at the time of publication.
Alin Beane spoke to some of the vendors affected by the closure.
