Mandee’s parent company, hit hard by Sandy, files for bankruptcy

A Mandee location at 3860 E. Tremont Avenue in the Bronx
A Mandee location at 3860 E. Tremont Avenue in the Bronx

The retailer Big M, owner of  low-priced chains Mandee and Annie Sez, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday afternoon, after Hurricane Sandy shut down a number of its stores in New York and New Jersey, Crain’s reported. The Totowa, N.J.-based company cited both assets and liabilities of between $50 million and $100 million. The chain owes money to more than 1,000 creditors.

Big M operates at least 15 Mandee stores in New York City, several of which were on hard-hit Staten Island. In total, the Big M operates 84 Mandee stores, 35 Annie Sez stores and 10 Afaze stores.

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However, only a handful of those stores will be shutting their doors as part of the bankruptcy, although precisely which locations will be closing is yet unknown.

“The chain was doing much better, and then unfortunately they got hit in the ribs by the hurricane,” Kenneth Rosen, the Lowenstein Sandler attorney handling the bankruptcy petition, said, noting that a half dozen stores were flooded. “When people were without electricity and couldn’t get gas because a tree was down, they weren’t going to a Mandee shop.” [Crain’s]Christopher Cameron