Page One, Albuquerque, N.M., is "in the final stages" of emerging from bankruptcy, and owner Steve Stout hopes to receive "a final decree" within a month, the Albuquerque Journal wrote.
Page One declared bankruptcy early last year (Shelf Awareness, February 22, 2011), listing debts of $1.37 million and assets of $800,000.
Under the plan approved by the court, the Journal said, Page One is making quarterly payments to publishers over the next five years and to Bank of the West, the company's second-largest creditor next to Stout, on a monthly basis over 15 years.
Stout said that the bankruptcy process has "given the bookstore new life. The community rose to the occasion and gave us their support in more than words. Folks who hadn't been to the store in years came by in droves to let us know they felt we were important enough in the community to support."
Over the past five years, the store has reduced staff to 18 from 41 and moved to a 55%/45% ratio of new to used book sales from 70%/30%. Sales of new books are 60% of business, compared to 75% five years ago. Page One has $1 million in inventory and more than 100,000 titles. The store has been helped by the closure last summer of a nearby Borders and a Hastings Entertainment location.
