BATON ROUGE, LA - JHJ Inc., the parent company of Baton Rouge-based grocery chain Shoppers Value, and its affiliated businesses filed for bankruptcy on November 15, 2019. Now, additional affiliates and stores under JHJ have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and reorganization as the company as a whole looks to keep its grocery chain afloat in the competitive retail market.
“They plan to reorganize and continue operations,” said William Steffes, attorney at The Steffes Firm, according to news source The Advocate, which noted that the Shoppers Value chain cited debt tied to its 2018 acquisition of six former Winn-Dixie stores. Following the Chapter 11 filing, only one of these stores remains in business.
The news source also noted records that show JHJ consulted attorneys in February about “certain liabilities associated with affiliates’ store closures”—in regard to its acquisition of the Winn-Dixie locations from Southeastern Grocers—before deciding in November to advance bankruptcy proceedings in order to use this as an opportunity to continue to advance its grocery business.
Shoppers Value operates 12 grocery locations. As JHJ and its affiliates continue to strategize and recoup in order to keep its grocery operations open, AndNowUKnow will continue to follow along with all updates.
