Block Corp. Files for Bankruptcy, Liquidation

Block Corporation in Tupelo has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which usually leads to liquidating all assets.

Another northeast Mississippi company will soon be closing its doors. MPB’s Cari Gervin has more.

The Block Corporation filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation last week in New York. The sportswear clothing company laid off half its 200 employees in December.

Block has been headquartered in Tupelo since it bought the Amory Garment Corporation in 2000. It was founded in North Carolina in the 1920s and specializes in big and tall lines. It also licenses brands like Timberland and Izod.

Block’s bankruptcy filing lists almost 45 million dollars in debt. Among the millions owed to creditors are thousands of dollars of unpaid taxes.

Leslie Pitts works in the Chancery Court Clerk Office in Lee County. She says it will be a hassle having to wait years to collect the hundred and three thousand dollars the county is owed, but that’s all.

“I don’t think it would affect it that much – I mean, I can’t just say, you know, it’s going to affect this or that, but we have so many other taxes due, that one thing is not going to hurt the county.”

Cathy Waterbury of the State Tax Commission says the thirty-six thousand dollars the state is owed is not an unusual amount.

“We see those types of claims and we see larger claims than that and we see smaller claims than that. We annually average about 7 million dollars in claims in bankruptcy court. That’s about 5200 claims a year that we’re working.”

Waterbury says that despite the bad economy, the number of delinquent taxes in bankruptcy settlements was the same in 2008 as it was in 2007. No numbers are available yet for 2009.

For MPB News, I’m Cari Gervin.