Bulldog News retreats to Ch. 11
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Nancy J. Kim Staff Writer
Bulldog News Inc., a shrinking chain of newsstands, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in King County.
The Seattle-based magazine retailer, a familiar fixture on University Way Northeast in the University District, will continue operating its two remaining stores in the attempt to regroup and settle debts estimated between $100,000 and $500,000, according to U.S. Bankruptcy Court filings.
Gloria Nagler, attorney for Bulldog News proprietor Doug Campbell, said that Campbell has already consolidated his retail operations to the two urban locations on Capitol Hill and in the U District. The newsstand owner shuttered his struggling Bulldog News stores in Tacoma and Olympia. Campbell's landlords are his largest creditors, said Nagler.
The merchant's Chapter 11 filing is yet another sign of the difficulty faced by periodical sellers whose numbers are dwindling. National bookstore chains, such as Barnes & Noble and Borders Books & Music, have wrested market share from Bulldog and other newsstand operators. And the growth of the Internet, and subsequently Internet-based publications, poses a question about the future of the trade.
In 1997, Anthony Wilson closed YNot Magazines & News in downtown Seattle with three years left on the store lease. He tried to sell the business to no avail.
"I didn't have the strength of will to continue," said Wilson, who still runs his shop in Federal Way.
He laughs at his own advertising, a window sign that reads "Best Newsstand in Federal Way," an accolade received in a local paper's reader poll.
"It's a one-horse town. I'm the only newsstand in Federal Way," acknowledged Wilson.
The couple who owned Fourth Avenue Magazines, opposite the Columbia Seafirst Center downtown, recently sold the business to an optimistic new owner, Tom Whitfield. The erstwhile insurance salesman bought the business, which he has renamed In The News, mainly for its location.
"There's a concentration of 30,000 workers within three blocks. There's virtually a small city that works close by," said Whitfield.
He hopes to draw more traffic and buoy sales by selling espresso and pastries, even though many options for latte drinkers abound in the newsstand's trade area, including one of the highest-grossing Starbucks Coffee Co. locations, the Columbia Seafirst Center store.
Bulldog News added espresso, which boasts higher margins than magazines, to its offering more than 15 years ago, but coffee sales haven't been enough to keep the business from falling into financial straits.
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