January 5, 2009

Waterford/Wedgwood Files for Bankruptcy

It was just announced that the Waterford/Wedgwood group has filed for bankruptcy. Waterford Wedgwood's lenders had repeatedly given the company extra time to arrange new funding and agreed to defer loan payments until 2 January. It has been negotiating with a US private equity firm over the sale of a controlling stake in return for taking on its debts and providing $280m of capital. But the company's board was forced to call in the receivers after its lenders, led by Bank of America, refused to postpone its interest payments for a fourth time.
The firm has posted a loss for the last five financial years, as declining demand for its products pushed sales down. Its future has been uncertain for months, despite attempts to cut costs by closing some sites and moving production to eastern Europe and Indonesia. Thousands of jobs have already been lost in the UK and Ireland.

Here's an interesting article about this.

From: The Guardian

27 comments:

  1. Wow. This is not unexpected, surely, but does give one pause. And the article you linked too was quite interesting and opinionated. I agree with the writer; let's find beauty in lesser-priced goods.

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  2. What a shame.

    I was just reading about Waterford's demise here (with a video): http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article5449313.ece

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  3. In an economy like this, are people really going to buy Waterford and Wedgwood? I think that's what lead to the final straw. They will keep operating in bankruptcy.

    AL... It was an interesting article. I love reading the UK papers. I just posted an interesting restaurant review on my foodie blog in which the first six or eight paragraphs have nothing at all to do with the place they're reviewing.

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  4. That's a shame.

    Lenox China also filed about a month ago. Unfortunately they owe their vendors ALOT of money, my family is one of the business who will not be getting paid because of it which seems really unfair.

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  5. This is really sad. I think they should concentrate on their quality over quantity. I think in the past few decades the quality has fallen off. When you compare the antique vs. new quality -you really see the difference. Why pay top dollar for lower quality??
    I think in any economny, there is still a market for top quality. (can I use the word 'quality' any more often?).

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  6. I cannot imagine a china and glass department without Wedgwood or Waterford but perhaps they have not moved sufficiently with the more contemporary nature of style and taste now. xv

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  7. Wow I'm a bit stunned. maybe it's my age and my Irish Catholic upbringing but I didn't have any friends that didn't register for Waterford.

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  8. I think Vicki's comment hit the nail on the head. What china and glass dept.? My town has lost all the wonderful places that specialized in tabletop. Now it's a tiny section of a store — if they carry anything at all. I buy and use these kind of items but now I can hardly find them without going to another city.

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  9. Additionally, I see people making New Year's resolutions to eat dinner with the family once a week, or eat at the dining room table once a week. When they're not doing these things, they're probably not eating off of fine china either...

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  10. Companies like Waterford/Wedgwood need to appeal to the more casual consumer ... not necessarily in casualness of product, but in the everyday appropriateness of their products ... of using it openly and regularly ... of how it enriches daily life ... china and glass ("crystal" is so non-U) remain tainted by the formal use of the past ... companies need to overcome that and embrace a new kind of relevance.

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  11. I believe Martha Stewart had partnered with Wedgwood recently. Is a shame...hang on to the pieces that you do own!

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  12. T or W... the pieces designed by MS for Wedgwood are not inexpensive. If your family doesn't even eat dinner together, are you really going to pay about $50 for one MS-designed dinner plate? Unfortunately, that's no longer the reality for a lot of families. I think that MS has done a lot of good PR for Wedgwood by partnering with them, though.

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  13. Sad, but not a surprise. A couple of other potteries went under recently - Spode and Royal Worcester.

    Wedgwood had actually done a better job than a lot of the other companies at updating their products - like the Martha Stewart line. However, when they have massive overheads from production in the UK, it's impossible to compete with the likes of Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel, etc. that import everything from Asia.

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  14. Sir Fop... it's so sad to see the demise of all of the historic Stoke potteries. I had a chance to visit some of them and learn their histories.

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  15. It's a real shame, I hope that they can emerge out of bankruptcy a healthier, if somewhat smaller company. Mass market luxury is certainly proving itself to be an unsustainable business model. One company cannot and should not leave their core business to become everything to everyone. Is Tiffany's next?

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  16. Athenaeus... I think that this complete and utter diversification theory has been the downfall of many old-school companies. Do what you do best and do it well.

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  17. A big yikes... Everything seems to be from China now. And everything seems to fall apart within six months. We don't treat the dinnerware we buy from Pottery Barn or Crate & Barrel with the same carefulness as we do makers such as Wedgwood or Spode. (However, I agree with Architect Design, the quality has steadily declined in the past several decades.) We buy it, use it for some years, then put it in a garage sale or hand it off to a younger sibling when we're ready for a new color or pattern. We're adding to wasteful consumption. We don't choose these dishes like our mothers or grandmothers did -- carefully, as a major expense, and for life use with the intention of passing them down. In 50+ years are people even going to covet the white Pottery Barn dishes? (Though I have a set of them and love them, especially the chili bowls...) What we're loosing is old craftsmanship and integrity of design. But yes, as Pigtown mentioned how many people can really afford a $50 plate? Times that for a 5-piece place setting times 8 or 12. But yet these younger kids think nothing of putting $2,000 down for a big flat screen. Lordy, my point was long... sorry....

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  18. Quite a shock! I registered for Waterford Champagne Flutes when I got married (oh so many years ago). I only got one pair. We do use them whenever there is an occasion for champagne. And Wedgewood was the kind of thing I got as gifts here and there from my wealthy Aunts growing up (a soap dish here, a cache pot there...along with all of those demitasse spoons I use so often.) I don't really use any of those things, but keep them carfully stored away in the cupboard and in my memories.
    Eh....I went on a little to long there....sorry.

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  19. It is sad, but for some years now I have only ever been able to get replacements for my Waterford glass pattern by special order from Ireland, and at about GBP75, (used to be USD150) per glass, you're not inclined to be using them casually. But I did recently buy a few extras on eBay, and I'm glad I did. They are quite simply stunning, and I shall just treasure them more, (and be more anal about where people put down their glass)!

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  20. It is a sad state. Even some of my favorite designers are using fabrics of less quality, and I keep my classic pieces forever. What has happened? You cannot fool the public and charge enormous prices.

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  21. Yes, I am upset about it as well. Although, a telling remark was that they've moved production in an effort to reduce costs.

    I think it has only a little to do with the economy and more likely along the lines of your next post's headline of living in an Ikea world.

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  22. Oh no! I am so glad I did my pottery tour two years ago... This is very sad indeed.

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  23. Oh no, not Waterford too. So depressing!

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  24. This is indeed sad news. I heard about this on NPR. Waterford is my personal favorite when it comes to cut crystal stemware. I love the Clarendon collection with it's brilliant colors. I appreciate them even more now.

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  25. I am not sad to see the pair of companies scale themselves down. I do not wish them to dissapear but I didn't like that they had gotten so big and easy to get. I think they, as artisan and handcrafted products, should keep their business in a more manageable and higher quality producing size. it also will make what is out there more valuable and rarer. I think they just got too big for their britches and need to reassess what's important.

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