An Elkridge-based clothing manufacturer has been forced into involuntary bankruptcy proceedings by creditors who say Wang Zi Cashmere Products Inc. owes them more than $150,000 from its expansion into the factory outlet store business.
The creditors' filing, made last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore, said the cashmere company did not pay a contractor, a display shelf fabricator and architects who worked on some or all of the company's eight factory outlets, scattered from Massachusetts to California. None of the outlets, which trade as A Touch of Cashmere, is in Maryland.
The petition asks the court to force the liquidation of Wang Zi under Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings.
Wang Zi attorney James R. Wooton said the company has 30 days to respond to the petition, but he said the company has not yet been served with the court papers and can't comment until it is.
The three creditors include M. D. Bowers Associates Inc., a Towson architectural design firm that worked on most of the eight stores and says it is owed $11,019; contractor Retail Operations Group of North Potomac, which says it is owed $96,817; and Contracting, Planning & Management Associates Inc. of Exeter, N.H., which made display fixtures for the stores and says it is owed $45,070.
"I didn't take the action lightly," said Retail Operations Group President Joel Swetlow, who said his attorney advised him not to say why he filed the action. "I did a lot of commiserating before I did anything."
Mr. Bowers said he joined the action based on information supplied by Mr. Swetlow.