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Southwest Wholesale Shuts.
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Author: Morris, ChrisChristman, Ed
Section: UPFRONT
| Southwest Wholesale Shuts |
Attempts To Resolve Financial Worries Failed
Many observers
believe that the Jan. 31 closure of Southwest Wholesale was inevitable.
One source familiar with the company says, "They were out of business
six months ago. They just didn't know it."
Only 10 days after
the troubled Houston wholesaler laid off its top distribution sales
staffers (Billboard, Feb. 1 and Feb. 8), the company abruptly closed
its doors. Sources say that Southwest CFO Jay Bowman resigned the
morning of Jan. 31 and that the firm's approximately 50 employees were
then informed of the shuttering.
By afternoon,
accounts arriving at Southwest to pick up product were informed of the
closure and turned away, and the company's labels, some of which had
learned of the shuttering via e-mail, were already seeking new
representation.
In rough financial
straits since last summer, Southwest had attempted to right itself with
a series of downsizings, mainly on the one-stop side, and had sought to
focus its business on the distribution of regional country, rap, and
Latin lines. A source says that days before closing, Southwest
executives had unsuccessfully approached Memphis distributor
Select-O-Hits, which sold Southwest product to some accounts, about a
possible bail-out.
Southwest president Robert Guillerman and other company executives could not be reached for comment.
~~~~~~~~ By Chris Morris
Additional reporting by Ed Christman, in New York
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