PORTLAND — Jeweler G.M. Pollack plans to dissolve its business to settle past debts, seeking Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection.
The jeweler began closing stores in June and apparently did not initially intend to close all of its locations, a move that has left some customers in limbo.
Elaine Griffin, a Spruce Head resident, said Monday her husband has tried to reach the company’s South Portland location, the last to close, multiple times to reclaim a wedding ring.
The company last week urged customers from any store location to visit its last open location in South Portland or call 773-2901 for assistance.
“My husband has called the number 37 times today and there is no answer,” Griffin said.
She contacted the Bangor Daily News on Monday seeking more information.
“I can’t be the only one in this situation,” Griffin said.
Attempts to call the store’s South Portland location were unsuccessful. The company did not respond to messages through its Facebook page and the company’s webmaster, Nick Kleftis, did not respond to an email sent last week.
“We have no plans on closing additional locations, so the warranties remain intact,” a representative of the company wrote in a June 2 Facebook post, responding to customer concerns.
However, the company last week announced it was in fact closing all locations. It filed for bankruptcy protection late Friday, after 60 years in business.
The company did not provide a detailed schedule of its debts, but claimed it owes more than it owns.
The company declared between $500,000 and $1 million in an initial filing, against between $1 million and $10 million in debts. It is due to file detailed schedules of its secured and unsecured debts by July 27, according to court records.
The company has gradually closed its 12 stores around Maine and New Hampshire, consolidating to five in June. As of last Thursday, it had closed all locations, except for its South Portland store, where employees said they are working to get repaired and ordered items to customers.
Gerald M. Pollack and his wife, Perle, started the store in Portland in 1955. The company, now owned by its employees, had stores around the state at the beginning of this year.
The jeweler closed a downtown Bangor location in 2009 and shuttered another location at the Bangor Mall earlier this year when it consolidated to locations in South Portland, Waterville, Sanford, Ellsworth and Rockland.
South Portland store manager Julie Grover last week told CBS 13 that warranties will not stay in effect once the store closes.
“Unfortunately, because we are going out of business, there is no longer a company,” Grover said.
Customers at the South Portland store told the TV station last week that they were frustrated that warranties on their purchases would be discontinued.
According to the company’s website, it was family owned until 2009, when the Pollack family sold the company to its employees, which it said made it the first employee-owned jewelry chain in the state.
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