A major distributor in the gun and outdoor sporting goods industry has filed for bankruptcy.
Big Rock Sports, LLC, a key supplier serving tens of thousands of retailers across the U.S. and abroad, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, according to court documents obtained by FOX Business.
The North Carolina–based company reported more than $100.9 million in liabilities, compared with estimated assets of between $10 million and $50 million.
The bankruptcy filing does not specify what triggered the liquidation but indicates that Big Rock Sports was overwhelmed by a surge of lawsuits from property owners, suppliers and business partners, SBG Media reported.
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Roughly $83 million in unsecured claims are expected to go unpaid, according to SBG Media.
Although the company’s website is currently inaccessible, archived versions reviewed by FOX Business show Big Rock Sports claimed to serve more than 20,000 retailers across the fishing, shooting, camping, taxidermy and marine industries.
The distributor said its operations spanned the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean region and eight other countries.
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Big Rock Sports also reported working with roughly 1,200 vendor partners and operating approximately 850,000 square feet of distribution space at warehouses in North Carolina, Minnesota and Nevada.
“Although Big Rock is one of the largest outdoor sporting goods distributors in North America, we’re much more than that,” the company stated on its website. “We offer an exclusive array of tools and resources that are designed to give retailers a competitive edge.”
Big Rock Sports traces its roots back to 1955, when All-Sports Supply was founded in Portland, Oregon.
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“The history of Big Rock Sports goes back more than 60 years to the founding of All-Sports Supply in Portland, [Oregon],” the company wrote. “At that time, sporting goods was a much more personal business, and distributors knew the names of their retailers as well as their families.”
The company’s Canadian subsidiary was liquidated prior to the U.S. bankruptcy filing, according to The Street.
Big Rock Sports could not immediately be reached by FOX Business for comment.
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