Vann's appliance store files for bankruptcy

MISSOULA (AP) — Appliance and electronics retailer Vann’s Inc. has filed for bankruptcy to give it time to reorganize its finances.

Vann’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday after it lost a key credit line from GE Capital Solutions.

The filing should not affect its five stores or its Vann’s website, but CEO Jerry McConnell said he expected to drop an outdoor recreation website, Bigskycountry.com, and a high-end electronics store at a Missoula mall. Both were started in 2010.

Bigskycountry.com “is hemorrhaging red ink,” while the ON store at Southgate Mall also is losing money, he said.

“We’re profitable with the core business, but not profitable enough to support two businesses that are not profitable,” said McConnell, who was named Vann’s CEO in June. He has experience turning around struggling companies.

“I love train wrecks. Once they get back on track, I get bored,” McConnell said. “I really enjoy the intensity of these situations when there are a lot of moving parts.”

Vann’s bankruptcy filing lists $3.3 million more in assets than liabilities.

First Interstate Bank has agreed to provide financing while Vann’s is reorganizing under Chapter 11, he said.

Vann’s was founded in Missoula in 1961 as an appliance store. It added electronics and opened retail stores in Billings, Bozeman, Kalispell, Hamilton and Missoula. The company closed its Helena store in March. It employs 162 people.