Assets up for auction May 11

After 32 years in Springfield, Colony Magnavox Inc. pulled the plug March 15 when it filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, according to David Schroeder of David Schroeder's Law Offices. Schroeder represents Scot Buchholz, the owner of the company which operated under the name Colony Home Theater & Lifestyles.

Colony owes $158,000 to secured creditors, and $439,000 to unsecured creditors. The value of the business' assets will be determined on the auction block. The auction is planned for 10 a.m. May 11 at Colony Magnavox, pending approval of the bankruptcy court.

Problems started a few years ago when Buchholz made the decision to move the business from its Galleria location to its current address at 2908 S. Glenstone Ave., Schroeder said.

"The company had arranged for recapitalization funding and monies to relocate with additional capital, and it proceeded with its relocation plan, and then the loan failed to close," Schroeder said. "As a result of that, it became immediately undercapitalized, but he proceeded with the operation at the new location, and it was just never able to recover."

Schroeder said attorney Kevin Check-ett, of Checkett & Pauly PC, has been appointed interim bankruptcy trustee. He added that the trustee is "in the process of scheduling an auction of all the inventory furniture, fixtures and equipment."

According to the bankruptcy filing, Checkett intends to sell "property identified as inventory; equipment; trademark Colony Magnavox'; customer list; phone numbers; remaining three-year leasehold or store location at 2908 S. Glenstone" and four vehicles.

Some cabinet-making machines used by the company will be transferred from a previously rented warehouse and will be included in the sale, Checkett said. He anticipates the auction will take two days to complete. The auctioneer will be Sam Downs of Downs Auction Service Inc.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay creditors, Checkett said. He added that predicting how much might be made from the sale of this inventory "would be total speculation."

Regarding the value of the items for sale he added, "I believe at cost or on the books at the time of filing, the inventory was in excess of $250,000."

Colony Magnavox Inc. began in Bat-tlefield Mall in 1970, when it was owned by Al Patterson.

He later moved the store to the Gal-leria and sold it to 10-year employee Buchholz in 1991. Patterson has not been involved in the store's business operations since its sale.

Recently, Colony Magnavox was in-volved with KYTV in a partnership to promote the station's digital transmission, said Mike Scott, KYTV general manager.

"They were going to advertise with us, and in addition to that we would use their product and give them some recognition for the (high-definition) sets they sold in their store," Scott said.

The store's closing came as a surprise. "In effect we were told the store was closed and then, shortly thereafter, got a copy of a Chapter 7 filing," Scott said. "It's always unfortunate when we lose a local retailer for whatever reason," he added.

Buchholz was unavailable for comment.