Brandon cites China for great wall of debt
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
With their furniture empire crumbling, high-profile Palm Beachers Jim and Nicole Brandon moved to China.
"We didn't flee creditors," Jim told Page Two on the phone from Shanghai when asked about their company's mushrooming debt. "We were as discreet about leaving as a parade. Everybody knew. Our vendors aren't happy about it, but if we want to stay in the furniture business, we need to be here."
It wasn't so long ago that the couple's company, Brandon Overseas, sold giant inventories of fine discount furniture to 30 Brandon warehouse-stores nationwide, including those in Wellington, Stuart and on Okeechobee and Clematis in WPB.
The couple lived in a $2 million home, now up for lease. Their lavish parties at Mar-a-Lago, including daughter Taylor's flashy seventh birthday bash for 500 estimated to cost about $200,000, are legend. And the charity-minded couple could easily afford to get into a bidding war for a life-sized FAO Schwarz bear that stood watch at the now-closed CityPlace branch of the famed toy store.
It became theirs for $11,101.
But that was 2005. Now the company owes about $11 million, Jim said. Checks with business-credit report companies show Brandon Overseas has fallen behind with most of its vendors, with at least two suing in Palm Beach County. The Brandon Web site shows that just 13 stores are left.
His fortunes changed, Jim Brandon said, in mid-2006 — not just because of the economic downturn.
"Our Chinese suppliers sent us $6 million worth of merchandise months late," he said. "We got it in July, the slow season. A lot of it was totally mismatched. There were beds with no nightstands and sets of chairs without tables. We couldn't sell. That's when the credit issues started."
The way the owner of Wellington's Brandon sees it, however, Jim and Nicole quit paying their bills and supplying the licensees properly when it became clear that they would be leaving.
"They kept buying merchandise and trying to open new stores, knowing they'd be gone," said Anand Patel, who also ran the now-closed Okeechobee warehouse.
The way the owner of Wellington's Brandon sees it, however, Jim and Nicole quit paying their bills and supplying the licensees properly when it became clear that they would be leaving.
"They kept buying merchandise and trying to open new stores, knowing they'd be gone," said Anand Patel, who also ran the now-closed Okeechobee warehouse.
"They took out a mortgage on their house for $900,000 right before they fled."
Actually, county records show the Brandons took an equity line on their home for that amount in July 2006, almost a year before.
So, why did the couple and their daughter, now 9, move to the country that may be responsible for their misfortunes?
Picture of the Brandon's
