HR-PUFF&STUFF
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I live in MN and this the store that DID go to buy comics and well talk to the guys that worked there about comics. now i can't and heres why-
Will financial upheaval close the book on Shinders?
The bookstores' owner is also facing drug charges.
By Matt McKinney and Aimee Blanchette, Star Tribune
Last update: March 02, 2007 9:43 PM
Shinders, the 90-year-old newsstand chain known as the place to shop for baseball cards, collectibles and pornography, has closed three stores and been dragged into court by its primary banker, Wells Fargo, for failure to pay back loans.
The struggle comes as owner Robert S. Weisberg faces drug charges after he was pulled over last June in a white Dodge van that contained a .40-caliber submachine gun, Ecstasy, needles and 6 grams of methamphetamine.
Weisberg did not return phone calls this week.
The chain's remaining 10 stores are dealing with dwindling inventories, unable to even sell newspapers, long its bread and butter product.
The company's financial problems appear to have come to a head in September when Wells Fargo demanded payment in full of two loans originally valued at $1.7 million to the company and Weisberg. Court documents say the company hadn't been paying the loans, providing financial statements to the bank or even allowing the bank's auditors access to the stores.
The company also "unlawfully diverted funds in excess of $195,000 to a related entity, AOS Inc., owned and/or controlled by Robert Weisberg," court documents say. AOS Inc. has offices at the same location as AOS Video, an adult video store on Washington Avenue downtown.
Personal securities liquidated
After the bank liquidated Weisberg's personal securities, which he had put up as collateral for the loans, Wells Fargo was still owed $440,692.68. It sued the company in December to collect the balance. A receiver was appointed that month that essentially took over the chain.
"They went into the warehouses and took out the baseball cards, a lot of the porn, the normal stuff that they sell," said Bill Wassweiler, an attorney for Wells Fargo. The takeover was invisible to customers. "You would have thought it was just business as usual. But Mr. Weisberg wasn't running the show; the receiver was."
The money was used to pay off the rest of the Wells Fargo loan, and then control was given back to Weisberg in mid-January.
Wassweiler noted that Wells Fargo was being nice. "We could have shut them down completely. Taken all the inventory and ... [had] one big warehouse sale," he said. But given the chain's history, Wells Fargo decided not to do that. "Hopefully they'll find another investor."
A Shinders spokeswoman did not return calls and an e-mail for comment.
April 10 court date
The financial storm threatening Shinders' future follows Weisberg's arrest last June. He was pulled over near the intersection of Hwys. 55 and 169, according to court files. A search of his van turned up a police radio scanner, ammunition, three pills of Ecstasy, methamphetamine, two expandable batons, a digital scale and a Kel-Tec submachine gun behind the front seat. He was charged with two counts of drug possession and is scheduled to appear April 10 in Hennepin County District Court.
Weisberg, an attorney who graduated from Hamline University's law school in 1987, represented himself in court last August when he sued to get his gun back, according to court records. He said the gun wasn't being used illegally, and he was traveling in Plymouth, but stopped by Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove police.
Shinders debuted in Minneapolis in 1916 when five Russian brothers banded together to open an outdoor newsstand on the corner of S. 6th Street and Hennepin Avenue. Their motto: "Rain, sun, snow or sleet, there's always a Shinder on the street."
A nephew of one of the original owners' sons sold the store to Weisberg less than four years ago, said Maria Shinder, whose husband, Dale, is the son of one of the founders. She said her son was the first to learn about Weisberg's drug arrest.
"I don't know if you call us squares or straight," she said, "we don't know anything about drugs." The Shinder family relatives still in Minneapolis have been following the bookstore's problems, she added. "It's very sad to us."
A manager of the flagship Shinders store on Hennepin Avenue said the location would remain open and would begin receiving merchandise from Shinders stores recently closed in Bloomington, Eden Prairie and St. Paul. "Whatever happens to the other stores, we've been told this stays open," he said.
Even so, the store was in some disarray Friday afternoon. A customer was grumbling about the barrenness of the magazine shelves to the cashier. A newspaper rack that used to hold the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press was gone. Paperbacks throughout the store were marked down by more than 50 percent. And the automated teller machine inside the store had an "Out of Order" sign pasted on its screen.
Former regular shopper
The chaos hasn't been lost on Terry Larkin of Minnetonka, who was a regular shopper at Shinders until about a month ago when he couldn't find the newspapers he was looking for. A clerk at the Hennepin Avenue store this week told him it was no longer carrying newspapers.
Roger D'Souza, manager of single-copy sales at the Star Tribune, said he was informed by the finance department last week that Shinders had made a partial payment. Weisman agreed to pay the full balance by April. D'Souza said the Star Tribune won't resume service until then.
In the meantime, Larkin has resorted to Barnes & Noble for his reading material. "This is the kind of thing that drives retail customers away," he said. "Once they learn they can get it somewhere else, they don't come back."
Staff writers Chris Serres and Karen Lundegaard contributed to this report. [email protected] 612-673-7329 [email protected] 612-673-1712
Will financial upheaval close the book on Shinders?
The bookstores' owner is also facing drug charges.
By Matt McKinney and Aimee Blanchette, Star Tribune
Last update: March 02, 2007 9:43 PM
Shinders, the 90-year-old newsstand chain known as the place to shop for baseball cards, collectibles and pornography, has closed three stores and been dragged into court by its primary banker, Wells Fargo, for failure to pay back loans.
The struggle comes as owner Robert S. Weisberg faces drug charges after he was pulled over last June in a white Dodge van that contained a .40-caliber submachine gun, Ecstasy, needles and 6 grams of methamphetamine.
Weisberg did not return phone calls this week.
The chain's remaining 10 stores are dealing with dwindling inventories, unable to even sell newspapers, long its bread and butter product.
The company's financial problems appear to have come to a head in September when Wells Fargo demanded payment in full of two loans originally valued at $1.7 million to the company and Weisberg. Court documents say the company hadn't been paying the loans, providing financial statements to the bank or even allowing the bank's auditors access to the stores.
The company also "unlawfully diverted funds in excess of $195,000 to a related entity, AOS Inc., owned and/or controlled by Robert Weisberg," court documents say. AOS Inc. has offices at the same location as AOS Video, an adult video store on Washington Avenue downtown.
Personal securities liquidated
After the bank liquidated Weisberg's personal securities, which he had put up as collateral for the loans, Wells Fargo was still owed $440,692.68. It sued the company in December to collect the balance. A receiver was appointed that month that essentially took over the chain.
"They went into the warehouses and took out the baseball cards, a lot of the porn, the normal stuff that they sell," said Bill Wassweiler, an attorney for Wells Fargo. The takeover was invisible to customers. "You would have thought it was just business as usual. But Mr. Weisberg wasn't running the show; the receiver was."
The money was used to pay off the rest of the Wells Fargo loan, and then control was given back to Weisberg in mid-January.
Wassweiler noted that Wells Fargo was being nice. "We could have shut them down completely. Taken all the inventory and ... [had] one big warehouse sale," he said. But given the chain's history, Wells Fargo decided not to do that. "Hopefully they'll find another investor."
A Shinders spokeswoman did not return calls and an e-mail for comment.
April 10 court date
The financial storm threatening Shinders' future follows Weisberg's arrest last June. He was pulled over near the intersection of Hwys. 55 and 169, according to court files. A search of his van turned up a police radio scanner, ammunition, three pills of Ecstasy, methamphetamine, two expandable batons, a digital scale and a Kel-Tec submachine gun behind the front seat. He was charged with two counts of drug possession and is scheduled to appear April 10 in Hennepin County District Court.
Weisberg, an attorney who graduated from Hamline University's law school in 1987, represented himself in court last August when he sued to get his gun back, according to court records. He said the gun wasn't being used illegally, and he was traveling in Plymouth, but stopped by Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove police.
Shinders debuted in Minneapolis in 1916 when five Russian brothers banded together to open an outdoor newsstand on the corner of S. 6th Street and Hennepin Avenue. Their motto: "Rain, sun, snow or sleet, there's always a Shinder on the street."
A nephew of one of the original owners' sons sold the store to Weisberg less than four years ago, said Maria Shinder, whose husband, Dale, is the son of one of the founders. She said her son was the first to learn about Weisberg's drug arrest.
"I don't know if you call us squares or straight," she said, "we don't know anything about drugs." The Shinder family relatives still in Minneapolis have been following the bookstore's problems, she added. "It's very sad to us."
A manager of the flagship Shinders store on Hennepin Avenue said the location would remain open and would begin receiving merchandise from Shinders stores recently closed in Bloomington, Eden Prairie and St. Paul. "Whatever happens to the other stores, we've been told this stays open," he said.
Even so, the store was in some disarray Friday afternoon. A customer was grumbling about the barrenness of the magazine shelves to the cashier. A newspaper rack that used to hold the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press was gone. Paperbacks throughout the store were marked down by more than 50 percent. And the automated teller machine inside the store had an "Out of Order" sign pasted on its screen.
Former regular shopper
The chaos hasn't been lost on Terry Larkin of Minnetonka, who was a regular shopper at Shinders until about a month ago when he couldn't find the newspapers he was looking for. A clerk at the Hennepin Avenue store this week told him it was no longer carrying newspapers.
Roger D'Souza, manager of single-copy sales at the Star Tribune, said he was informed by the finance department last week that Shinders had made a partial payment. Weisman agreed to pay the full balance by April. D'Souza said the Star Tribune won't resume service until then.
In the meantime, Larkin has resorted to Barnes & Noble for his reading material. "This is the kind of thing that drives retail customers away," he said. "Once they learn they can get it somewhere else, they don't come back."
Staff writers Chris Serres and Karen Lundegaard contributed to this report. [email protected] 612-673-7329 [email protected] 612-673-1712
