As part of its Chapter 11 proceedings, the Musicland Group eliminated 85 positions yesterday. Longtime chain buyer Dieter Wilkensen, whose music industry career stetches back more than 40 years, was one of the staffers impacted by the cuts.
Left on the buying team are three buyers in music including Sonya Askew; three buyers in video, including Peter Busch; and two trend buyers.
As earlier reported (Billboard.biz, Jan. 12), the chain has been experiencing financial difficulties since the banking consortium providing its revolving credit facility stopped allowing the company to freely access funds and cash from the facility in early December.
The company is in the process of liquidating 61 Media Play stores and the company is up for sale (Billboard.biz, Jan. 13) with the goal of a prompt transaction.
In the event a deal cannot be made with a buyer, Musicland management is preparing to scale-down and file a stand-alone plan. To that end, Musicland plans going-out-of-business sales for 284 stores beginning Feb. 1.
Some of the mechanisms that will allow those sales to proceed were delayed until the next hearing, scheduled for Jan. 27, by the Judge, Stuart M. Bernstein.
