The Reading family still in charge of the nation's largest family-owned department store chain had valiantly tried to rescue their company from a severe spiral of debt payments coupled with lagging store sales.
But to those watching the economy twitch and sputter, it illustrated the perils that may spell doom for other businesses, too - particularly those that borrowed heavily during boom times, only to find themselves squeezed toward insolvency in this consumer downturn.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court data in recent months show that a wave of business bankruptcies may, indeed, be upon us.
Twice as many businesses filed for bankruptcy the first three months of this year than during the same quarter just two years ago. And business filings overall have steadily climbed since a brief dip that followed restrictive changes to the nation's bankruptcy laws in 2005, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute.
While conventional wisdom suggests the numbers will toll even higher in the months to come, just how many businesses are on the precipice remains a big unknown.
"That is the 64,000-dollar question," said J. Scott Victor, senior managing director and co-head of the Special Situations Group at National City Investment Banking in West Conshohocken.
Victor has a bird's-eye view. The former bankruptcy lawyer has specialized for years in helping distressed companies either avoid bankruptcy or negotiate through it by finding buyers for the ailing enterprises.
Victor has weathered several recessions. He and others predict there will be fewer filings than during past recessions because changes to the law in 2005 made bankruptcies less appealing to debt-soaked businesses.
