Famous American companies go bankrupt! Indebted to CMA CGM, Maersk and others for nearly 10 million US dollars

The company's filing documents show that its bankruptcy was mainly affected by multiple adverse factors. The first is adverse changes in macro trends, including a less leveraged capital structure and increased competition with larger online retailers. In addition, these difficulties have been exacerbated by the disruption caused by the pandemic, upending industries almost overnight and changing the spending behavior of consumers and businesses. More recently, debtors have experienced inflationary pressures on goods and labor costs, further exacerbating the company's financial woes.

It is particularly noteworthy that 95 of Shoes for Crews’ top 100 catering brand customers have been severely affected by the epidemic, which is undoubtedly a huge blow to the company, which sells about 4 million pairs of shoes every year.

What is truly shocking, however, is the makeup of the creditor list. CEVA Logistics, a subsidiary of CMA CGM, became the largest creditor with debts of US$8.2 million, while Vandegrift, a New Jersey customs broker owned by Maersk, ranked fourth with debts of approximately US$1.5 million. Other creditors include VCW Logistics, Purolator, FedEx and Project44. The total debt of these logistics operators accounts for 41% of the company's total debt.

In addition, manufacturer debt also accounts for 41% of total debt, mainly concentrated in Hong Kong. Other creditors such as marketing, IT, and financial services shared the remaining $3.7 million in debt.

Shoes for Crews blamed its financial problems on the trend of consumers switching from brick-and-mortar retail to online retail, which has led to increased competition with companies with online presence. This case seems to show that the rise of e-commerce is not always good for the freight industry, but may lead to certain brands being hit by cheap e-commerce imports. At the same time, this list of creditors also reveals an interesting fact: the cost of shipping is equivalent to the cost of manufacturing itself.