It would not surprise me if some are using the attacks as an excuse to end a previously faltering concern. Some might be tempted to do so just as a way of saving face. It can be humbling to fail in business, but to fail as an indirect cause of an act of war might be a badge of contribution to the war effort or at least be good for some sympathy.
Lynn Gray -----Original Message----- From: Dan Lewis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Monday, October 01, 2001 3:31 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Shutting Down: The 9/11 Excuse? The day after the 9/11 attack, Midway Airlines basically closed shop, suspending all of its flights and announcing 1,700 layoffs. They had already filed for Chaper 11 bankruptcy protection; it almost seemed as if they used the attack as an excuse to close shop earlier than expected. In fact, the failing company may, perversely, be staying afloat due to the attacks -- today, their CEO announced that they'd resume operation, and expect to receive $12 million in federal grant money and another $28 million in federal loans. Now, Mademoiselle magazine is folding. It hasn't made a profit "for years" (according to the article I'm reading, cited below), but stayed open. The attacks changed their tune: ``Mademoiselle was having a weak year, but once the Sept. 11 disasters took place, we had to make some very difficult economic decisions,'' company spokeswoman Maurie Perl said. ``We expect, as with most businesses, it will be a difficult fourth quarter, and we forecast it will be a difficult business year in 2002, which caused us to make some very difficult, but final decisions, with Mademoiselle,'' she added. What possible reason would businesses NOT expecting a bailout have for closing shop now? Steve Brill's Contentville also closed up, but they gave a more realistic reason -- "we simply were unable to entice enough people for us to see our way to a viable enterprise." Are failing companies just using the attacks as an excuse? If they were failing before, why didn't they close up then? Any thoughts? Dan Lewis Some relevent links (I'm probably posting this to my website, so I have the URLs handy): * Midway suspends future flights: http://us.news2.yimg.com/f/42/31/7m/dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010912/bs/air lines_midwayairlines_dc_1.html * Midway To Get Federal Aid Money: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wxii/20011001/lo/916790_1.html * Conde Nast to shut down Mademoiselle magazine: http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/011001/n01353510_3.html * Contentville's statement: http://www.contentville.com/
