Hobbico bankruptcy, Tower Hobbies, Horizon Hobby – opting out? @Hobbico @horizon_hobby @towerhobbies #makerbusiness

Hobbico

A bit to unpack here – first, Tower Hobbies’ parent company, Hobbico, declared bankruptcy in January 2018. The Bankruptcy Court has approved the sale of Hobbico’s RC business to Horizon Hobby, LLC. There was also a $7 million sale of Hobbico’s Colorado-based model-rocket subsidiary, Estes.

Looking at the documents, it appears the big chunks of debt/liabilities are $74m and $42m? … suppliers, etc. says Futaba is owed $2m, etc. Hobbico seeking a buyer as it works through bankruptcy

In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, Hobbico said it has an estimated 200 to 999 creditors, $10 million to $50 million in assets, and $100 million to $500 million in liabilities.


Adafruit 2018 0292
Above is a screenshot of an email we received, it was on a Friday night and the time period to opt-out was the same day, only a few hours after we received the email. Date: Fri, 6 Apr 2018 19:47:39 -0500 … Your request to opt out must be received no later than April 6, 2018.

As part of the sale, Horizon Hobby is purchasing Tower Hobbies’ customer databases. The Tower Hobbies Privacy Policy provides that the company will not share any personally identifiable information with any third party without your consent. Under this Privacy Policy, you have the right to opt-out of the sale and the transfer of your personal information to Horizon Hobby, and of receiving future e-mail or mail communications from Horizon Hobby.

After the opt-out deadline, Horizon Hobby has offered to conduct a sweepstakes for Tower Hobbies customers who decline to opt-out as a thank you for your interest.

Huh, wonder what the prize is?

Update: Reddit is on the case.


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3 Comments

  1. I just checked my mail moments ago and had the same thing in my inbox. Curious, for us on the east coast of the USA- we had 2 HOURS to comply.

  2. In some cases, the notice went out after the deadline had already passed!

  3. I got one of these as well–and I can’t remember ever buying anything from them.

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