Part of the agreed order filed Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Knoxville provides that signs and other items the creditors claim ImagePoint produced for them would be left out of an auction that ImagePoint held Wednesday in Florence, Ky., where it was liquidating its main production facility.
The creditors include CMH Homes Inc., part of Clayton Homes Inc.; Knoxville Canvas Crafters Inc.; McDonald’s Corp. and McDonald’s USA; Bridgestone Corp.; American Honda Motor Co. Inc. and Deere & Co.
In one court filing, CMH Homes Inc. claims it paid ImagePoint $1,088,524 to build various signs that it has not received and was alarmed to learn ImagePoint intended to auction all of its assets just two days before the agreed deadline for filing for bankruptcy.
Thousands of items, including nine Clayton Homes signs, "appear headed for an uncontrolled public sale," the motion reads.
In a complaint filed April 3, Bridgestone claims ImagePoint reneged on an agreement to produce signs Bridgestone had ordered before ImagePoint ceased operations. When Bridgestone sent trucks to Florence to get the signs, some were missing and later showed up on the Stobol Auctions LLC Web site listed among items ImagePoint intended to sell, the complaint alleges.
In other court actions involving ImagePoint, the bankruptcy court granted a motion March 27 by Principle USA Inc., a United Kingdom-based sign and branding company that had done business with ImagePoint for years, that would allow it to file a state court claim against ImagePoint for breach of contract. Principle claims that ImagePoint had agreed to manufacture signs that were to be installed for a Principle client on buildings in eight U.S. states. Principle alleges that ImagePoint produced the signs but installed them improperly and 10 signs fell off buildings.
According to Stobol, the ImagePoint auction, which included about 1,700 items, lasted from 10 a.m. until late afternoon. Everything at the ImagePoint plant was up for sale, including items such as welding equipment, silk screen printing equipment, spray booths, trucks, forklifts, air compressors, office equipment, computers, signs, and raw materials such as aluminum and vinyl.
The Stobol Web site listed signs representing about 20 companies, including Honda, Ford, McDonald’s, Dollar General, Firestone, John Deere and others. (Tire Review/Akron)
