A Comprehensive Overview of What Led BFG Supply to File for Bankruptcy

Bondoro, a firm that offers timely alerts and comprehensive summaries of major Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases, has developed an overview of the timeline and factors that led BFG Supply to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

BFG Supply was founded in 1972 by John Gander, who saw a need for a horticultural distributor in the Great Lakes region and ran the business out of a local barn in Burton, OH, distributing to area greenhouse growers and staffing with friends and family. A warehouse followed, then gradual expansion into new territories.

BFG Supply and its 16 affiliates (named as “debtors” in the report) distribute lawn and garden products, greenhouse supplies, nursery products, controlled-environment agriculture products, greenhouse structures, and related equipment to professional customers across the U.S. and Canada. The revenue splits across three end markets — lawn and garden at approximately 52%, commercial growers at approximately 27%, and hydroponics at approximately 21%.

Roughly 11,000 commercial customers generate approximately 270,000 orders annually. Several programs sit atop those relationships: annual volume rebates paid as credit against future purchases, a return and shortage policy covering damaged goods and short shipments, a defective allowance giving high-volume customers a proactive discount in lieu of per-item credits, customer deposits, and a co-op advertising program in which the affiliates act as intermediary between vendors and customers.

The report also outlines all of BFG’s acquisitions over the years and how they are affected by the filing. To read the entire report, click here.