SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (BRAIN) — The former owner of the Public Bikes brand — a brand now owned by Bay Area retailer Mike's Bikes — has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after failing to reach a settlement in a legal dispute with a landlord.
The bankrupt company is called Public Bikes, Inc. Despite the name, it no longer owns the actual bike brand and the bankruptcy will have no effect on the brand, a spokesman for Mike's Bikes told BRAIN. The retailer bought the brand in 2017 and continues to sell the bikes in its stores and online.
Its former owner filed for Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Francisco on Tuesday. Court filings indicated it had a dispute with Hayes LLC, its former landlord (and no relation to the brake company). Ninety days ago, Hayes LLC was awarded a prejudgement lien on Public Bikes Inc. and seized $85,000 in assets as collateral.
After Hayes was awarded the lien, the Public Bikes board decided that if a settlement could not be reached within 90 days a Chapter 11 filing was in the best interest of shareholders. The filing shows Hayes LLC is the single largest unsecured creditor, owed $218,000.
The filing also lists Public Bikes Inc. security holders who include White Road Investments, an investment company founded by Gary Erickson and Kit Crawford, the founders of Clif Bar; Selle Royal SPA, the Italian saddle company; Andrew Herrick, an industry veteran who has worked at Pedro's, GT Bicycle, Intense, Crank Brothers and other brands; and American Cyclery, the San Francisco bike shop owned by Bradley Woehl.
