Companies that went bankrupt in 2024
Bowflex
Bowflex is a company that sells home fitness equipment like running machines and weights machines.
Their most famous machine lets you do 70 different types of exercise.
Why are they going bankrupt now?
post-pandemic
weight loss drugs
gyms are new social spots
They had strong sales during the pandemic but afterwards people have gone back to the gym instead of working out at home.
Weight loss drugs are very popular now
Do you think gyms can overtake pubs and bars as a new place to socialize?
A survey of 18 to 24-year-olds (Gen Z) was conducted in the UK. They found that…
37% of people think working out is a way to socialize
42% have made new friendships while working out
Do you agree with their opinions?
Do you think gym culture in Japan has changed?
A Taiwanese gym equipment company has agreed to buy Bowflex to expand in the US market. Their most famous products are treadmills. Do you think this was a good purchase?
The buyer laid off 80% of Bowflex staff after the acquisition.
The buyer said it was competing with Chinese firms who also wanted to buy Bowflex… but they pulled out because of the bad relationship between the US and China
Stoli Vodka
Stoli is a popular “Russian” Vodka brand.
Why did their sales fall dramatically in 2022?
Stoli is owned by a Luxembourg company and is produced in Latvia however they have always promoted themselves as “Russian Vodka”
Yuri Sheflter bought the international rights for the brand in 1997. He has publicly criticized Putin for his LGBT laws and the war in Ukraine so he’s been in exile since 2002
He is in exile (noun) = he is not allowed to come back to the country/area
What could Putin do to punish Sheflter?
A Russian state-owned alcohol company has sued Yuri Sheflter saying he doesn’t own the international rights.
The government has also labeled him an “extremist” because of his support for Ukraine
sue (verb) “soo” = tale someone to court to make them pay money
extremist (noun) = a person with extreme opinions (usually religious, political) or someone who uses violence to achieve goals
The legal bills and the boycott of Russian brands has led to their bankruptcy.
boycott (verb/noun) = people refuse to buy a product
e.g. “Many people boycotted twitter after Elon Musk bought it”
After the Ukraine war stated the company changed it’s name from Stolichnaya to Stoli (it’s popular nickname). What else should they do to rebrand?
TGI Fridays
TGI Fridays is a casual American restaurant chain.
It first became popular in the US because it was one of the first singles bars which women felt comfortable in.
They have 600 restaurants in 55 countries including 12 in Japan
In 2024 the company filed for bankruptcy. Why?
The pandemic changed people’s eating habits
inflation has raised prices of everything. The restaurant target working class and lower middle class diners but they don’t have disposable income now
Staff needed higher wages
food delivery services are more popular
the brand is seen as old-fashioned so young people don’t often go there
A lot of similar restaurants have also filed for bankruptcy recently
TGI Fridays is trying to target young people.
How can they do this?
Their plans are:
To offer trendy food like “swicy” dishes. (swicy = sweet and spicy)
Offer a new cocktail menu
Let the staff have more fun - with casual service, and customized uniforms.
Do you think this will be successful?
Party City
Party City sells party supplies. They have around 700 stores in the US, Canada and Mexico.
What kind of goods do you think they sell?
candles
costumes
candy / snacks
party favors (= presents for guests)
balloons
decorations
greetings cards
cutlery / cups / dishes
In December of 2024 they filed for bankruptcy for the 2nd time (the first was in January 2023).
Why do you think they went bankrupt?
rivals
pandemic
inflation
Now they have many powerful rivals (dollar stores, Amazon)
In the pandemic no one had a party so they went into debt. They haven’t been able to pay back their debt
Inflation has raised their prices and labor costs. Also, consumers have less disposable income to spend on party goods and parties
Tupperware
What is tupperware?
Tupperware was first created in the US 1946.
How do you think the product became popular? Who did they target?
After WW2 Tupperware parties because very popular in English speaking countries. What do you think they were?
The company targeted housewives to be their sales team. It was hard for women to work at the time so it became an important way for many women to start earning money and to learn to run their own business.
Women would host fun parties to demonstrate the product and play party games. The host would even throw Tupperware full of juice around the room to show they were unbreakable.
Tupperware, a traditional company, opened a few stores but tried to keep this as their main sales channel … and this eventually led to their downfall.
They only started selling their products on Amazon in 2022.
Their sales peaked in 2013 (mainly due to strong sales in developing countries like China and India) but have fallen since then.
Why did Tupperware go bankrupt?
rivals
online retailers
post-pandemic trends
Reasons:
Tupperware lost their patents in the 80’s so many cheaper rivals appeared
Most customers prefer shopping in stores or online
Their sales were strong during the pandemic when people cooked at home a lot. After that people started eating out more
sources:
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/22/business/2024-company-bankruptcy-list/index.html
https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=3818
https://www.axios.com/2024/03/05/bowflex-bankruptcy-nautilus-schwinn-chapter-11
https://nypost.com/2024/12/02/business/stoli-vodka-files-for-bankruptcy-after-cyberattack-legal-feud-with-russia/
https://www.dw.com/en/how-tupperware-parties-empowered-homebound-suburban-women/a-70273741