Master Mess

Springdale’s once strong Phillips Litho has had the door all but slammed shut thanks to a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed by Memphis-based Master Graphics, which bought Phillips in 1998.

There had been talk of the business closing Jan. 2, but as of Jan. 5, it remained open.

Phillips’ founder, Phil Phillips Jr., had remained as president since the transaction, but left Dec. 15 after another attempt to reacquire the business and save long-time employees’ jobs was turned away.

Phillips and other employees had received stock options when the deal was struck to sell to Master Graphics. The company’s stock price has plummeted from $10 per share in June 1998 to less than two cents as of Jan. 4.

Located at 807 S. Old Missouri Rd., Phillips had 84 employees at the time of the bankruptcy announcement in July. That number has fallen, and there is still uncertainty of the company’s future.

“[Master Graphics] does not have a definitive date on what will happen with Phillips,” said Anita-Marie Hill, a spokesperson for MG’s public relations firm in Los Angeles. “Master Graphics divided the company into core and non-core businesses, Phillips being one of the non-core ones.The intent was to sell it as a going business, still being an operating printing company.”

Hill said MG wouldn’t be mandated by the bankruptcy court to sell, only that the court must approve of the potential buyer.

Phillips was in California and unavailable for comment at press time.

As for Master Graphics, it has been without a CEO since June, and its president left in November. A December press release said the company hoped to fill several officer and board-member positions in the “next several weeks.”