The owner of The Kane Co., one of the nation’s largest commercial office movers, and a prominent player in the Washington, D.C., business and political scene, is shutting down the family-owned business and laying off almost 1,000 employees, according to several published reports.
CEO John Kane, whose father Eugene started the business in 1969, said he is working with the company’s primary lender — PNC Bank — and property owners to wind down the business, which consists of Office Movers and a range of specialized businesses offering document shredding and recordkeeping, staffing and hotel furniture installation services.
“It’s not a bankruptcy,” Kane told a reporter for the Washington Business Journal in a story published Dec. 8. “It’s an orderly wind down.”
Several of Kane’s businesses, including Office Archives and Office Shredding, may be sold to interested buyers, the newspaper reported.
Based in Elkridge, Maryland, The Kane Co. generated annual revenue of about $48 million, but faced a cash squeeze after paying $2 million in unplanned expenses related to the lease of temporary space because of delays in completing two new warehousing facilities, according to a report by The Washington Post.
“I made a couple of stupid mistakes,” Kane told the Post. “Our bank lost patience with us.”
Kane said he may be forced to file personal bankruptcy.
