Model-truck company, owners file bankruptcy

Will Astor//March 5, 2004//

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Former model-truck maker Winross closed its doors leaving nearly $1 million in debt and hundreds of customers holding the bag for undelivered merchandise, bankruptcy papers filed this week by the Webster company show.
P&D Manufacturing Co. Inc., dba Winross, filed Chapter 7 liquidation papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Rochester on Feb. 28. The filing came some three weeks after the firm shut down. The bankruptcy petition lists more than $913,000 in debt against assets of zero.
Claims relating to unpaid rent, deposits and improvements at Winross’ leased manufacturing site on Publisher’s Parkway in Webster account for $250,000 of P&D’s debt. Those claims could be subject to setoffs, the company’s petition states.
P&D owners David and Patricia Lowe in a separate Chapter 7 petition filed here the same day lists some $883,000 in liabilities. The couple lists no assets.
Most of the Lowes’ debt is in “possible” personal guarantees on P&D corporate obligations, the petition states. The Lowes also list some $71,000 in state and federal back-tax debt. The petition states the couple owes roughly $66,000 to the Internal Revenue Service and some $5,800 to state taxing authorities.
Court papers in the P&D filing list some $80,000 in unfilled large orders to trucking firms and other companies as part of Winross’ debt. The petition also details some 300 unfilled orders to small customers in amounts of $50 to $200.
Neither the Lowes nor Raymond Stilwell of Adair, Kaul, Murphy, Axelrod & Santoro LLP, who is representing both the Lowes and P&D in the bankruptcies, could be reached for comment.
The Lowes’ in 2000 bought-and reopened-Winross from Roger and Phyllis Austin, the local couple that some 40 years earlier had founded the firm as Winross Co. Inc. The Austins had shut the plant down in 2000.
After the Lowes restarted the business, they inked a deal with Petty Enterprises to produce NASCAR model cars. P&D lists Petty Enterprises as a creditor due an unknown amount for royalties.
Phyllis Austin is listed in the Lowes’ personal filing and in P&D’s bankruptcy papers as a creditor owed $121,746 for the purchase of the business. A published report last month quoted the Austins as having expressed an interest in re-opening Winross. The Austins this week could not be reached for comment.
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03/05/04 (C) Rochester Business Journal