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02/25/08 Sharper Image Files Chapter 11Regular readers of air-purifier-power know I have predicted a shakeout in the overbuilt indoor air quality business. But even I was surprised when the marketer of Sharper Image Ionic Breeze, once America's most popular air purifier, announced a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. The former industry leader was listed four times on the Inc. 500 "fastest growing private companies."
Negative publicity for the key product, Ionic Breeze air purifiers, panned by Consumer Reports and given the lowest passing score here at air-purifier-power, doomed the Sharper Image. Class-action lawsuits by investors and consumers added legal bills to the gadget retailer's woes. Dependence on a single product, high advertising-to-engineering cost ratios, and high rent retail space added to the cash drain. The Sharper Image plans to close 90 of its 184 US retail outlets. The shares (NASDAQ:SHRP), which sold for over $36 in 2004, traded as low as $0.29 on Feb. 20 on Nasdaq. Nasdaq has delisted the shares. I find it unlikely that the company will recover and emerge from bankruptcy to sell air purifiers. But the big question concerning the fall of sharper Image is left unanswered; Does this mean that my $5000 massage chair, 7-foot Superman statue, and junked-out Ionic Breeze collection are now collector's items? End Sharper Image bankruptcy Return to News-Blog
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