Dessin Fournir properties set for sheriff’s sale; bankruptcy case dismissed

The Dessin Fournir headquarters in Plainville.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

PLAINVILLE — The Dessin Fournir bankruptcy case has been dismissed from federal bankruptcy court and a sheriff’s sale has been set for Aug. 1.

Seven pieces of property with mortgages held by Sunflower Bank will be auctioned.

Properties listed in the foreclosure included 201 E. 12th St. in Hays, and Plainville properties 108 N. Main, 211 1/2 Mill, 205 N. Main, 317 W. Mill, 211 W. Mill, 221 W. Mill. All the properties listed in the Aug. 1 sale are in Plainville.

Edward Nazar, the bankruptcy attorney for Dessin Fournir and its subsidiaries, said Wednesday that Chuck Comeau, Dessin Fournir’s owner, has not been able to secure a new owner for the company.

The Comeuas own multiple properties in Plainville and Hays. Court documents indicated an $81,000 insurance payment for the properties was coming due in June, and Comeau did not have the funds to make that payment.

Dismissal of the bankruptcy case, which was ordered on June 19, will allow the foreclosure in state court to move forward, Nazar said.

Dessin Fournir and 11 other Comeau companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on April 8. The company also closed its doors and laid off its staff in Plainville. At its height, Dessin Fournir employed more than 90 people in Comeau’s hometown of Plainville.

Chapter 11 involves a company reorganizing, but the court determined Dessin Fournir did not have enough cash on hand or assets to continue with a reorganization.

Although Comeau was unable to find a buyer for the company as a whole, Nazar said there likely will be buyers of the smaller assets and product lines.

The furniture manufacturer was listed in court documents to have more than 200 creditors locally, nationally and even internationally with a total liability of more than $13 million. Some of its subsidiaries had other creditors, including companies in the trade.

The company is listed as owing more than $8.9 million in secured debt to three local banks, including $952,000 to Astra Bank, $7.5 million to Bank of Hays and $420,000 to Sunflower Bank.

Bank of Hays and Sunflower Bank filed for foreclosure on Comeau properties last year.

On March 26, District Court Judge Blake Bittel in a summary judgement ordered Comeau’s companies and other loan guarantors to pay Sunflower Bank a total of more than $420,000. A sheriff’s sale was ordered by the court on July 5.

According to court records, on June 27, FSSW LLC filed a motion for to recoup more than $1 million owed by the Comeau companies. It seeks to gain first lien on property above the Bank of Hays. Its motion seeks the authority to sell property listed as collateral to satisfy the Comeau companies’ debt.

Hays Post contacted the U.S. Justice Department, which is assigned to take media requests on behalf of the U.S. Trustee in the bankruptcy case, but no response was given as of the publication of this story.

The sheriff’s sale will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, in the front lobby of the Ellis County Courthouse.

Dessin Fournir is the second business in Plainville to go on the auction block due to financial instability. Plainville Livestock Commission’s property sold on June 27 due to bankruptcy.

Correction 11:42 a.m. Tuesday, July 30: The sale will also include one property owned by Comeau in Hays.