Basically, the company had to pay for its own buyout when private equity firms KKL, Vornado, and Bain bought the company for $6.6 billion, mostly with loans.
Because the company then had to pay off those extreme loans, they were forced to sell off their assets and property, which they leased back from the very private equity firms that now owned them.
The same thing happened more recently with Red Lobster and JoAnn Fabrics.
It wasn’t always this bad. It started out as a way to improve local businesses. The problem is the internet and all the hype
Ummm private equity firms have been evilly destroying companies since the early eighties at least.
This was back in the 70’s
I hate to tell you this but private equity has been a problem long before the Internet went mainstream. I think venture capital firms we’re a product of a post-WWII world trying to capture as much wealth as possible during reconstruction. I’d have to check some sources to be sure of that and I’m really not motivated enough to do it.
For a while they brought down prices and improved service
It only was like that for a short time though
Don’t see how the internet plays a role in firms purchasing stuff then gutting them for profit.
Local business owners are better at their jobs since they have a tremendous amount of resources at their disposal