Breaking News: Standard Register Files for Bankruptcy
Standard Register has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-court protection. Our thoughts are with everyone impacted by the Standard Register Bankruptcy.
The Dayton Daily News reported, “As part of the Thursday filing, the Dayton-based company also signed a $275 million agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Silver Point Capital L.P.”
Standard Register attributed declining demand for printed forms, training and enrollment materials in its fillings, but there is more to the story in explaining the bankruptcy, as was clear from the Standard Register post I wrote last recently.
The Rest of The Standard Register Bankruptcy Story
According to Joseph P. Morgan, Jr., president and chief executive officer, “Standard Register has a fundamentally stable underlying business with a large, diverse customer base and a strong portfolio of solutions that include integrated communications, product marking and decoration (labels), document management, promotional marketing and technology/professional services, but our ability to invest in growth has been hampered by our debt structure and legacy liabilities.” This, from a statement in the Dayton Daily News.
For Superior Business Solutions, this is the biggest reason we have diversified over the last 10-15 years into product lines such as labels, signage, promotional products and print on demand. It’s true that the use of printed forms and manuals has been reduced over the years, but the print industry isn’t going down in flames. It’s just different, which is causing problems for large corporations like Standard Register, whose capacity for swift adaptation is limited by its size.
So yes, it is true that the demand for certain printed products – such as printed forms – has declined, but there is still plenty of business in the industry, and, having built a diverse supply chain network, we can continually satisfy our clients’ needs in price, quality, and deliverability. Our model is capable of adapting to any market changes and, therefore, is more relevant to the way business is done today.
