Lisa's Central Market might return to Reno even though its parent company this month filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code.
In its filing in bankruptcy court, Lisa Organics Inc.
said it expects to have funds to pay its unsecured creditors.
The company said it has between 100 and 200 creditors.
The Truckee-based company in April opened a much-heralded grocery at Magnolia Village at Lakeside Drive and South McCarran.
Employees last week, however, were clearing out the store after its closure.
Lisa Organics said its creditors include The Magnolia Companies, the owner of Magnolia Village, to which it owes $69,599 in rent.
The largest single creditors are Theodore and Lizanne Stoever with an unsecured loan of $122,000; Lizanne Stoever is president and chief executive officer of The Magnolia Companies.
Other major creditors listed by the company include Bank of the West, U.S.
Bank and Wells Fargo Bank and several suppliers of merchandise.
In all, Lisa Organics estimated its liabilities total between $500,000 and $1 million.
Its assets, the company said, fall into the same range.
The company is wholly owned by Mark Griffin and his wife, Lisa Boudreau.
Griffin said last week the company is looking for another location to give the Reno market a fresh try.
He said the company looks for about 3,000 square feet its Magnolia Village store was 4,280 square feet plus a patio and is open to discussion with developers or landlords interested in leasing to the company.
The company's flagship store at Truckee will continue to operate.
If the company is able to re-open a Reno location, Griffin said Lisa Organics might be able to emerge from bankruptcy protection more quickly.
No timetable has been set for the company's reorganization.
An initial meeting of creditors is set for Oct.
20 at federal bankruptcy court in Reno.
Sallie Armstrong and Edmund Miller of the law firm Downey Brand represent Lisa Organics.
Although the Reno store is closed, Griffin said the company was heartened by its acceptance by customers.
About 900 people a week visited the South McCarran Boulevard location.
Even so, he said sales weren't sufficient to meet to overcome the store's overhead.
"Our sales projections were considerably higher," he said.
Lizanne Stoever said no lease has been signed for the space previously occupied by the grocery, but interest is high.
"Our phone is ringing off the hook," she said.
