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The Faces Of Bankruptcy

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By MICHAEL SASSO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 30, 2008

Jeffrey Peters

Jim Tomko

David Taylor

The Trucker

Name: Jeffrey Peters

Business: Split Second Towing & Transport, 9303 Stannum St., Tampa

Filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July

Owners of towing companies aren't the most sympathetic figures, hauling away and impounding illegally parked vehicles as they do.

But Jeffrey Peters said this accounts for only about 5 percent of his business. Split Second mainly moves heavy equipment for contractors, and that's a business hit hard by the one-two punch of falling home construction and, until recently, rising fuel prices.

Fuel costs for his 14 trucks doubled when diesel prices hit $3 a gallon.

"We went from $200 fill-ups to $400 fill-ups overnight," Peters said.

Meanwhile, he had less money coming in to pay off the trucks, many of which were leased or purchased with loans. He said he tried to pass along the higher fuel costs to customers, but he began losing clients.

Peters, 36, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July. He hopes to restructure his debt, which is about $1.1 million, and unload four of his trucks in bankruptcy.

He is still in business and has no intention of filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which means liquidating his company. Last week, his company was preparing to drive to Texas to pick up two pieces of equipment used in hurricane cleanup.

"We're looking to trim off the fat," Peters said.

The Restaurateur

Name: Jim Tomko

Business: T&T Beef's, a franchisee of Beef O'Brady's, 226 37th Ave. N., St. Petersburg

Filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Nov. 5

Jim Tomko's Beef O'Brady's restaurant has been more than holding its own lately. It's the rent increase in recent years that drove him to bankruptcy, he said.

Tomko, 42, had been selling for Raymond James Financial when he got the urge to start his own business. After scouring the Bay area for franchises, from a smoothie chain to a company that delivers radiators, he settled 18 months ago on Beef O'Brady's.

The Beef's location he bought, just off of Fourth Street in St. Petersburg, had been operating since 2002, so he figured he'd have steady business from Day 1.

But his restaurant's overhead costs are growing faster than his sales, even though, after 18 months, Tomko has improved operations to the point that sales equal the best year of the previous owner.

The rising costs include rent that went from $6,000 to $9,000 in recent years and natural gas costs that doubled from $500 to $1,000 a month.

He also now admits he paid too much for the business.

Beef O'Brady's parent company, based in Tampa, has been supportive, introducing cheaper meals to bring in customers, including a $5.99 build-your-own-burger special.

Tomko continues to operate Beef's in bankruptcy and hopes the judge will allow him to get out of his lease and look for better space.

"I'm looking all up and down Fourth Street," he said. "The question is: Will landlords lower the rent?"

The Grocer

Name: David Taylor

Business: Nature's Harvest Market, 1021 N. MacDill Ave., Tampa

Filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2007; sold business in bankruptcy court in August

David Taylor's story shows that recent economic forces can drive out even the most conscientious, sophisticated and successful local retailers.

His natural and organic food store, Nature's Harvest Market, was an institution in Tampa, first on Dale Mabry Highway and for the past 18 years on MacDill Avenue. Taylor is such an authority on the industry that he served as president of a nationwide trade group, the Natural Products Association.

So when he heard Wild Oats, now Whole Foods, was opening the Bay area's first natural foods superstore just a mile away from his store, he got to work. He expanded his store to 18,000 square feet from 13,000 square feet to better compete, he began carrying a larger selection of organic wine, and he started a new marketing campaign.

But a decline in the economy, soaring interest payments on his business loan and the onslaught of chain competition caught up with him.

Taylor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2007 and sold his business this summer while under court protection. The buyer was a small natural foods chain called Rollin' Oats.

A lifelong Tampa resident, Taylor and his wife are relocating to St. Augustine, where he has taken a job directing the beer and wine operations of Tree of Life, a large organic and natural foods company.

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