Irvine-based Consolidated Horticulture Group LLC, which operates Hines Horticulture Inc., has made an expected filing for bankruptcy protection.
Hines Horticulture grows and supplies plants, shrubs and other products to Home Depot Inc., Lowe’s Cos., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and other retailers.
The company runs eight nurseries in California, Arizona, Oregon and Texas and has 900 employees. Sales were $123 million last year.
Chief Executive Steven Thigpen said “weak consumer demand” and “anemic homebuilding” have hit sales, while “inventory imbalances” have led to shortfalls of critical plants.
This is Hines’ second bankruptcy in as many years.
The company also sought bankruptcy reorganization in 2008, as the housing construction slump took hold.
Hines emerged from its prior bankruptcy when Black Diamond Capital Management LLC, a hedge fund and private equity firm based in Illinois, ended up owning the company in early 2009.
The latest bankruptcy filing came days after word that Hines is laying off about 100 people at its operations in Oregon.
The layoffs came after Hines was unable to extend a line of credit.
Earlier this year, Hines stopped commercial growing operations in Irvine.
Hines’ presence in Orange County goes back to its founding in 1920.
Lumber and paper giant Weyerhaeuser Co. bought the company in 1976 and then sold to a private investment group.
An initial public offering raised $56 million in 1998, and Hines expanded with the purchase of a number of nursery operations across the country.
