Italian Pottery Retailer Files For Bankruptcy, Closes Vegas Location

By KATE BERRY

Staff Reporter

High overhead, sagging sales and the devaluation of the dollar against the euro have forced Cottura Inc., a high-end retailer of Italian pottery, to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company’s owners, who shuttered a store in Las Vegas on May 31, are still deciding whether to liquidate or restructure. At present, the small retailer has three locations in Century City, Newport Beach and Palo Alto.

The company had sales of $3 million last year, according to Daniel Lev, the company’s bankruptcy attorney. Liabilities are roughly $2 million.

Cottura, in business locally for 18 years, was hit hard by shrinking profit margins at its stores in Las Vegas and Palo Alto after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The company worked with more than 40 factories in Italy that produced hand-painted sets of tableware inspired by the Italian Renaissance and folk art. A brightly painted biscotti jar costs $165 while a small rooster pitcher sells for $40. Cups and saucers typically cost up to $60. Huge pots for plants that would seem at home on a Mediterranean estate sold for over $3,000.

“Most people can’t walk into Cottura and buy a set of plates, but they have very faithful customers,” Lev said.

Though Italian pottery makers usually stamped items specifically for Cottura stores, many of the pieces have been showing up at other boutiques, undercutting the retailer’s corner of the market.

Cottura built a reputation for spending heavily on its catalog, which depicted in detail the way its pottery was created and hand-painted. The catalogs received awards from the American Catalog Association in 1999, 1998 and 1987. The company may end up selling its catalog buyers’ list, which could be a valuable asset.

More than 20 creditors have claims against the company that range from $9,000 to $125,000, while seven insiders have claims ranging from $80,000 to $525,000, including each of the three owners.

Together, they are trying to determine whether the stores can continue to operate. “The goal would be either to keep all three stores or go to two stores or one store,” said Lev.