Orchard Supply Gets Bankruptcy Approval

Orchard Supply Hardware Stores Corp. (San Jose, Calif.), the West Coast chain of 91 hardware stores, has won court approval of as much as $176.3 million in bankruptcy financing.

The U.S. bankruptcy judge approved the loans that will help fund operations as Orchard Supply pursues a sale of least 60 of its stores. Lowe’s Corp. (Moorehead, N.C.) has already offered $205 million.

Orchard Supply was founded in 1931 as a farmer’s co-op; was acquired by then-Sears Roebuck Inc. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.) in 1996; went public in 2012; and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2013.