Online Wholesale Retailer Boxed Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Amelia Pollard and Harry Suhartono, Bloomberg News

A shopper reaches for an orange at a grocery store in New York, Thursday, December 07, 2006. Orange-juice prices rose to a record of $2.094 a pound on the New York Board of Trade on speculation that citrus production in Florida, the world's second-biggest grower, may fall short of the government's forecast because of worsening crop conditions. Photographer: ADAM ROUNTREE/Bloomberg News , BLOOMBERG NEWS

(Bloomberg) -- Boxed Inc., an online bulk retailer that thrived during the pandemic, filed for bankruptcy on Sunday.

The New York-based firm listed as much as $102.6 million in assets and up to $190.4 million in liabilities in a Chapter 11 petition filed in the district of Delaware.

Before filing for bankruptcy, the company was seeking to sell itself with help from Solomon Partners, according to a regulatory filing. In January, Boxed received a $20 million infusion, which briefly improved its share price.

The company said in a separate statement that the voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings are intended to execute a sale of its Spresso software business to its first-lien secured lenders while continuing to streamline operations, including a wind-down of its remaining retail business.

Founded in 2013, the company went public in December 2021 by combining with a special-purpose acquisition company. It’s the latest ex-SPAC to seek bankruptcy protection.

Boxed specializes in delivering wholesale grocery items to residences and offices. Unlike competitors like Costco Wholesale Corp., the firm doesn’t require memberships. Supermarket chain Kroger Co. offered to buy the company in 2018 for $400 million, but the company’s board rejected the offer.

The case is 23-10397, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for District of Delaware.

(Updates with planned sale of software business in fourth paragraph.)