Debbie Kline is Coordinator of Cleveland Jobs with Justice.
Unless you are a real news junkie and read the Business Section of your local newspaper or know one of the former employees, this is one story you may have missed.
InkStop was a chain of 152 convenience stores for office supplies that stocked ink cartridges and small electronics. The stores were located in small plazas in communities where big box office supply stores did not exist. InkStop owner Dirk Kettlewell boasted that the chain would be profitable by the end of this year by using over $80 million from private investors. This was supposed to be the “Sleeping Beauty” business story of the decade, but instead it turned into something that rivals “Psycho.”
The first blow came when all 152 InkStop stores were closed without warning on October 1st. It was business as usual earlier in the day. As the doors were locked for the night, the devastating news came via a faxed and emailed letter to employees to tell them: No more jobs and no pay for the last three weeks of work.
Continue reading InkStop Stores Dry Up, Owing Workers Pay and Health Care
