UK & Austin based Merchandise company Awesome Merch and its distribution service Awesome Distro both shut down abruptly in late August after going bankrupt, and not only have customers complained about paying for orders that have not been fulfilled, it's also left a big impact on at least one beloved independent record label: Topshelf Records, whose founder Kevin Duquette says the entire label inventory of records and everything is currently being held by the warehouse's landlord. Awesome also owed them tens of thousands of dollars when they shut down including money customers paid for orders that they never got! Label founder Kevin writes:
* the mail order fulfillment company we partnered with, Awesome Distro, has gone bankrupt.
* they have abruptly shut down, owing us tens of thousands of dollars in revenue and forcing us to relocate 17 years worth of inventory immediately with no advance notice.
* they laid off their entire staff without notifying us, leaving us with no immediate way of shipping out orders or sending records to our artists on tour.
* the property management company they leased from is withholding access to our inventory, treating it as collateral, and citing that their agreement with Awesome creates legal ground for seizing everything in the building.
* we've launched a Kickstarter campaign as a preemptive measure to help aid with ongoing efforts to fund a legal defense, and to pay for mounting expenses associated with this disruption.
* our business is still operating. we expect we can endure this and not have to lay off any staff, continue paying out artist royalties, cover our expenses, etc. but we have started this campaign because:
* we don’t know if we’re vastly overestimating how dire this is.
* we don’t know if we’re immensely underestimating how dire this is.
* we don’t know more than we know at this stage, but we know we need help.