Wife’s death, financial woes caused 50-year-old Midlands business to close
The owner of Jewelry Warehouse, a landmark Midlands business for 50 years, said on Facebook the death of his wife and a spiral of financial difficulties caused him to close his landmark Jewelry Warehouse stores.
Public records show Scott Satterfield faces more than $1 million in back taxes, unpaid bills and credit payments.
The two stores in Cayce and Lexington had been preparing for a “foreclosure sale,” but the S.C. Department of Revenue pulled the stores’ retail licenses before the May 2 sale could begin. The stores remained closed on Monday.
“Satterfield’s Jewelry Warehouse is being liquidated as the bank has called our loan and foreclosure began immediately,” he wrote late Friday. “Unfortunately, the Department of Revenue has taken notice and revoked our business license just as the sale was about to begin. Lawyers are involved and those that foreclosed are trying to complete a liquidation.”
The S.C. Department of Revenue said the stores’ retail licenses were revoked Thursday. Department records show tax liens against the stores totaling nearly $500,000 for failing to remit to the state sales taxes and income taxes withheld from employees.
The stores were located at Parkland Plaza at 228 Knox Abbot Drive in Cayce and at 5134 Sunset Blvd. in Lexington.
They also hosted Garnet and Black Traditions, which specialized in University of South Carolina Gamecock gear; Tiger Paw Traditions, which marketed Clemson University Tigers gear; and Palmetto Traditions for South Carolina-themed clothing.
In addition, Lexington County court records show there are five pending lawsuits against Jewelry Warehouse claiming outstanding debt of $260,148. And records show an outstanding federal tax lien of $330,500.41 for failing to remit Social Security, withholding and Medicaid payment from his employees.
In his post, Satterfield said that his wife, Janice, was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in July 2013 just as two new locations were being opened with a bank loan using the merchandise as collateral.
“Unfortunately, less than 8 months after the loan was issued, and as a result of the housing crash and the ripple effect that it caused, the inventory which was used to provide the loan (collateral) was ‘re-evaluated’ and it was cut almost in half,” he wrote. “The new evaluation resulted in a paper default, and that was the beginning of 6 years of struggle.”
Janice died in 2016.. Caring for her added to the financial difficulties, Satterfield wrote.
“Truth is I thought I was spreading my efforts appropriately to take care of both, working early and late while she slept and tending to her as needed,” he wrote. “But with doctor appointments and hospital stays, it is now apparent I had not seen many key warning signals. It was only after her death that I fully realized how many things went unseen and uncorrected.
”The bank loan was ultimately purchased by another company and the lien with it, but the financial damage had been done. It created a vicious cycle of needing to make sales but not having the money to buy the merchandise. The hole just kept getting deeper and deeper. Selection suffered and so did sales. From predatory loans, scams, liens, levies, and (now) licenses revoked, we’ve done it all and we cannot do it anymore. I’m tired and the only thing that has kept me going is my faith and the staff.”
In January, Jewelry Warehouse admitted in a Lexington County court filing that it owed the Lexington store’s landlord $305,112 because the store defaulted on lease payments.
A message on the Cayce store’s telephone said it has been renamed Capital Liquidation.
Satterfield could not be reached for comment Friday or Monday..
The lawsuits include:
▪ BB&T, filed in February, for $21,088.18 on a revolving credit account;
▪ Lamar Cos., filed in February, for $1,950 for outdoor advertising;
▪ Nike, filed in July 2018, for $102,733.04 in unpaid bills, interest and attorneys’ fees;
▪ Columbia Sportswear, filed in January, for $18,983.70 in unpaid bills, interest and attorneys’ fees;
▪ Summit Sportswear, filed in February, for $115,394.88 in unpaid bills.
A Jewelry Warehouse at 10136 Two Notch Road in northeast Richland closed in 2014, and another at 1270 Bower Parkway in Harbison closed last year.
Scott Satterfield’s father, George, started the business in 1977. He died from cancer in 2005 and the business passed to Scott.
“Sometimes things don’t work out and there is no criminal design (people who own businesses can attest to this I believe),” Satterfield wrote. “Some people like to try to create a story when the truth is, I failed. I failed my staff, my vendors, the sales tax authority, and my family. That is something I must live with.
“Thank you for being a part of our family. We appreciate your love and support. I may be knocked down today, but with God’s help, I am going to try to get up and continue my story. Hoping many good things will be ahead.”
This story was originally published May 6, 2019 at 5:01 PM.