Tweeter mails out employee checks

(File photo: Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe.)

The owners of Tweeter, the bankrupt consumer-electronics chain, said they have mailed out unpaid wages - but not vacation time owed - to roughly 600 employees who were abruptly fired this week just days before the business was set to close for good.

Liquidators running a going-out-of-business sale for the Canton-based company have also recovered most of their fees, totaling over $1 million.

(Meanwhile, in a related development, Tweeter received approval today from the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to liquidate under Chapter 7, according to court documents.)

The group of businesses, including local companies Hudson Capital Partners of Newton and Tiger Capital Group of Boston, are asking the bankruptcy court to reopen the stores so customers who have already paid for merchandise can come and pick up their goods.

It is still unclear whether the liquidators will pay employees bonuses that were promised as part of the going-out-of-business sale.

The owners of Tweeter, Schultze Asset Management, shut down Tweeter and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday after paying millions of dollars to Wells Fargo, the largest secured creditor.

Schultze, a New York investment firm that had also loaned money to Tweeter, was the second-biggest creditor and decided against putting additional money into the company to wind down the operations. Tweeter had planned to close its shops on Sunday.

On Wednesday, hackers apparently broke into Tweeter's website and posted a picture of President Bush on the home page with a message about Schultze and the chief restructuring officer: "Don't trust either of them."

The website was taken down shortly after and has not functioned since Wednesday.
(By Jenn Abelson, Globe staff)