BFG Supply Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Jennifer Polanz

On August 18, BFG Supply officially filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, along with several other subsidiary companies, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The action had been rumored since the late July news of the company’s inability to secure funding.

According to the filing where it asks debtor’s estimation of available funds, the box is checked next to: “After any administrative expenses are paid, no funds will be available for distribution to unsecured creditors.”

The filing lists the 30 creditors with the largest unsecured claims, which total about $27.6 million.

The other subsidiary companies that also filed for Chapter 11 in various courts (including Delaware, California, Kansas, Alabama, Indiana and Wisconsin, as well as Ontario, Canada) include (not a complete list):

L&L Nursery Supply Inc.
Gard’N-Wise Distributors Inc.
GROSouth Inc.
International Greenhouse Contractors LLC
Green-Tek LLC
BFG Kalamazoo LLC
BFG VG Supply Acquisition LLC
Greenhouse Solutions LLC
Greenhouse Contracting Services LLC
DeCloet Greenhouse Mfg. Ltd

The Expos have been canceled, so there are no events happening; as of mid-August there was still some product leaving warehouses but shipments were starting to get spotty.

Also, there are lots of manufacturers starting to fill orders directly or are directing customers to other distributors, so if you have a product you rely on, get in touch with the manufacturer directly to make a plan.

The company has named Adam Zalev, co-founder of Reflect Advisors, as the Chief Restructuring Officer. However, the filing also lists Tiger Capital Group LLC as the assigned liquidation consultant. I have reached out to Adam to see if he can offer any clarification about the direction BFG is heading.

As a refresher, we first learned at the end of July from vendors, retailers and growers that BFG employees were told they had failed to secure financing needed to continue operations, and that layoffs would be imminent. The company employed more than 650 people full time, along with more than 150 sales reps. Founded in Burton, Ohio, the distributor had been around for more than 50 years, growing its business to include 13 warehouses shipping to all 50 states and regions of Canada. We did learn the company received an infusion of $300 million in November 2025, according to Piper Sandler, which served as an advisor to BFG on the recapitalization. GP