Richard George was planning the closing of 17 during the initial bankruptcy to keep 57 stores open. However the lender(s) filed involuntary bankruptcy.

This is interesting as I have never heard of lenders filing bankruptcy in this manner.

A quote from a Oct 17, 1995 Chicago Tribune article…

“That very same day . . . I learned that the lending banks were filing involuntary bankruptcy” for Handy Andy, George said….
As recently as the day before, he said, “we were working with them” on refinancing.