Vivi, a direct-sales company formerly known as Cookie Lee, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The Tustin-based company listed assets of under $50,000 and liabilities of $1 million to $10 million in its bankruptcy filing on July 8. Chapter 7 usually indicates a company will liquidate rather than reorganize under Chapter 11.
Cookie Lee, founded in 1992, was sold to Debbie Millar in 2014 for undisclosed terms. Millar and her husband, Ron, are founding partners of Newport Beach-based luxury residential real estate group HÔM.
Millar and her attorney, Kyra E. Andrassy of Smiley Wang-Ekvall, could not be reached for comment.
Several comments left on Vivi’s Facebook page by sales consultants indicated the company closed the same day it filed for bankruptcy.
Sue Neff, a Vivi sales consultant, wrote, “Debbie has worked very hard over the past two years to rebuild a company that had been declining for years. Unfortunately, rebuilding sometimes just doesn’t work out.”
The fate of outstanding bills owed to consultants was unclear.
“Will be interesting to see if the consultants with things on order get their money back,” wrote Mary Sue Bizzarri.
Debra Lin, the founder of Cookie Lee and its namesake, told the Register two years ago she was selling the company to spend more time with her family and volunteer.
Lin left a corporate job in 1985 to start the company, famous for its “home shows” and costume jewelry. The company’s direct-sales strategy, much like Tupperware and Mary Kay, attracted mostly women looking for full- or part-time income. High-performing consultants would score free family cruises to places like Alaska, Hawaii and Cancun. More than 60, Lin said, earned $45,000 Mercedes-Benz cars.
The business recorded $125 million in revenue in 2006 and more than 40,000 sales consultants nationwide, with some 6,400 of them in Orange County.
In buying the company, Millar renamed it in “a rebranding that will revolutionize the direct-selling business once again, and help the company grow 20% by the end of 2015,” the company said in a statement at the time.
Vivi stood for vision, inspiration, value and independence.
The direct-sale jewelry and accessory industry is a $3 billion a year business, according to IBISWorld. The industry is expected to grow from 2015 to 2020, although much slower than the growth seen the previous five years.
Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
