Nice get, Abe.
In his extensive report on Maclaren USA's Ch. 7 liquidation mystery, Brandchannel's Abe Sauer scored some quotes from "ex-Creative Director of Maclaren Nursery," David Netto.
And it sounds like the $1.1 million owed to Netto in the bankruptcy documents might just be the tip of the iceberg:
"Whatever [Maclaren USA CEO Farzad Rastegar] is up to, I don't think the baby space is appropriate for this kind of behavior," said David Netto today to brandchannel from New York City, where he's currently exploring his legal options to reclaim the $1.1 million plus up to $5 million in royalties that Maclaren USA contractually owes him after acquiring his NettoCollection brand in 2009. "If you're going to own a stroller company, you have to be accountable to your obligations to parents and everybody else," he added.$5 million in royalties is a pretty huge pile of royalties. Yes, I was about to use language that might not be appropriate for the baby space. How about we say it's a diaperful of royalties? Maybe a Diaper Genie-ful? I'm not really seeing how that much could be at stake for just royalties, which, by definition, are only a percentage of total sales. Have Maclaren Nursery's numbers been outpacing Maclaren Strollers? I would be surprised.
But anyway, I guess Netto's real point in Brandchannel is that he just found out about the bankruptcy, and that the company's sense of accountability is, well, I'm sure he wouldn't want his quote to be misconstrued, so we'll just leave it at that.
Stroller Giant Maclaren Declares Bankruptcy. But Is It a Scam? [brandchannel]
#1 reason I will never be Creative Director of anything: I could never refer to "the baby space" and keep a straight face.
The article doesn't cast too great a light on Netto by the way. Sounds like he believes all will be fine in the baby space once he gets paid.
I see Netto's point. I'd like to feel warm and fuzzy about the maker of my baby's ride. Not so important for the maker of my toothpasate or cell phone. I'd also like to get paid if someone owed me a couple million....
I think by "royalties" they must mean continuing payments for the acquisition of Netto Collection. Otherwise I need to renegotiate my royalty rate.
Seth, whoever you are--mea culpa. My quote is annoying, conjuring images of a mime class or something like that. I apologize, I hate to sound like a goon, and you're right.
Let me add that better, but not fine, is what things will be when I get paid. If you worked for somebody for three years you wouldn't mind getting paid at the end of that either.
@david netto: Never expected a response from the interested party. To clarify, I would just clarify that I don't doubt your integrity nor would I question your desire to get paid for your services. But I was struck by the way it came across in the article and I question that there is some "baby space" that exists above and distinct from corporate and personal interests.