[aldevo]

This fact, in itself, says much about how shaky the business was. They were apparently manufacturing to order, which means they lacked sufficient cash flow to build inventory.

Without carrying inventory (including work-in-progress) you cannot meet future orders. So, in fact, are not really marketing your products.

In other words, the buy out investors "milked" the company dry.

Milk what??!!! B&W film and paper is a moribund market! It really doesn't offer investors a return in the short-term. If you look at Forte's 2005 profit - it's equivalent to a couple tens of thousands of dollars.

The theory that the investors really were looking to sell off the land sounds a lot more plausible.

No inventory? OK, so a retailer wants the stuff and hasn't got it. He picks up the phone and orders it and once the factory has enough orders to do a run - they make one. Calumet, Freestyle, B&H, Fotoimpex call the shots here...there's no value whatsoever in Forte keeping inventory lying around. The stuff has pretty limited shelf life after all.

As B&W film and paper demand contineus to plunge (and it's clearly going to continue to plunge) - "manufacture to order" is the only chance the suppliers have.

And the only chance we have for that matter...