The liquidation sale for a closed bridal store will begin Tuesday.
The owner of Madelynn’s, 511 Commercial St., reached an agreement with the Kansas Department of Revenue to hold a liquidation sale to pay off back taxes owed to the State of Kansas.
The liquidation sale is being handled by Bud Palmer Auction and will begin at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the store.
Wedding gowns, veils, prom dresses and women’s clothing will be 50 percent off and other merchandise such as dishes, crystal, linens, gourmet foods, picture frames, candles and jewelry will be 25 percent off. The only form of payment that will be accepted is cash and credit cards.
The store will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday through October and into November. The final date of the liquidation sale will be determined at a later date.
Appointments are available for Sunday and Monday and can be had by calling the store at 343-2040. Customers who made partial payments or those with custom-order purchases can call the store on Tuesday to make arrangements.
Madelynn’s was closed on Sept. 3 for non-payment of taxes. As part of an agreement with the Kansas Department of Revenue, the amount will be paid using funds from the sale of existing assets. The store owes about $90,500 in sales tax withholdings and about $8,600 in employment withholdings.
bobhornet (anonymous) says...
I hope it's a ghost town at this sale. Don't bail out this crook; don't go to the auction!
October 4, 2009 at 5:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
phiber101 (anonymous) says...
It's funny when they first got shut down it was some BIG mistake by the Kansas Department of Revenue.........I know for a fact that they can't claim it's because the economy as they've been doing this for some time (takes awhile to rack up $90,500 in sales tax withholdings). Heck, even their payroll checks bounced more than once within the last few years. I'd feel really sorry for them if they had done nothing wrong, but with them admitting these non-disclosures I hope no one shows up to bail them out. Of course, that's only my opinion.
October 4, 2009 at 11:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
countrydog (anonymous) says...
PHIBER101 i hope you have trouble with the goverment then you will see how hard it is to business in emporia! i bet you are one of those who shops out of town. now we have lost another business thanks to jerks like you!!! i bet you say shop emporia first and then slip on of town.
October 5, 2009 at 6:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Wow, I'm sure glad I have never made any bad decisions in my life and business. Sure glad I have never bounced a check or been late paying my taxes. Sure glad I have done everything perfectly. I'm really glad that I have never disagreed with anyone and pissed them off. I wouldn't want the posters on the Gazette forums to bad-mouth me.
Bail them out, I don't think so. Any money collected will go to the state 1st to pay off the taxes due. You know that tax money that comes back to Emporia to pay for city and county operations.
This family literally bet the farm on this business and lost. For whatever reason the business failed, it is uncalled for to call the lady a crook. I don't know the owner personaly, people may dislike her, it sounds like it, but it is sad when any business fails or shuts down.
I only hope that Emporian's hold true to form and show up in droves, spend enough to pay off the tax debts and get this over with.
I also hope that this building won't be another vacant building in our town.
Of course that's just my opinion.
October 5, 2009 at 6:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
"PHIBER101 i hope you have trouble with the goverment then you will see how hard it is to business in emporia! i bet you are one of those who shops out of town. now we have lost another business thanks to jerks like you!!! i bet you say shop emporia first and then slip on of town."
Wait a second. So it's because of people shopping out of town that these folks didn't pay their taxes? Wow. I didn't know you could do that. What crimes can we commit and blame on online shopping?
R.
October 5, 2009 at 7:21 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
That's a mighty big building to heat and cool. In this economy, the business that opened in that space would have to be a real gold mine in order to pay the utilities. If it's a real gold mine, parking would be a problem.
When news of the back taxes was first revealed, someone came on to soundly chastise the posters on this forum for being so vicious, all the while claiming the tax issue was all a mistake. In the meantime, paychecks were bouncing.
Yes, it's a real shame when a business fails. Certainly it hurts the owners, but we all lose when that happens because taxes collected come back to our city. Originally, my own criticism related to how we are all robbed when people don't pay their taxes, not only sales tax, but property tax as well.
Here's what made people call her a "crook." Sales tax collections are not for profit; the merchant is merely a collector. That's what makes this particularly problematic. The merchant used the people's money and did not send it to the state. In the least that is dishonest.
Now we hear that district court services may be interrupted and that workers are to be furloughed all because the state had to make major cuts. Those funds come from taxes collected. It all trickles down, doesn't it?
Once again, we are ALL affected by this because these are OUR services being cut, even temporarily.These are OUR friends and family having their hours cut and their paychecks decreased. This is OUR court system getting jammed up, no matter how you feel about the judge or the flipping courthouse. This is OUR daughters unable to get Protection From Abuse warrants signed; this is OUR neighbors unable to get decisions handed down for whatever reason. These are OUR probation officers unable to check on people on probation or parole. How long will it take to untangle this mountainous spaghetti sandwich?
We can blame this on a weak economy, yes. But when a business continues to make sales and collect sales tax and fails to send that sales tax to the state, that merchant is partially to blame for all the problems that trickle down as a result.
October 5, 2009 at 7:58 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
countrydog (anonymous) says...
create
do you know how much is tax and how much is penalty?
as you said she collected the tax but the blame is on topeka for allowing this to happen. how many good people went out of town to purchase,ARE YOU ONE OF THOSE?
October 5, 2009 at 8:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Let me play devil's advocate here. Who is more to blame for your above stated problems? The business owner who was delinquient on their sales taxes, or your local reps Hill, Mast, and Barnett who had at least a hand in spending 1/4 BILLION dollars on a statehouse remodel project?
This was a mistake that the business owner made, one that THEY are paying dearly for, (liquidation sale) and you are correct, it hurts us all with the trickle down effect. Those taxes will be paid for one way or another. As a business owner who made the same mistake at one time, and paid dearly for it I know that for a fact.
I just didn't hear this much negative talk when a certain person, (with a office in the courthouse), had a tax lein of over 1/2 million dollars levied on their business.
I try to stay POSITIVE when I speak of Emporia, but I must say;
I have never met a perfect person in Emporia, I don't think any of us have.
We might start trying to make things better in these hard times, instead of throwing the first stones.
October 5, 2009 at 8:32 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
So let's stay positive Emporia!
Check out the sale, spend some bucks, maybe get a bargain, and help get those tax dollars back to Emporia!
October 5, 2009 at 8:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
DOES TWENTY DOLLAR TUESDAY RING A BELL?
October 5, 2009 at 8:43 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sunshine (anonymous) says...
countrydog...so you never shop out of town?? I spend a good deal of money in this town as does everyone in my family, and I spend some money out of town. I think its a little harsh of you to repeatedly cut down anyone who spends a dollar outside this town.
As far as Madeylnn's, I spent money there too. When my husband and I got married we rented the tux there. I have sons in high school now and it was my plan to rent tuxes from there over the next few years for the proms that they will attend. It was a nice store but in general a little too pricey for me....thats about how I find a lot of stores here in Emporia.
The problem is bad business management. The economy can't have helped but it really comes down to bad business management and a market that is really pretty seasonal. I can't imagine she was making tons of sells on a daily basis.
What I am 100% sure of is that she is not the only business owner in this town who runs their businesses poorly. I know others who are as crooked as crooked could be, who are worse scoundrels than this woman ever thought about being. I would guess that she maybe didn't intend in the beginning to be dishonest, business is tough and things can get out of hand. Pretty soon you have an avalanche. But there are others that are down right dishonest and don't care who they are hurting and it has gone on for years.
I would caution every person to think before throwing someone out to the wolves...it could be you someday.
October 5, 2009 at 8:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
countrydog (anonymous) says...
poor businnes mgt!
you dont know the first thing about business or you would not go out of town to shop! she has lost her life savings and you say she has poor bisiness skills.may be so but she supported emporia and the area thats more than i can say for you!!!!!
October 5, 2009 at 8:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
countrydog, if I went out of town instead of making purchases at Madelyyn's, it's because I didn't want to pay inflated prices. I can't see paying $40 for a plate. Maybe you can afford it; I can't.
I spend tons of money in this town, countrydog, all the time, in fact. My taxes are paid too. Are yours? And yes, I also go out of town to shop for things I can't find here because I damn well feel like I do my part for this town every day.
Why blame Topeka for putting penalties on late tax payments? That's like blaming the victim for the crime. Penalties are the consequences for not doing what is expected. Tax laws are in place for a reason and they need to be enforced. Simple.
October 5, 2009 at 9:04 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
truckerswife (anonymous) says...
First and foremost - I believe that every business must pay their taxes. Especially, when the taxes have been taken from the customer and employees. My questions are why only this business now after so many years? Why did the KSDOR decide to step in at this time? There are so many businesses in Lyon County and all KS counties that are still operating that owe these same type of taxes. When are they going to have this same situation happen to them or was Madelyn's picked out of the bunch to be made an example of? The state might have plenty of money to work with if the KSDOR had been doing their job all along.
October 5, 2009 at 9:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
How can we expect people from out of town to shop here and try to lure them in with visitor centers and such and expect people here to stay here also. It seems that it would be more consistent of us to tell people to go back to their home towns and shop "locally". We could have signs that say, "Hey, we appreciate your business but we believe in shopping locally and if this isn't the town you live in then you aren't shopping locally so go back home to spend your money. Your local economy will appreciate it." We don't want to be hypocrites and expect everyone here to shop locally and not expect others to do the same. Let's stay consistent here folks.
R.
October 5, 2009 at 10:01 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Steve, last Tuesday I spent $68 in a local shop in downtown Emporia. Yeah, right here in this town!!! That oughtta cover me for the next 3 weeks.
Oh yeah, does my plumbing bill count? That's a Commercial Street business.
Oh damn! My pedicure in downtown Emporia last week Tuesday too. $25!!! What else?
Oh yeah, two magazines at Town Crier Bookstore.
What else?
Cable One is on Commercial Street. My bill is automatically deducted from my checking account on October 20th. Voila! That's a Tuesday!!!
Uh oh, Cable One doesn't count because they're really not local and some people say we aren't supporting Emporia if we shop out of town. Well Hell, cancel my cable service!
Dang me, dang me, they outta take a rope and hang me!!!
I'm so flipping ahead on this twenty dollar game.
October 5, 2009 at 10:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
create
I bet the magazines you bought weren't "local" magazine. Shame shame shame. You should only buy the Emporia Gazette that is printed right here in ................ oh yeah. Never mind.
R.
October 5, 2009 at 10:11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
LOL LOL LOL ROFLMAO
October 5, 2009 at 10:20 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justacitizen (anonymous) says...
wow
October 5, 2009 at 10:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justacitizen (anonymous) says...
Wow. Really. This business was headed for disaster. The customer service was TERRIBLE. Very rude, uppity owner. Yes, you are rude. Interesting that the owner's son is our own MAINSTREET DIRECTOR. Wow...emabarrassing.
October 5, 2009 at 10:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
theteach (anonymous) says...
As a bride who purchased her gown and 5 bridesmaids dresses from Madelynn's, I can say with much certainty, that Ms. Wood's not only stole from the state, but also her valued customers. I am one of those "out of towners" who drove the hour trek to buy from what I believed an established business. Since I am a teacher, I worked a part time job, to help stay within the wedding budget. Trying to be a responsible patron, I paid in full for the dresses when they were ordered. The dresses were scheduled to arrive in mid-September. Since Madelynn's, was closed before the arrival date, I have paid close to $2,000 and have no wedding dress or bridesmaids dresses to show for it. In the last month it has taken 132 phone calls, to find dealers who will accept the dresses which have been ordered, and locate the dresses which Madelynn’s declined to accepts. The end results is I have to repay for EVERYTHING since Ms. Woods could not make payments to the dress company. As a hard working , honest person, this situation infuriates me. My $2,000 donation as I like to call it, since I will probably never see that money again, took away from my wedding. There is no honeymoon since we had to repay for the dresses. I am left to wonder how many other brides are in the same situation I am in? At least my wedding isn’t until Dec, and I had time to locate and pay for a second time (which wasn’t nearly as fun as the first).
October 5, 2009 at 10:57 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Just got back from dropping off my payroll tax work to the bookeeper and wow!
Create, I am glad your ahead of the 20 dollar game. That's a positive note. It's not hard to spend $20.00 is it? Pedicure?
My wife makes me use the hedge clippers:)
countrydog, Everything can't be blamed on people shopping out of town, supply and demand usually works. I take it you are a friend of Ms. Woods and are defending her like a good friend would. But your anger directed at others does no constructive good.
justthefacts, You may be right about the customer service, we won't have to worry about that anymore will we? As far as bringing her sons job into the discussion, well, it has nothing to do with the store closing does it?
theteach,
I truly feel sorry for you and your experience. You have a legitimate gripe. I really hope you can someway re-coup your costs, but from what you say it doesn't look good. I hope your wedding day won't be marred by this too much.
And last but not least seriouslyfolks,
Laugh Out Loud!
Stay Positive!
October 5, 2009 at 11:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
theteach,
if you used a credit card for your purchase, contact the card company, you may have some recourse.
October 5, 2009 at 11:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
What a terrible mess. I'm so sorry this happened to you, teach.
"The end results is I have to repay for EVERYTHING since Ms. Woods could not make payments to the dress company."
Also, this begs the question. How many other dress manufacturers have not been paid as well even though she has kept the bread? Hmmmmm?
Of course we're not to use the term "crook" here. Can we say Bernie Madoff?
If it looks like a duck, if it waddles like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, oh wait...IT'S A SWAN!
October 5, 2009 at 12:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
if you used a credit card for your purchase, contact the card company, you may have some recourse.
October 5, 2009 at 12:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
create, doesn't duck season start in late October?
:>)
October 5, 2009 at 12:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
b3bill (anonymous) says...
I hope everyone like poster "theteach" that Madelyn's owes money to will file a claim in the proper court to attempt to recover their money. Hopefully the court will find Madelyn's owner Jean Woods liable to have to repay all of them in full, plus all other appropriate charges incurred in trying to recover their money (court costs, etc.)
Not forwarding the sales tax money is nothing but being crooked. Jean Woods knew it was wrong. I bet she wouldn't have made a speech at some Main Street meeting, or when she won various Main Street awards, to say that she was not forwarding sales tax revenue.
Keeping the sales tax revenue is something she thought she could pull off and not get caught, but the trap slammed shut and caught her. It's very similar to a personal income tax audit. Not everyone is audited, and many pull off tax evasion and don't get caught. That doesn't make it right, but those caught in an audit who have something to hide will have to come clean.
Jean Woods' tax evasion has backfired. She's going to have a tough time fussing her way out of this mess.
October 5, 2009 at 1:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
You're right Steve, duck season does begin soon. Methinks all those who have been swanned (or swandled) need to get their ducks in a row and file a class action suit. That buildings got to be worth a buck or two.
October 5, 2009 at 1:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justacitizen (anonymous) says...
Steve, no it doesn't...its just interesting...
October 5, 2009 at 1:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthinkin (anonymous) says...
I'm sorry, but to my way of thinking, collecting someone's good faith money & not ordering the goods amounts to several things, theft and fraud come to mind first.
October 5, 2009 at 2:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...
Pooooor duckies!!! :-(
October 5, 2009 at 3:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justacitizen (anonymous) says...
I agree, justthinkin.
October 5, 2009 at 4:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
phiber101 (anonymous) says...
WOW, there at first I thought everyone was going to come after me for stating my opinion........but apparently I'm not the only one who can read between the lines. How can one say that it was an honest mistake or anything but tax evasion? It surely takes A LONG TIME to rack up a tax withholding for the amount of $90K+!! Isn't the sales tax here in Emporia like 7%? Unless that business pulled in over a million bucks in the last year, I highly doubt that was all racked up in a period of a fiscal year.
Steve, I'm not saying everyone is perfect because Lord knows I'm not. I'm merely stating that deception is deception and thievery is thievery regardless of how you wrap it.
I shop locally as much as I can because I do believe that there are good businesses here (yes Steve, yours is on my list of good businesses) and I want them to succeed; HOWEVER, when I am in a tight spot and I can get something for 50% off the "local" cost online, you bet I'm ordering it online! I shopped at Hastings a minimum of once a week and we all know that place shut down.
I truely feel sorry for all the victims that came out of this situation, and again (in my opinion) the owner(s) of this establishment aren't on the victims list!
October 5, 2009 at 7:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
you all are right. I don't know of what I speak. I am entirely wrong. All of you are perfect, Let's bring out the stocks! Brand the forehead. Cut off the hands, Stone her. Let's just get it over with Emporia. Are we not all perfect? She may be wrong, she may be a crook, but for gods sake lets get over it.
I sitll have not seen this outrage with the county employee (elected official) that had a 1/2 million dollar tax lein filed on their business. Oh yeah, you Republicans voted them in to office because they were a Republican . Where was your outrage during the election? Where was your concern about protecting the employees? It was an employee witholding tax lein filed.
If we are all going to pillage Ms. Woods, than maybe we should bring out all the other people/businesses that have screwed up on their taxes.
October 5, 2009 at 8:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefootin (anonymous) says...
I missed out, who had a 1/2 million dollar lien on their business?
October 5, 2009 at 9:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
Let's see, on the ks.dept of rev. tax delinquency list is a business located at 1801 Rural street. Would that be the Emporia Country Club, or JUST A VENDOR LOCATED THERE?
You decide, but let's get out the stones, just in case.
October 5, 2009 at 9:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...
barefootin, If you had a hometown newspaper worth a shucks, you would know that.
October 5, 2009 at 9:09 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefootin (anonymous) says...
There are businesses in town that owe the same amount or more than madelynns which leaves me wondering why one business is seized and the others arent. I think the bill for madelynns is a few years old, but Im also guessing its taken quite a long time for the others to run up the amounts they have. At any rate, you are right, she is being given alot of publicity over it. Raising the local sales tax without collecting from the delinquent bills is also wrong. Oh, thats a 'good ole boy' way of doing things.
October 5, 2009 at 9:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefootin (anonymous) says...
Well.. that answers all my burning questions about how to find out who is a witch! Loved the crowd mentality in the flick, kind of reminded me of the three stooges, the pausing before giving a simple answer.
October 5, 2009 at 9:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
That's called the "pregnant pause."
barefootin, perhaps those other businesses in town are already trying to bring their tax accounts current by paying whatever they can in a timely fashion. I don't know this for a fact, but it just seems logical to me that if those businesses had not been paying what they can all this time, they would already have been seized by the state.
I'm guessing that the state has some kind of plan in place for this sort of thing, and that they follow a process. I'm also guessing that when back taxes either reach a certain amount, or a certain number of years go by that remain delinquent, that's when they go to the next step. Be interesting to know, wouldn't it?
October 6, 2009 at 8:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefootin (anonymous) says...
Might be the only way to know is to ask, or be a KDOR worker, or be a very delinquent store owner none of which I would want to be.
October 6, 2009 at 10:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
She made a mistake and she is paying for it! We all have made mistakes in our lives ! I forgave her and I am praying for her and her family !
October 6, 2009 at 5:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Tax evasion is not a "mistake." A small oversight is a mistake. Forgetting to file current collections is a "mistake." Years and years of not paying sales taxes is not an oversight. Accepting awards for excellence in view of all that is just plain crass!
October 6, 2009 at 5:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
neighbor (anonymous) says...
You don't pay your sales taxes, don't pay withholding taxes, when you fail to respond to demands for payment of taxes and do so knowingly, your a crook.
I don't care if she bet the farm and lost it, and have never claimed to perfect, but you just cant cover the scent of a feedlot with a rose garden of excuses.
October 7, 2009 at 6:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )