Oakton Upheaval

Oakton Distribution of Chicago closed its doors on Monday June 18, in a move which can only be termed a surprise.  Details are not yet available on the basic cause of the closure, or the fate of the brands, employees or executive team.  Oakton has distributed major appliances for 53 years and a few years ago added a sister distribution arm, I.A.D..  Oakton has of late been under stress with the cancellation by U-Line in April, 2006 and by its primary anchor, the BSH brands of Bosch & Thermador for all but the builder business in June 2006.  Oakton added several brands to balance these losses, including Perlick, Turbo Chef, Blue Star, Windcrest, and Bertazzoni.  In the fall of 2003, Oakton bankrolled the "Ultra 8" company to introduce and distribute the Italy based Ariston brand throughout the US.  The Advisor understood the investment to be an insurance policy against BSH's expected move to dealer direct distribution. 
Oakton covered a huge swath of mostly empty real estate in northern central USA (PA, OH, WV, KY, IL, IN, MI, WI, MN, ND, SD).
UPDATE:  Jun 22:  Telephone calls to Oakton are being answered by employees, the woman on the phone claimed.  We asked:  Is the executive team still with Oakton?  Who now owns Oakton?  Is Oakton in receivership?  In all cases the answer provided was that she could not comment.  When asked if there WAS someone who could comment, I was told that someone might get back to us.  Sooo, we've canceled everything, cleared the decks for the day to be sure we're available when the phone rings!!
UPDATE:  Jun 24:  We have come into possession of an email from the Oakton management team informing interested parties that though they are no longer with Oakton, they are actively planning their return to the industry, en masse.
UPDATE:  Jun 26:  "0" for operator has been disconnected from voice mail.  No human can be found trawling through the voice mail system
UPDATE:  Jul 12:  Statement of Liquidation