Tailored Baby Files for Chapter 11 Protection

Tailored Baby Inc., a Northridge company whose owner was killed by a former employee last year, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection.

The company made the filing in Los Angeles on March 20, listing $2.8 million in assets and $3.5 million in debts. Tailored Baby makes baby care products such as quilts, blankets and bibs.

The bankruptcy filing is the latest development in the troubled history of Tailored Baby.

In December, 1990, part of the company’s former plant in San Fernando was destroyed in a fire that caused nearly $1.4 million in damage. The following February, Tailored Baby’s owner and president, Aaron Thomas, was shot and killed at the company’s headquarters by Victor Soto, a former company vice president.

Soto told police that he shot Thomas in self-defense after Thomas attacked him and hit him on the head with a hammer. No charges have been filed in connection with the shooting, but Soto has since pleaded guilty to arson and insurance fraud for setting the December fire. He was sentenced last month to six years in prison.

Authorities said Soto set the fire as part of a scheme to help bail Tailored Baby out of its financial problems. According to an audit by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms conducted as part of the arson investigation, Tailored Baby’s sales fell to $15 million in 1990, a decrease of 25% from the previous year.

Thomas’ widow, Margaret Thomas, is Tailored Baby’s present owner.