Clothestime Case Takes a Page From ‘Jerry Maguire’

Clothestime Inc. creditors aren’t the only ones clamoring for someone to “show me the money.”

The popular line from “Jerry Maguire,” the recent feature film starring Tom Cruise and Cuba Gooding Jr., was repeated again and again during a U.S. Bankruptcy Court hearing Thursday in Santa Ana. The hearing was held to determine which reorganization plan was going to be forwarded to creditors of Anaheim-based Clothestime for approval.

At times during the two-hour hearing, attorneys for different reorganization plans tried to dismiss competing proposals by arguing that the money wasn’t there.

Everyone from Judge John J. Wilson to attorneys for the company and three competing plans used versions of the line that sports-star Gooding delivers as Cruise, his agent, negotiates a contract.

So far, only professionals working on the 19-month-old bankruptcy case have seen the money. Bills for attorneys, accountants and other experts representing the company, its creditors and other parties with an interest could top the $4 million in cash that creditors will receive if the plan proposed by Clothestime is approved by creditors and the judge.

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Greg Johnson covers retail businesses and restaurants for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-5950 and at greg.johnson@latimes.com