Okay I realize I have been in Asia for four years and just returned to the US a month and a half ago, but did everyone know HLB was going out of business?
The reason I say this is based on the following: http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:p-bschFK89oJ:www.topix.com/classifieds/chicago/T1LC1VA808ISM4PRP+assigee's+sale+of+assets+herbst+lazar+bell&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
Whaaa!?
That certainly looks like compelling evidence of a shut down. Any of our Chicago people know? Skinny?
I know there was a speculative thread awhile back, but this would seem to be the proof.
Man I could have gotten a cintiq tablet at fire sale prices! Oh well.
Is it normal to sell your IP in an ID fire sale? If you need the money now, you need it now I guess.
I went to UIUC, and people would talk about HLB like it was just amazing. I doubt this will have much of an effect on Chicago or the scene, however a noteworthy loss.
intends to sell his right, title and interest in substantially all the assets of the Company, including and not limited to all of the Company’s furniture, fi xtures, accounts receivable, notes receivable, supplies, inventory, customer accounts, contract rights, customer contracts, books and records, telephone numbers, security and other deposits, intellectual property, trade names, intangibles …
Quite the fire sale… bummer. The website is still up, and there hasn’t been a news update since June of 2008.
Wow! My thoughts go out to all the employees effected. What a horrible thing to happen at the holidays.
At least they are for sale and not closing… yet. Personally I don’t think the closure of a firm is an absolutely bad thing. New groups are formed when an old one is dismissed, and usually, is an improvement from what wasn’t working. Plus, it seems that old clients don’t really care what the name of the group is as long as they are working with the same people who they trust and who produce great work. People are the real creative assets, they just need a good management solution.
I wonder how much they will sell their “Meaningful Design®” for.
Apparently they’re going to relaunch as “HLB, LLC” according to a Facebook post from a key staffer. So it looks like the end of the previous business entity and the creation of a new one. That’s good, it would be a shame to lose such a design powerhouse!
Still, the fact that they’re not engaging the rumor-mill, and their website is hopelessly out of date is bad PR.
i heard some grumblings a few months ago that they were struggling, but nothing substantial. This looks pretty definite.
Hopefully the players come out ahead.
Rumors of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Long story short: we went through a restructuring process that was completed just before the new year. Part of that was having to post in a public forum (in this case the Chicago Tribune) that we were “being sold” and while this was going on we couldn’t comment on it. (Hence the radio silence.)
All of this has been completed and we are much stronger position. Pretty standard stuff that could have happened in any economy to be frank, and the headline (HLB IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!!!) is always more interesting than the truth (No it isn’t.)
You will be hearing from us in a more public way soon.
Good to hear…
afterschool,
Thanks for the update. Glad to hear things are continuing there.
Sorry if the title “Gone” sounded provocative. It was partially to get people’s attention, but also based on the article, it seemed that way.
Notice we never heard anything again? I drove by recently and the space (owned by Walter, Randy, and Ralph) is up for lease. I’ve heard they are technically still around but there are only a few people these days. Maybe they are only leasing out part of the space? Let’s hope. Otherwise it is just too sad. 
Interesting that your post was two years (+ 3 days) after the previous one.
I called HLB’s office this morning, it was answered.
Can’t add much, but I know they were hiring recently. Walter was the director of my grad program. Best wishes to the company and employees.
Stumbled upon this thread today. Nope, HLB is not gone. That past fews years have been interesting as they have for everyone. However, we are in a new office in Chicago and are currently working on new projects. Please visit our our new website to see what we’ve been up to: www.hlb.com.
Glad to hear the doors are still open. I got a tour of the old Chicago office when everything was being condensed into the river level from the 1st and 2nd floors a few years back. It was interesting to see the space and a lot of the old glory but a little morbid to walk around another consultancy experiencing such a downturn.
Best of luck!