What happens with the gift certificate that I have? I just lose out on the money? That sucks and they shouldn't have been selling GC's knowing this was going to happen.

This has been a long time coming for them. When you work for them and they BOUNCE your payroll check on a weekly bases, don't pay our insurance, or child support but still take it out of our checks, who couldn't see this coming. We need that money to live on, we can't work for free! We have bills and taxes to pay too! We, the workers are the ones that are hurting now! We are owed back pay. Do you think we will get it?

For all of those saying they weren't paid for wood blah blah blah. Very rarely have I heard of barns being paid for. The payment is you don't have to PAY anyone to remove the barn. They take the wood as their payment for helping you remove it from your property.

I cannot believe how people are defending these people. The fact it they did take people's 401k investments that came right out of employees checks and kept it. Never got invested and they only owned up when caught by an employee checking on his retirement investments. Get a clue. Steve a nice guy? Sure he is. Crook? The things he did would point towards yes he is. I understand it was all so he could save the business but come on. It comes a time to realize you are defeated. I know of an employee being asked to help pay the power bill so the electricity would not get shut off. Time to pack it in and cut your losses.

How are they going to help the people who were sold gift certificates days before this event?

I love Schulers, this is unfortunate mainly for the workers there that are out of a job~ and the outstanding orders. BUT.... have you ever been to Apple Butter House on Lima Center Road between Milton and Whitewater ??? If not, get in the car and go check it out... talk about AMAZING!!!!!

STEBAR--
Steve Schuler will be in contact with all customers who have pending orders. He stated this in the original Gazette article, and he told me himself over the phone. This should help put everyone with pending orders at-ease.

TSCHUDY - If I have this right, you helped put our order in a few weeks ago on a table. Before I go any further, I would like to say how sorry I am to hear what has happened to the Schuler's and all their employees. I have always felt so welcome everytime my family and I have entered your store. I believe your hospitality, along with the wonderful product, helped us decide that we wanted to buy our table through you. Do you have any clue what will happen to those of us who do have our money put down on custom items? Thanks.

We were shocked when we heard of the closing, we have purchased so many pieces of furniture and have been so happy with all. You can't compare Shuler's furniture to anyone elses. We hope they will get things cleared up so we can continue buying the best furniture made! Good luck to all the fine employee's and craftsmen!!

"To all of you who are posting here and have never had to make payroll you are automatically unqualified to comment."
I think having three accumulated payroll checks that won't cash give these people here plenty of qualifications to comment!

disneygirl-Please do not tell me I have no right to an opinion because I do not own my own business. Running your own business is hard, I understand that, but it is YOUR choice. Why you chose to go on your own, who knows (chance at big bucks, to be your own boss, for the love of the job). I have no love-loss for those that make it big time, they took a chance and succeeded. Please keep in mind that some of us have the skills necessary to start our own business but choose not to...for job security. People are entitled to their opinions, I do not care for all of them but I will never say they are not qualified to comment.

Disneygirl - you chose the path of employment you are in. Enough of the lamenting. Nobody made you be a small business owner. The only thing you are guaranteed as an American is; life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. How you choose that pursuit is your choice.

What a terrible and scary thing to happen to all involved here. Good luck to all involved. As a business owner since 1998 this puts me one step closer to closing shop. Taking the easy welfare way out and being part of the problem is looking better every day. My child would have health care then! I would not get to work 16 hour days-that I may miss. Oh, I forgot,... if you are a self employeed person who risks everything for thier business and the people they employ and provide livings for-there is no help for you. Not even one week to get back on your feet.

To all of you who are posting here and have never had to make payroll you are automatically unqualified to comment.

Being a business owner in these politically correct times and in this state is an extremly daunting task. We risk it all. If a small business does poorly we are poor managers. If a business does really well we must be greedy and all the people (like a few posting here)are all there for the easy ride. Enjoy it while you can these days are quickly changing. As for those employed by a large company your days are numbered too, ask a GM employee or United. As for small business owners-I talk to many and we have had it. There was one who posted earlier, he has a small business and pays all he owes and has a meager living to show for all the risk he takes. The American Dream is history. And to all who have posted on this article and have not had to make the decision to pay a utility bill that is again up for disconnect which would result in massive revenue losses vs an outstanding debt that will not interupt your business that day then you are also extremly unqualified to comment. Many of you are probably posting these "Unqualified comments" on company time. Get back to work!

Be productive so the warriors providing wages and benifits for you can maybe get ahead enough to pay thier bills on time and make the world a better place. And we will continue to fight high taxes, high fuel prices, price reductions, OSHA (so your comfy), EPA, health care rate hikes, and employee theft.
But not for long.

kiowamachein-- pennies on the dollar. want to be it is 99 pennies on the dollar!!!!

tschudy - your point is well made - and of course if Shulers gets thier business back in order (maybe with a trusted accountant), I will most definately continue my business there. I never had a bad experience with them, and the product is outstanding and timeless. Do not defend the cost to anyone, as the price is worth it and requires me to save for it first before I buy it. This only allows me to appreciate the product even more. Good luck to all involved.

NVgrf-I was not picking on the man or company, they make high quality furniture. And I take no pleasure in seeing it fail (I own some of their items and will miss their product). I was defending the IRS. They have a job to do and they should do it. Just because I do not want to pay extra so someone else doesn't have to pay does not make me mean spirited.

I bought one of their barn stars and the workmanship is the best that I've ever seen !! Good luck to all and I hope this is all cleared up and you are able to go back to work !!

tschudy- what government is willing to help GM? And what situation are you talking about, where the government helped GM? Do you really think the government should "help" a company who does not pay their taxes? If a company is in business for that long, how do they suddenly get in a position to not pay their taxes? I believe it is bad managment of business practices. You can borrow money during hard times, you don't stop paying your taxes. It is a crime. If you commit the crime, you are a criminal. Those statements are facts. That being said, I hope Shulers can turn this around, as they provide beautiful furniture that are heirlooms that can be passed on. It is hard to get that type of quality furniture anymore. I own several pieces.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy" -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Steve Schuler (& Co.) has supported Non profit organizations, built beautiful furniture for many happy customers,and is a kind and generous person. Many, many people are wishing the Shuler family well (employee family included) and will be at the doors when they reopen. I can't wait to read the second chapter of this story....Be well.

outdoors...All I meant was that little people like you seem to enjoy kicking folks when they are down. It happened, it's being taken care of, leave them alone. You're probably already busy looking around for someone else to bravely kick online.

"mean spirited IRS" what???? He owed over $2,000,000 and this makes the IRS mean spirited. I have NEVER heard of anyone complaining about the IRS visiting when they were on the up and up. We are all taxed a little more to cover those that do not pay. I am sick of people belly-aching about the IRS...PAY WHAT YOU OWE!!

It's late at night here and I just heard a commercial on TV. It said you can call their law firm, and they can settle your IRS claim for PENNIES on the dollar!!
So there ya go..Give em a call. Couple hundred bucks, and it will all be taken care of! :-)

For all of the mean spirited IRS lovers here.....I wish you a big, juicy audit after your next tax filing.

Okay, I'm violating my staying out of it.

ms_sassy_wi: Those are allegations. Anyone can claim anything, and while there may be truth in it you do not know the whole story, so you cannot even begin to make the statement that you did about "stolen" property.

You do not know what has been going on behind the scenes. You only know what these articles have stated and the statements made by people posting here.

Nobody here knows exactly what is going on. Some of the statements made by posters here may be true, but many may also be false. Not one of us knows for certain what has happened, so NONE of us should be jumping to conclusions! It's not fair to anyone involved here.

Please think before making a reply here.

I wonder how many people who paid a large amount of hard earned money for the furniture they bought at Schuler's actually have "stolen" property in their homes in the form of the raw wood to make the furniture. That seemed to be a recurring problem as well...

It just looks like maybe he's a better craftsman than a businessman. If he knew he was that deep in, why wouldn't he have asked for some help from the retired business owners (SCORE?) or worked with a consultant years ago? The foolish man buries his head and hopes the problems will go away. They don't. Was he too proud to ask for help or admit that he was in trouble? Ahhh...pride...another one of those sins that will "get ya"...

It's a fact that I've seen with friends who have worked for Schulers... their pay checks were no longer accepted at places that normally took payroll checks because the often bounced when deposited.

The company made very nice furniture but obviously didn't take bookkeeping seriously. Maybe someone would be willing to buy the company after the IRS gets their cut and run it properly so that these hard workers can get back to work.

Jakiao & tothetop -It's very nice to see FAMILY stick together in time of need.I also had worked for a man that always had money troubles and didn't make payroll on the day. We always knew that we could cash the checks on monday.When things like this happen to people you always get the mean and nasty ones that think they know it all. Stick together and I'm sure it will all work out for the Schuler family.

I used to long for their furniture...but thought it was WAY over priced. I am so thankful I never contributed to the fraud of this company. Throw excuses around all you want Schuler's....the IRS doesn't just a come a knockin without cause. Just because you will something to be true doesn't make it true. I am just sad for the employees that worked hard and weren't taken care of properly as they thought they were by their wages being reported...etc...!! This is just another example of people working the system...and the system always wins.

Just for the record:

I have been an employee of Schulers since October of 2003. Before becoming a Schuler employee, I was a long time very satisfied customer. That’s where my journey with the Schuler family really began. It started with my love and passion for the unique products and service that Schulers offered and delivered. While I already had a corporate full time job, I used to joke about working there someday. Schulers seemed like a great place to work and the people were always so friendly and really enjoyed what they were doing.

After losing a position with a company that I had worked for 24 years I applied at Schulers and became a Schuler employee. I immediately felt at home. I’ve had more opportunity, more growth, more fun, more pride and much more sense of the meaning of Team Work!!! Because as a Schuler employee, that’s exactly what we do!! We all do our best everyday to make sure what ever needs to happen, does happen so that no matter whom your customer is, their needs are met.

No one makes us stay there. The employees are loyal because they believe in the uniqueness, the beauty and the quality that goes into each piece of our handcrafted furniture that Schulers can offer. The sense of ownership and pride that is put into everything we do. From receiving the wood to delivering a beautiful handcrafted heirloom to our customers. We know the look of awe and amazement on our customers faces and that is my friends, a very satisfying feeling that is very hard to top. That is why the loyal employees have stayed

There has never been one moment that I (or I’m sure most of us) didn’t think I was not going to be able be reimbursed for my services. So what if checks were handed out on Friday “Payday” as most know it. You always knew that it would cash within a few days. You just get used to pay day on a different day!! It’s not like they didn’t want them to cash. Can you even begin to imagine how that must have made them feel inside?? Knowing, that some of their employees were not going to be able to make the bank that day. Steve and Mike are not bums living the rich life… These guys’s drive the same kind of vehicles as you or I. They do not take luxury vacations. I’ve probably gone on more. They work on the floor and do what ever needs to be done just the same as the rest of us.

So with that being said… Hats off to all my co-worker friends at Schulers…. It’s all because of you, that we were able to put that look of awe and amazement into so many more customers faces. It’s all because Steve and Mike had a dream that we all believed in… It’s because they were trying to keep 30 plus employees employed for as long as they could. It’s because of another satisfied customer! Thanks for the 5 plus great years!! I will never forget what I have learned from this wonderful group of FAMILY!!!
To our customers… Please be patient and understanding and I know in my heart that you will be taken care of.

THEY BOUNCED PAYROLL CHECKS ON A REGULAR BASIS!
That is not being mean, it is a verifiable fact!

Trust me, I know how sad it is. My statement was based on both the Department of Revenue page AND the lawsuit the DOR filed in January (circuit court case 2008TW000003).

As I have made comments of citing sources already, let me also provide a backing for my reply to their "life style." Steve is my uncle; his wife being my mother's sister. I've grown up around him and his wife, and seeing this article hit the Gazette yesterday was absolutely shocking as it wasn't too long ago that Steve and I were sitting at a family gathering chit-chatting about his business and my business.

Because I have an obvious bias here, I've been trying not to reply. But I felt a need to after that previous post by truthteller. With that in mind, I'm bowing out of the discussion unless I am addressed.

during schuler's financial hardships their were alot of things that were paid late. 401k is one thing that they got behind on from time to time. It was never a thing where money was 'stolen' from anybody; you cant steal what you dont have in the first place. they actually stopped the 401k program and all employees enrolled in the program either recieved a check for the money invested or had a choice how to reinvested. nobody ended up being out money from 401k. nobody went unpaid alltegether for hours worked. you had to wait sometimes but you always got paid. And for child support- some individuals got letters that it hadnt been paid but when it was presented to the company, they took care of it ASAP. nobody at schulers ever got in trouble for not paying child support. Steve Schuler is an exceptionally honorable man and he kept the business open for as long as he could for his customers and his employees. what some people viewed as him taking from or messing with his employees actually boils down to you cant 'steal' what you dont have in the first place. and as far as luxury vehicles and extravagant vacations- not a chance. As a matter of fact, some of the employees drove nicer vehicles than the owners

I don't know where you guys got the idea they were messing with the employees' money or 401k. THat is not the case. THey were taking taxes out of their check but not able to give it to the government because they were struggling. THey didn't do anything to the employees and are trying to make it right. DOn't be so mean!

Jakiao-I was going to leave this alone but deltafox is right on that he paid none of his taxes. The web site has removed most of his tax liens.(It only shows $232,000.)I'm sure because it has moved to the federal level now.Any way that you look at this it's very sad for all involved.

they wasted the employee's 401k money? This is really bad stuff!

The withholding tax is the worst offense as far as the IRS is concerned- this money belongs to the federal government. All the business does is withhold this amount from the employee's paycheck. This offense can see jail terms. But you are right it's all speculation at this point and I guess I jumped the gun but these guy's stole $2,500,000.00 from the federal government and I hope they get what they deserve whether it be jail,fines or a full pardon and apology.

They didn't pay any of their taxes. Wisconsin quarterlies, income, sales tax, fica, un-employment, ANYTHING. Most of the postings here are very true. I had friends who worked there and racing to the bank to cash their checks became a sport. There were many weeks some of them had 3 or 4 checks they couldn't cash. Ask the guy who got taken away by the police because Steve wasn't sending in his child support witholdings that were coming out of his check every week. He says he is suprised that they did this! What I am suprised about is that he isn't rotting in jail already for the stunts he pulled with his employees 401k money.

Seabee, this happened before we realized he was not ever going to come back. He gave me a sob story about having to buy food for his family and I tried to do what I thought was a good deed for his child's sake, a sweet little girl. I guess I got too smart too late! Hope that answers your question.

truthteller: Withholding tax. That's what they didn't pay. They paid the income taxes and whatnot. It's the withholding tax they didn't pay (according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue website).

And you don't know what kind of life style they lead. I do. New, expensive (luxury) cars? No. Lavish vacations? Never.

Again, speculation and assumptions only lead to rumor, half-truths, and lies. Please don't do it.

not paying tax debts dating to 1998? How can they let a business go this long that is clearly not able to pay it's taxes,private debt and employee's paychecks?I suppose the owners drove around in new expensive cars, took lavish vacations and had all the toys? This really &@)/+*^# me off. I own a small business and I pay all my taxes and live a meager lifestyle and these bums get to live like kings? They should have been shut down years ago. I feel bad for employee's but clearly they had no future at Shulers.....

The question is, why would you loan him $40?

jca, our family also had a bad experience with Shuler's regarding our barn wood. After contacting them, they gave us the name of a man that harvested wood for them. We hired him, asking only that, in exchange for the wood, he would clean up the building foundations. He turned out to be a con artist and totally ripped us off. He and an employee of Shuler's came to our property with a Shuler's company truck and took the wood. The last time I saw this man, he came to our door, claimed he lost his wallet and borrowed $40. We never got anything for all the wood Shuler's got and found out later that this guy was an old buddy of the Shuler brothers and they knew he had a long history of ripping people off. Steve acknowledged his responsibilty for what happened, claimed he felt "just awful" and promised to recompense us for our loss for years. He would look me in the eye, shake my hand and never do a thing. He told us he would have the foundations buried for us, never did. We finally had to have the huge mess that was left behind taken care of and it wound up costing us thousands. All this because we wanted to see the wood recycled. We have very little respect for Steve Shuler or his word.

It's very hard to survive in a tax hell like Wisconsin. Wisconsin is very hard place to run a business with it's taxes. It's very easy to get behind in this state.

Moral of the story: The IRS Always Gets Paid. Don't f with the government. They always win.

SuperDave-If it is true they didn't pay the quarterly taxes since 1998 then the IRS was more than fair with them. Sending agents like this is used only in the rarest of situations. Obviously this business has not been viable for some time. I wonder if they paid in the withholding from the employees or just failed to pay their portion of Fica and Medicare.

This really illustrates just how bad our tax situation is (regardless of how well or poorly the business may have been run). Don't pay your taxes, and you will be visited by armed intruders. I don't know how small businesses survive as well as they do! Btw, if you're looking for an alternative to the status quo, please visit www.lp.org.

Come out, come out or I'll blow the barn down!

jca, quite interesting. We had considered selling parts of an old outbuilding to them (and buying some of it back as furniture!) if we ever had to get rid of it.
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I did work for a company once where out of six employees in our branch ONE PERSON would almost always have a check bounce. It was just a different person each time. We felt like we were racing each other to the bank to not be that person. At the same time the working environment was great and the pay was, when converted to cash, generous. So I can see how someone could live with this sort of thing for a while. But all of us were constantly discussing other opportunities.

Loyalty aside, if you don't pay your taxes there are consequences. Hopefully they can work something out.

I'm not overly surprised by this article. I think Schuler's furniture is beautiful but I refuse to patronize their business. Schuler's purchased and tore down an old barn for my family many years ago. To make a long story short we never got paid for it, so their current financial issues aren't a shock to me.

i agree that should have been a great big red flag but for some reason they feel some sort of loyalty.... i was one of them i did it for 1 year, and i had to call to see if there was money in the bank.....or friday morning would come and go and and no sign of steve....or our pay checks for what ever reason they seem to have the very very loyal employees that will stay forever and leave for other jobs and then come back i loved working there i loved the furniture (and still do) and the great people it was just not worth working if i could not cash a pay check !!!!!!

The loyalty of Schuler's employees is amazing. I find it hard to believe that most workers would put up with bounced payroll or holding payroll checks until they were good for very long. And if any employer is messing with an employee's money...whether it be 401k, child support or payroll...those are huge warning signs.

This is a big surprise for me, as I would have thought that a business closely associated with Ken Hendricks could not have been in such trouble. Not that he had a magic wand or political influence, but that he had a network of focused, successful people who could have helped them reorganize the business to where they could pay down their debts and get profitable. It really sounds like they need to do that, as they say, yesterday (or more like a year or more ago).
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It's also strange in that it seems to be dependent on business-to-order instead of inventory. How can you not know, when almost everything is made to order, that your cost structure is too high and needs correction? Especially since business was "pretty good" despite the economy. Usually this sort of thing is a marker of an unexpected slowdown. In this case, they had debts going back a decade.
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And anyway, saying "weekly contact" with the IRS could just mean denying you owe what they think you do. If you're not actively working on a settlement or paying back per an existing agreement then the axe is bound to fall sooner or later.
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All that said I hope they can work their way out of this somehow and get their employees back to work.

I am a loyal supporter of the products this company makes. I have so many things that my home could be a remote show room for them. I wish Steve, Laury, and all other employees the best thoughts possible as they go through this process.