As a result of the housing industry’s decline, International Wholesale Tile’s (IWT) management, and its parent company, IWT Tesoro Corp. (Tesoro), have filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.

Henry J. Boucher, Jr., Tesoro ceo, says, "After considering a wide range of alternatives, it became clear that this course of action was a necessary and responsible step to preserve Tesoro’s viability and longevity as we address our financial challenges and work to secure our future."

The companies say that this pre-emptive route was taken to maintain its operations and that reorganization is in the best interest of companies, its employees, customers, and other parties of interest.

Tesoro and IWT’s management stress that business will continue as usual throughout the reorganization process and all its obligations to customers, vendors, suppliers and business partners will be met.