LAVAL, QUE.—B.L. Litho, a sheetfed commercial print shop with a history going back decades, filed for bankruptcy on September 5, only to have the company bought and relaunched a few days later, PrintCAN has learned.

New owner Stephane Marcil said B.L. Litho ran into  financial difficulty and was forced to shutter its doors and lay off its 45 employees. Marcil, whose brother-in-law works at B.L. Litho, came in and bought the company in its entirety, though he hasn't yet taken possession of all the equipment. He expects that to happen in a couple of weeks. "I was at the right place at the right time," said Marcil. "I approached [former owner] Richard Beaulieu, we talked and established a good relationship."

Within  five days, he said, he had refashioned the company, renamed it Malik Grafik, rehired about 20 employees none of whom are former management and a redesigned website that will launch in a couple of days. He also said he cut salaries and vacation. Other changes he expects to make include expanding the service portfolio to graphic design and website design, and e-commerce capabilities. His plan is to increase his staff to 40 or 50 by next year, and to about 70 employees within a year and a half.

Marcil, 35, is a newcomer to the industry, with no previous printing experience. Asked what he thinks about printing he said: "Printing is a good business. It's different now, because of the web, but it's still a good business. Yes it's hard, but every business is hard."