Kaypro Decline

Events listed as best as possible in chronological order:

1990

March 2:

Employees of Kaypro Corp. were finally paid Wednesday — nearly a week after workers were forced to skip a payday when the company was unable to meet payroll.

In the latest indication of its deepening financial problems, Kaypro told its 65 employees last Friday that it was unable to pay them because of cash flow problems. Nancy Casey, a Kaypro spokeswoman, said the company failed to meet the payroll because certain sales had not yet come in. However, the sales have since come in, allowing the Solana Beach-based microcomputer manufacturer to pay its employees Wednesday, said Casey.

Casey said that, as far as she knew, last week was the first time in its history Kaypro had failed to meet the payroll.

She also attempted to downplay the significance of the missed payday, saying "it happens fairly regularly at other, smaller companies. It's not unusual."

"We're trying to turn around the corporation. We're trying to be as positive as possible," she added. Recently, Kaypro reported that it suffered a net loss of $19.4 million, or 52 cents per share, on sales of $21.8 million for the year ending last Aug. 31. A few weeks ago, the company was forced to lay off several senior-level engineers, according to Joseph Marcello, a high-ranking Kaypro official who recently left the company, saying he was asked to work for no compensation.

Struggling to regain its financial footing, the company last week named Roy Salisbury as its new president and chief executive officer. David Kay, who had briefly returned to Kaypro as president and CEO after an 18-month hiatus from the company, appointed Salisbury to replace himself as president.

During David Kay's absence from the company, Del Mar resident Andrew Kay, David's father, had served as CEO. Casey said that Salisbury, who previously headed the FCSGroup, a Massachusetts management consulting firm, was brought in by Kaypro because "his specialty is turning companies around." "(Salisbury) says sales are improving," added the spokeswoman. "There's been nothing major lately, but several (sales) are on the horizon."
(Del Mar Citizen, March 2, 1990)