Customers are the lifeblood of a retail company. Through purchases of merchandise, they provide necessary liquidity for the retailer’s operations and going-concern value. For many retailers, this liquidity often comes in the form of customer deposits for merchandise to be manufactured by the retailer and received by customers at a future date.

On May 21, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit answered the long-asked question of whether structured dismissals are permissible under the Bankruptcy Code with a resounding yes.