Chicago man warning customers about bankrupt home improvement company

A home improvement store may soon shut its doors, but not without leaving some customers in the lurch.

One customer who bought cabinets back in the summer says he’s out thousands of dollars and has nothing to show for it.

Leroy Bell took us on a tour of his future south shore home.

“I'm rehabbing it from the basement on up,” he said.

Bell says he expected stress when dealing with contractors, electricians and plumbers.

“Ran into a few problems here and there, but never was expecting to run into a problem with the kitchen cabinets,” he said.

Bell picked out custom cabinets from the Oak Lawn HOBO store in August.

“They called it slate, it's like a gray, you know, very nice cabinets are on the high end,” Bell said.

But after weeks without an update, Bell called to check on his cabinets. That's when he heard HOBO was filing for bankruptcy.

“They called me and told me that I wasn't good, that I wasn't going to get my cabinets and they couldn't do a refund,” Bell said.

Bell says he even called the cabinet manufacturer, which told him the cabinets are ready. They're just waiting on HOBO to pay them.

“Every penny that I have I put into this house. And I can't afford, or don't have the money to go back and purchase cabinets again,” Bell said.

FOX 32 reached out to HOBO. The company's lawyer tells us that HOBO’s "going out of business" sales have started, but wouldn't comment on Bell's specific case, even after we circled back several times.

“I really would like to get my cabinets that I ordered, I like them. If not, I'd like to get my money back,” Bell said.

Meanwhile, Bell is filling out paperwork for bankruptcy court.