The co-owners of a longtime food distribution company here each have filed individual Chapter 7 liquidation filings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court here.

Kwang Chen Liu, with co-debtor Mei Hway Liu, made one of the bankruptcy filings, and Tchung-Yen Liu made the other. Both filings say the debtors did business at the same Spokane companies: food distributor Liu's International Co. and related ventures Northwest Food Distributors LLC, Noodleworks LLC, and Liu's Investments LLC, a property management company, all of which have the same address.

None of the applicants, nor their Spokane Valley attorney, Brent Sorenson, could be reached for comment.

Both filings listed the same debts, totaling $1.4 million. Kwang Cheng Liu and Mei Hway Liu's filing listed assets of $460,000, while Tchung-Yen Liu's filing showed assets of $327,000.

A voice message on Northwest Food Distributors' telephone says that it and Noodleworks are closed for reorganization. Those businesses, along with the others identified in the filing, had been located at the same address, at 815 N. Regal.

Liu's International was launched as a family business in Spokane in 1980, and primarily imported food items, mainly from China and Taiwan, the Journal of Business reported in 1994. In 1994, the company sought to open a chain of donut shops in China, and it incorporated Noodleworks LLC in 1998, the Journal reported.

The only secured claim listed in either filing is for the property on Regal Street, with a $322,000 mortgage lien owed to Bank of America. The largest unsecured claims in the filings are two that together total about $214,000, owed to Washington Trust Bank and listed as loans to Northwest Foods. The Lius all are identified as co-debtors in those debts. Tchung Yen Liu is identified in the filings as president of each company, with a 5 percent stock ownership in each, and Mei Hway and Kwang Cheng Liu are identified as secretary and treasurer, respectively, with a joint 95 percent ownership interest in each company.