103 (Bankr.E.D.N.Y. 1995), the successful preference defendant’s vice-president testified as to its competitors tolerance for late payments. McCord, 185 B.R. By 1975, bicycle customers interested in medium-priced road and touring bicycles had largely gravitated towards Japanese or European brands. In reality, mass-market French manufacturers such as Peugeot were not infrequently criticized for material and assembly quality — as well as stagnant technology — in their low- and mid-level product lines. Nevertheless, Peugeot proudly advertised its victorious racing heritage at every opportunity. By 1979, even the Paramount had been passed, technologically speaking, by a new generation of American as well as foreign custom bicycle manufacturers.
However, higher authority in this Circuit has suggested that district court judges “use the prime rate for fixing prejudgment interest where there is no statutory interest rate.” Gorenstein Enterprises, Inc. v. Quality Care-USA, Inc., 874 F.2d 431, 436 (7th Cir. 1989). Marlow v. Fed. Compress Warehouse Co. (In re Julien Co.), 157 B.R. 834, 838 (Bankr.W.D.Tenn. 1993). Unusual collection efforts may include telephone calls or letters.
Mr. Lamar’s conversations with Stallings were unusual because Lamar normally did not have discussions with anyone from the Defendant regarding amounts outstanding on Defendant’s invoices. schwinn beach cruiser 39, p. 14 (lines 11-17); p. 15 (line 15)-p. In fact, before the Preference Period, Lamar did not involve himself at all with the payment of Defendant’s invoices. 39, p. 13 (line 24)-p.
Therefore, interest will be awarded here at the prime rate offered by one or more major banking institutions from time to time pursuant to the guidance in Gorenstein, and the judgment to be tendered will calculate interest on that basis. Should the parties dispute the Plaintiff’s basis for determining prime rate, the proofs will be reopened to allow litigation of that issue. Mr. Lamar was Schwinn Bicycle Co.’s group product manager for fitness during 1992. 39, p. 6 (lines 19-22). Lamar’s duties at Schwinn Bicycle Co. included product engineering and development and initial negotiation of pricing with the Debtors’ fitness product vendors.
The Committee has proven by a preponderance of the evidence each of the elements of a prima facie preference under § 547(b) as to each of the transfers to True Fitness that were complained of. The Defendant has proven a subsequent new value defense, but not an ordinary course of business defense. Thus, the Committee is entitled under §§ 547 and 550 of the Code to avoid and recover from the Defendant preferential transfers totaling $107,152.76, plus interest thereon, and the Committee will separately be granted a judgment against Defendant based thereon. Committee counsel is to prepare, circulate, and present a proposed judgment for the principal amount plus interest at the applicable prime rate or rates calculated to the judgment day. Since Defendant has prevailed on one of its defenses, but only partially, the judgment will provide that each party will bear its own costs.