ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- When Laura Douglas-Brown got to work on Monday, she saw a note on the door.

"It is with great regret that we must inform you that effective immediately, the operations of Window Media, LLC and United Media, LLC have closed down. Please return to this office on Wednesday ... to collect personal belongs and to receive information on your separation stipulations. Please bring boxes and/or containers that will allow you to collect all your personal belongings at one time."

And with that, Douglas-Brown lost her job at Atlanta, Georgia-based Southern Voice -- the South's main newspaper for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities -- where she has worked for more than 12 years.

Southern Voice was one of several gay publications, including the Washington Blade and South Florida Blade, that were shut down Monday when their parent companies, Window Media and United Media, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

"Certainly we knew finances were tight, but none of us were expecting this today," said Douglas-Brown, who spent her day greeting staffers at the office so they wouldn't find the note alone.

Calls to corporate offices of the parent companies were not immediately returned Monday.

Douglas-Brown said that an investment group, Avalon Equity Fund, owned the majority of Window Media, the country's largest gay and lesbian newspaper publisher. She said employees had heard that Avalon was in receivership with the federal Small Business Administration, which allows the agency to sell off the company's assets to satisfy its loans.

However, "We had been told the impact on us would be minimal and that the company would be sold," she said.

Calls to Avalon's offices in New York went unanswered Monday.

--CNN's Samira Simone contributed to this report.

The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta
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