Dive Brief:
Regional retailer Loves Furniture filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week following multiple shipping problems and a dispute with a logistics provider, according to court papers.
The filing comes not long after Loves launched. The retailer was created last year to take over stores vacated by Art Van after that retailer liquidated in bankruptcy last spring.
Loves filed for Chapter 11 under an agreement with another furniture specialist to liquidate excess inventory and restructure around a smaller footprint after deciding to liquidate 13 stores in December.
Dive Insight:
Real estate veteran Jeff Love created Loves Furniture last year after two financial firms approached his company about starting up a new furniture retailer to fill spaces vacated by Art Van in its liquidation last spring.
Customers of Loves Furniture, the company that took over many closed Art Van Furniture locations, are concerned after the company filed for bankruptcy.
The probable short life of Loves Furniture is an exploration in opportunity gone awry. Since its founding in May last year, after acquiring assets and inventory from bankrupt Art Van Furniture, the retailer immediately encountered a squall of operational hardships that left it running from a…
Loves Furniture Files For Bankruptcy, Looking For New Owner
Loves Furniture, the company that purchased the bankrupt Art Van, has itself now filed for bankruptcy protection.
You have to feel the most for the long time employees, who are now forced to go through this stress twice in less than a year. As MLive says, the grand opening banners are still fluttering on some of the stores that are now facing another liquidation.
MLive reports US Assets, the parent company has somewhere between 100 and 199 creditors, and owes somewhere between $10 and $50 million.There are 13 stores remaining, and one of the options is to sell those remaining store to a new owner.