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UPDATE: Fortunoff liquidation starts today

Inventory valued at $212 million

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 26, 2009

WESTBURY, N.Y. — Fortunoff, the Northeastern retailer that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early this month, will begin going-out-of-business sales at all of its 20 stores today, according to a news release.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York ordered the liquidation of the 87-year-old retailer's approximately $212 million in inventory.

A joint venture group of liquidators handling the sale includes Great American Group, SB Capital Group, Tiger Capital Group and Hudson Capital Partners as well as jewelry liquidators Wilkerson and Associates and The Gordon Co.

"These are unprecedented economic times, and it's unfortunate that after all these years, a New York icon like Fortunoff is going to close and people are going to lose their jobs," Great America Chairman Harvey Yellen said in a release.

The liquidators said they paid 88.8% of the cost value of the inventory, estimated at about $96 million. The sales will run until all the inventory is sold, which is expected to take "a few months," a spokesperson for SB Capital said.

The retailer of jewelry, housewares and home furnishings is owned by NRDC Equity Partners, which bought the chain out of an earlier bankruptcy in March 2008. The retailer filed again on Feb. 5.

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