UPDATE: Linder's Furniture confirms it's working with creditors
Move could lead to liquidation of stores
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, November 7, 2011
GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — Top 100 company Linder's Furniture appears to be close to liquidating, according to a local report and a weekend statement by the retailer.
The company released a brief statement Saturday, announcing it has entered into "an assignment for the benefit of creditors, an alternative to bankruptcy."
An assignment for the benefit of creditors is a voluntary transfer of all or most of a debtor's assets to a trustee, who then works to collect money owed creditors, typically by liquidating the assets.
"We will make a formal statement within the next two weeks regarding the company's future plans," Linder's President Eric Foucrier said in the release, which did not make any specific reference to liquidation.
According to a report last week by the Palm Springs (Calif.) Desert Sun citing interviews with unnamed store managers, the company was preparing to close all of its showrooms.
Foucrier, contacted last week by Furniture/Today about the possibility of liquidation, said nothing had been finalized and that "the process is still up in the air."
Linder's was No. 81 on Furniture/Today's Top 100 with estimated 2010 furniture, bedding and accessories sales of $60.1 million at its 11 Southern California stores. Among its key vendors noted earlier this year were Legacy Classic, Fine Furniture Design, Sealy, Universal and Wynwood.
The company's website lists nine store locations, including one combination store and clearance center in Torrance, Calif.
Just last year, the company was in expansion mode, having opened two new superstore format showrooms in Rancho Cucamonga and Cathedral City, Calif., each with about 50,000 square feet of selling space, or about double the typical Linder's store size.
Kevin O'Connor, president and CEO of Samson Holdings, believed to be one of Linder's largest creditors through its Universal and Legacy Classic companies, said the retailer tried to make things work, but was stymied by an economy that didn't recover as expected.
"I think the real problem here is that an independent businessman like (founder Phil Linder) working in this environment is working with banks that are clearly not as willing to take as many risks as they used to," he said. "It's tough for an independent businessman to weather the storm in an atmosphere where banks are so risk-averse."
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