Canadian liquidator Maynards Industries Ltd. beat out several other companies
with a bid of about $4.5 million in an auction for the physical assets of the
bankrupt Living.com furniture store.
Maynards President Barry Scott told InternetNews.com that the bid was 59.44
cents on the dollar of the wholesale value of the remaining physical
inventory. The bidding occurred this week in Austin, TX.
Scott said the furniture will be sold in a liquidation sale directly to the
public at Shaw Furniture in High Point, NC.
The liquidator was delighted with the purchase. “These are the kinds of
situations that people really respond to because of the quality,” he said,
adding that Living.com had a reputation for selling furniture “as good as you
can get. You don’t often see it offered on the market at major discounts.”
Living.com, which had a costly marketing deal with Amazon.com, filed for
bankruptcy in August and put 275 employees out of work.
In addition to the furniture, Maynards, based in Vancouver, B.C., bought all
the fixtures and equipment, including extensive rack systems, equipment for
moving warehoused goods, and computers, all of which it said will be sold
when time allows. Scott said the company may sell some of the items on its
own Web site.
Scott said Maynards “just bought the physical stuff.” Living.com’s domain
name, customer list and other intangible assets apparently have yet to be
disposed of. Comdisco reportedly is the largest secured creditor.
Maynards has some experience in buying assets from distressed dot coms. Scott
said the company previously purchased the assets of another online furniture
company, HighPoint.com, which abandoned the retail business last March in
favor of a B2B e-marketplace model.
“I think e-commerce works in some areas for sure, but not in everything,”
said Scott.