Circuit City Stores Inc., the brick-and-mortar retailer, may be dead. But Circuit City, the brand, is getting a second shot at life. Systemax Inc. (NYSE:SYX) has relaunched
circuitcity.com after closing on its acquisition of the bankrupt retailer's brand, trademark and Web site.
As we reported in April when electronics retailer
Systemax announced its stalking-horse agreement with Circuit City, court filings indicated up to 40 parties were interested in bidding for the assets. It's no surprise. There is a lot of value in a recognizable brand, even if the brand's owner is sunk by heavy debt and/or sluggish sales.
The winners of the auction for Sharper Image Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in February 2008, certainly felt that brand was worth saving. A four-partner joint venture paid $49 million in June for the specialty retailer's assets and IP. The JV, which included the PE-firm Hilco Consumer Capital and IP management specialist GB Brands, developed a global licensing strategy for wholesale, retail, direct-to-retail, e-commerce and catalog businesses based on the
Sharper Image name.
Could Fortunoff be the next bankrupt retailer to get a second shot at life? We could know soon. As Deal Pipeline subscribers can read
here, a Manhattan judge on May 14 authorized that the IP of Fortunoff Holdings LLC could be sold in a June 18 auction.
- Suzanne Stevens
Join Corporate Dealmaker's LinkedIn forum
Juergen Lasowski
And the winners are...
That is good to hear that some companies are pulling through the toughest of times. It brings hope to me that i will be o.k.