Art Van Furniture liquidates, Successor Company Loves's Declares Bankruptcy

[Danny]

So much for Loves Furniture. I know it was you Art Van!

[Zacha341]

Yeah horrible logo. I could have done better from a coma. The store display build-out was bad and low-rent too. Driving by the former AV on Woodward in Royal Oak was awful. What was once a beautiful view of furnitures, decor, etc. was at best a barren 'hotel liquidator' sale look. This from the street driving by!

"Love Furniture"... Hmmmm...

[Honky Tonk]

I could have done better from a coma.

LingMAO!

[DeLemur]

I found this entire Loves Furniture story so strange. What in the world was this about? How could a company with such a terrible plan get so much money to try it? [[as an aside, I have never seen a retail/restaurant business succeed as partially the same business that was there prior. Be a new business or be the old business but not something in between)

[softailrider]

Supply chain from China is disrupted. Unless you have huge stock there are problems getting products to sell. The mark up on furniture is 300% by the way, sometimes higher.

[313WX]

Supply chain from China is disrupted. Unless you have huge stock there are problems getting products to sell. The mark up on furniture is 300% by the way, sometimes higher.

According to the Detroit News article, Supply Chain disruptions is the *EXACT* opposite of their problems.

It seems they simply bit off more than they could chew, during a deadly pandemic and severe recession at that.

This is a textbook lesson in economics and finance about how *NOT* to rescue a failed business.

[softailrider]

According to the Detroit News article, Supply Chain disruptions is the *EXACT* opposite of their problems.

It seems they simply bit off more than they could chew, during a deadly pandemic and severe recession at that.

This is a textbook lesson in economics and finance about how *NOT* to rescue a failed business.

I’m confused, don’t know what [[or who) to believe, December 7th 2020 Free Press article quoted the Loves’s CEO who said the exact opposite of that. He directly stated in that article supply chain issues were a problem.

[401don]

I’m confused, don’t know what [[or who) to believe, December 7th 2020 Free Press article quoted the Loves’s CEO who said the exact opposite of that. He directly stated in that article supply chain issues were a problem.

Sounds exactly like something you would say if suppliers were holding back product because you couldn't pay your bills and you needed an excuse for your customer who wanted their order.

[313WX]

Sounds exactly like something you would say if suppliers were holding back product because you couldn't pay your bills and you needed an excuse for your customer who wanted their order.

Yeah.

"Supply chain issues" is vague enough to mean a number of things.

But in reality, it seems they have way more inventory than they know what to do with.

[pjbear05]

Down here the chain that handles furniture, including the Cindy Crawford and Sofia Vegara lines, is "Rooms to Go", or as I call them, "Rooms that Blow".

[softailrider]

Yeah.

"Supply chain issues" is vague enough to mean a number of things.

But in reality, it seems they have way more inventory than they know what to do with.

What reality? Who's reality? I've never been into a Love's, but I've been to Art Van and almost all the crap they used to sell there was made in China. I'm sure it's no different at Love's or Gardner White or wherever. I'll bet Love's warehouses are far from empty, but not stocked nearly as well as they should be - probably from a combination of factors. Every time I've driven by that Royal Oak location it looks like a ghost town there. You can't even tell if they ever opened up.

[313WX]

What reality? Who's reality?

From the Detroit News article:

"...What we hope to do is to turn what we have, which is excessive inventory, into cash to best satisfy the parties and interests to our case — our creditors, our customers, every other stakeholder in the case," Max Newman, an attorney with Detroit-based law firm Butzel Long who is representing Loves in the case, told The Detroit News Thursday..."

Can't make it any clearer than that.

[GPCharles]

Don't be suprised if they dump a bunch of stores in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy and then reopen with fewer stores in the best of their locations. Remember, Chapter 11 allow an entity to reject leases as needed to reorganize.

[softailrider]

It isn't clear to me at all. In three different articles in the Free Press, dated December 7th, 12th and January 7th, Love's Furniture's CEO Mack Peters alluded to exactly the opposite of excess inventory issues. He stated problems with the supply chain from China has lead to low inventory, which in turn has created the problems with the company moving forward. That makes a lot more sense to me then the Butzel Long attorney, Max Newman claiming the company is holding onto excess inventory.

[313WX]

It isn't clear to me at all. In three different articles in the Free Press, dated December 7th, 12th and January 7th, Love's Furniture's CEO Mack Peters alluded to exactly the opposite of excess inventory issues. He stated problems with the supply chain from China has lead to low inventory, which in turn has created the problems with the company moving forward. That makes a lot more sense to me then the Butzel Long attorney, Max Newman claiming the company is holding onto excess inventory.

I see no reason why the Attorney representing them in the bakruptcy case would lie about their client's circumstances.

Conversely, as was alluded to earlier, CEOs have a tendency to "mislead" in press conferences & interviews when trying to prove their businesses are healthy/profitable.

[Meddle]

I see no reason why the Attorney representing them in the bakruptcy case would lie about their client's circumstances.

Really?

Lawyers are paid liars. They make their careers of it.

[313WX]

Really?

Lawyers are paid liars. They make their careers of it.

This is a bankruptcy case though.

[softailrider]

Another article about Love's in yesterdays Free Press [[1-11-2021) Blaming supply chain problems, not enough inventory, too much inventory, can't locate inventory, warehouse issues, problems with trucking, problems with logistics. There people seem like they can't do anything right. Makes you wonder how they ever operated a business in the first place.

[Gistok]

Looks like Art Van might be back at some point in the future. His children bought back the Art Van naming rights in an auction for $6 million.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...ts/4504651001/

[401don]

I found this entire Loves Furniture story so strange. What in the world was this about? How could a company with such a terrible plan get so much money to try it? [[as an aside, I have never seen a retail/restaurant business succeed as partially the same business that was there prior. Be a new business or be the old business but not something in between)

I realize this is water under the bridge now but it kind of reminds me of how badly Target screwed up their launch into Canada. It's not always about money. Sometimes it's just incompetence. Even with deep pockets they did everything wrong. They tried to open over 100 stores in months. They had the wrong seasonal inventory in the stores, missing both the summer and Christmas seasons in some locations. Warehouses were full while store shelves were empty. Way overpriced food items. It's too bad. We really could have used a competitor to Walmart besides Costco. A lot of those stores which were former Zellers, and former Kmarts before that, still sit empty.

[Zacha341]

I wonder if they will make that store in Royal Oak look as nice as it once did. It was HIT when that Love folks took it over. It's a big foot-print to fill as those stores go.

Looks like Art Van might be back at some point in the future. His children bought back the Art Van naming rights in an auction for $6 million.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/bu...ts/4504651001/