Going-out-of-business sales began across Conn’s HomePlus and Badcock Home Furniture & more locations, which include inventory at one Conn’s and nine Badcock furniture stores in Northeast Florida.
Los Angeles-based B. Riley Retail Solutions LLC is managing the liquidation online and among more than 550 stores in 15 states, including Florida.
Conn’s HomePlus has one Jacksonville store at 9278 Arlington Expressway in the Regency area.
Badcock Home Furniture shows on Badcock.com that it has four stores in Jacksonville and one each in St. Augustine, Orange Park, Green Cove Springs, Callahan and Macclenny.
However, the store at 5810-3 Normandy Blvd. posted on its Facebook page July 26 that it is selling inventory and will reopen. An associate said that the store and a few others in the area are owned by a dealer who intends to rebrand and open under a new name.
“We are not closing,” the post said. “Our rebranding sale starts now and everything must go. Help us clean out our old inventory to make room for the new.”
Industry trade site FurnitureToday.com reports that the Conn’s and Badcock furniture stores would close Oct. 31 according to documents in the bankruptcy filing.
Finance.Yahoo.com reported July 29 that Conn’s bought W.S. Badcock, which operates in the Southeast U.S. as Badcock Home Furniture & more, in December.
Badcock was founded in Mulberry, near Lakeland, in 1904.
Conn’s Inc., based in The Woodlands, Texas, said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it and its subsidiaries, including W.S. Badcock LLC, filed voluntary petitions for relief July 23 under Chapter 11 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Conn’s said it and the subsidiaries will continue to operate the businesses as “debtors-in-possession” under the court’s jurisdiction.
Conn’s Inc. calls itself a specialty retailer of home goods, including furniture and mattresses, appliances and consumer electronics.
The 134-year-old Conn’s is closing at least 73 locations across 13 states, including 18 of its 21 stores in Florida.
Conn’s operates more than 170 stores in 15 states across the southern United States and employs more than 4,000 people, the company’s website says.
B. Riley announced July 25 that discounts start at 30% to 50% on furniture in the stores.
B. Riley said in the release that the sale includes home furniture, appliances, consumer electronics, office furnishings, and more.
It said the sales apply to all furniture, home electronics and appliances so it can “liquidate all inventory.”
Store furnishings, fixtures, and equipment are also available for sale.
Appliances and electronics include refrigerators, ranges and stovetops, dishwashers, washers and dryers, TVs, home theater audio and video electronics and mounts, fitness equipment, smart home accessories, as well as computer desktops, laptops, printers and other popular computer and gaming accessories.
“Conn’s and Badcock have served as a go-to destination for its loyal customers’ home goods necessities for over a century,” said B. Riley President Tim Shilling in the release.
“This sale is an opportunity for shoppers to purchase a wide array of quality furnishings for every room in the home, including brand name appliances and electronics at unprecedented discounts. Inventory will be available for a limited time only – everything must go.”
All sales are final during this store closing event. There will be no returns or exchanges permitted for purchases made during the store closing sales.
W.S. Braddock notified the state July 24 that it will permanently close its corporate office at 190 N.W. Phosphate Blvd. in Mulberry, cutting 101 jobs.
“The expected beginning date of the employment terminations is September 23, 2024, with subsequent terminations planned during the Chapter 11 process and ending upon full wind down of operations at the W.S. Badcock Site,” it told the state in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filling.
“All employees will be laid off as the Company winds down operations. This information is based on the best information currently available to the Company and may change due to subsequent events beyond the Company’s control or current knowledge.”