LL Flooring gets back in business
Reports of LL Flooring's demise have been exaggerated, it seems.
Just weeks after the company announced it would be closing all its stores and dissolving the business, LL Flooring finally found a buyer in Miami-based F9 Investments for a “going-concern” sale. F9 is led by a face very familiar to anyone following the ongoing LL Flooring saga.
According to our sister site Chain Store Age:
"F9, which is LL Flooring's largest shareholder, is run by Thomas Sullivan, who founded the company as Lumber Liquidators in 1994. He left in 2016 following a '60 Minutes' report in 2015 related to claims of unsafe levels of formaldehyde in flooring it had imported from China. The report, which led to class-action lawsuits, proved damaging to the brand, which changed its name to LL Flooring in 2022."
According to a press release issued by LL Flooring, F9 Investments will acquire 219 stores, along with inventory in those stores and the company’s distribution center in Sandston, Virginia. The transaction also includes LL Flooring’s "intellectual property" and other company assets. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September.
Charles Tyson, CEO of LL Flooring, said, “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with F9 Investments for a going-concern sale following significant efforts by our team and advisors to preserve the business and maintain ongoing operations. As we move through the court-supervised process toward the approval and completion of this transaction, we remain committed to continuing to serve our valued customers and working closely with our vendors and partners. I continue to be appreciative of the ongoing focus and efforts of our associates to provide the best experience for our customers.”
Sullivan also shared with the Associated Press that the 219 purchased stores will operate under the company's original Lumber Liquidators banner once again. He's quoted as saying: “Basically, yellow and black is coming back ... We know what worked before. It’s not fancy offices in Richmond with 200 people that didn’t know the flooring business. It’s great people in our stores that know flooring (and) customers that want a great deal and know Lumber Liquidators is the place to go.”
Additional information about the LL Flooring's Chapter 11 process is available at www.LLFlooringRestructuring.com.
View more specifics about the company's bankruptcy filing and asset purchase agreement here.
Meanwhile, court filings and other information related to the proceedings are available on a separate website administrated by the company's claims agent, Stretto, at https://cases.stretto.com/LLFlooring.
