On the heels of its purchase of the Radio Shack brand and re-launch of Dress Barn and Pier 1 Imports into online-only businesses, Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV) announced that a subsidiary emerged as the winner of a bankruptcy court auction for the intellectual property of Stein Mart Inc. REV expects to re-launch the off-price family fashion and home goods retailer as an online-only store early next year.
REV’s new majority-owned subsidiary, Stein Mart Online Inc., submitted the winning bid of $6.02 million at the November 18 court auction, topping other offers — including the subsidiary’s original $4.0 million stalking horse bid. The winning bid was officially approved on November 23 by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division.
The REV subsidiary acquired the Stein Mart nameplate as well as its private label brands, domain names, social media assets and customer data from Hilco Streambank, an IP advisory firm that was marketing the assets.
“Our growing set of investors sees Stein Mart as another important addition to our increasing stable of venerable brick-and-mortar retail brands that we are bringing back-to-life as online destinations,” said Alex Mehr, CEO of Miami-based REV, which, over the last two years, has also acquired such brands as Linens ‘N Things, Modell’s Sporting Goods and Franklin Mint. “With 281 stores in 30 states at the time of its bankruptcy filing in August, Stein Mart was a beloved destination for off-price shoppers in the Southeast, Texas, Arizona and California for more than 100 years.”
REV Executive Chairman Tai Lopez said Stein Mart was a pioneer in taking an off-price brick and mortar retail concept online.
“The company’s investments in an omnichannel platform for its offering of designer and private label fashion apparel, shoes, home décor and accessories paved the way for Steinmart.com to post double digit sales growth and increase its average online order to $80,” Lopez said. “We look forward to building upon the solid foundation of existing Steinmart.com customers and introducing new loyalists to the brand by improving the online shopping experience, broadening the merchandise mix and deploying targeted social media marketing campaigns.”
