Art Van Chapter 7 trustee granted approval of $25.7 million asset sale

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, May 28 – Art Van Furniture, LLC Chapter 7 trustee Alfred T. Giuliano obtained court approval to sell company assets to Levin Furniture, LLC and Levin Trucking, LLC, according to an order filed Wednesday with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

According to the motion, the Levin parties have agreed to pay $25.7 million for some of Art Van’s assets, including inventory and rolling stock and vehicles, and assumption of more than $660,000 in rejection damages and post-bankruptcy claims for three locations.

The trustee said $10 million of the total purchase price consists of a fund earmarked for customers at the applicable Ohio and Pennsylvania stores subject to the sale, and this fund estimates the total liability to those customers and is expected to make them whole by allowing the customers to receive their ordered furniture, store credit or a cash refund.

In addition, Giuliano said the leases for the 32 stores subject to the sale will be rejected, and the purchaser will use its best efforts to vacate the stores as soon as possible, “rather than the stores being used for a months-long going-out-of-business sale process that would have likely entangled the estates in various issues and resulted in difficult negotiations (and more Chapter 7 administrative costs) with the applicable landlords.”

Art Van is a Warren, Mich.-based operator and franchisor of furniture stores. The company filed bankruptcy on March 8 under Chapter 11 case number 20-10553.

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