Freebird, the 16-year-old Denver-based bootseller that grew to 20 stores before being brought to its knees by a severe liquidity crisis and taken over by a court-appointed caretaker who closed nearly all of its locations, has been sold.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Judge Jill Dorancy signed off on the $500,000 sale to Yasser Elshair of Arizona\u2019s Elshair Cos., a private equity firm. Last year, Elshair bought The Pro\u2019s Closet, a local retailer of pre-owned bicycles, \u201cout of left field\u201d as it was winding down operations.<\/p>\n
Elshair was the lowest bidder for Freebird and the company initially opposed his purchase. Last month, Freebird asked Dorancy to instead let AOL Sourcing Group in Philadelphia buy it. AOL was willing to pay $1 million, plus $3.3 million for inventory, and close sooner.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the receiver appears to be losing money through its continued operations, a closing of any sale as soon as possible is paramount,\u201d Freebird wrote to the judge July 10.<\/p>\n
Ampleo, a Utah-based restructuring company that has been running Freebird since being appointed in May at the request of a lender, accused Freebird of \u201cletting perfect be the enemy of good.\u201d It said there was no time \u201cfor an extended process of reviewing and revising bids.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe value of (Freebird) diminishes with each passing day, each departing employee, each location closed, each press article questioning the company\u2019s future,\u201d Ampleo wrote.<\/p>\n
But just before an Aug. 5 hearing, Freebird dropped its objection, making way for the sale.<\/p>\n
Elshair did not answer interview requests but told BusinessDen last month his plan \u201cincludes reopening select Freebird retail locations nationwide, including in the Denver area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freebird once had four stores here: a flagship in Cherry Creek and others in Boulder, Lone Tree and Castle Rock. The first three closed in June and Castle Rock closed in July. Only Freebird\u2019s two best-performing stores, in Nashville, Tennessee, and Charleston, South Carolina, remain open today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe receiver has worked to reduce the employee headcount and payroll costs to match the needs of the company during this liquidation period,\u201d Ampleo wrote in its July receiver report. \u201cThe headcount from the most recent payroll is 36 full-time-equivalent employees.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ampleo says that in mid-June a buyer offered to buy Freebird\u2019s then 13 stores and its e-commerce business but Ampleo \u201cdetermined the potential offer was not better than the liquidation strategy that was in motion.\u201d So, it declined and closed 10 more stores.<\/p>\n