We hadn't even gotten used to using the new name.

Loves Furniture, the company that purchased the bankrupt Art Van, has itself now filed for bankruptcy protection.

You have to feel the most for the long time employees, who are now forced to go through this stress twice in less than a year. As MLive says, the grand opening banners are still fluttering on some of the stores that are now facing another liquidation.

MLive reports US Assets, the parent company has somewhere between 100 and 199 creditors, and owes somewhere between $10 and $50 million.There are 13 stores remaining, and one of the options is to sell those remaining store to a new owner.

Of course, trying to keep any business going in the midst of a pandemic, is a difficult task, at best.

According to the Detroit Free-Press, Company CEO Mack Peters said in December, Loves was consolidating to its thirteen most profitable stores, with 12 of those being in Michigan, as they were announcing the closure of some thirteen others. Peters said some of the stores that were closed were within close proximity of other Loves Stores. At that time, Kalamazoo was a part of the plan to circle the wagons and concentrate on the most profitable store.

At one time, Loves predecessor, Art Van Furniture, was one of the most powerful retailers in the Midwest, but a sale to investment firm Bain Capital proved to be a disaster, and Art Van filed for bankruptcy in March of 2020. US Assets picked up many of those stores and began reopening with a business model that intended to incorporate online furniture shopping. But using Kalamazoo as an example, the marketplace has added Bob's and Ashley HomeStore in the past few years to an already competitive marketplace.

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