Levin backs out of repurchasing family company
The descendant of the founders of Levin Furniture said on Friday he was canceling a deal to buy the company out of liquidation after the current owner closed stores amid fears of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Robert Levin, grandson of the eponymous founders and former owner/CEO of the company, said Art Van Furniture, which agreed two weeks ago to sell the family company, along with Altoona-based Wolf Furniture, wasn’t following the terms of their arrangement – an assertion Art Van denies.
Levin said he learned that the parent company, which is based in Warren, Mich., had fired employees of Levin Furniture and Wolf, and closed both chain’s stores to put an early end to a liquidation sale.
“Two weeks ago, I joyously announced that I had agreed to buy back Levin Furniture and the Pennsylvania Wolf stores out of bankruptcy,” Levin said in a statement. “Today, I have learned that the parent company of Levin’s and Wolf is unwilling to sell to me on the terms of our letter of intent. This is horrible.”
Art Van said it was still willing to sell the two chains to Levin.
“While we recognize COVID-19 is having a profound and unanticipated impact on all retail businesses, the assertion that Art Van is no longer willing to sell the business on the previously negotiated terms is false,” said company spokeswoman Diane K. Charles. “Art Van stands willing to complete the transaction.”
Levin and Wolf had about 1,200 employees. Levin had stores in 39 locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio – furniture, bedding and clearance stores. They include 19 in Western Pennsylvania, two of which are in Washington County: a large, free-standing furniture store on Washington Road in Peters Township, and a Levin Mattress location in Trinity Point shopping center, South Strabane Township. Wolf had another 17.
Art Van, which bought Levin in 2017, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy March 9, days after the would-be buyer’s announcement of his plan to buy the chains. Art Van entered a liquidation sale March 6, but suspended that sale Thursday because of the highly contagious coronavirus, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The newspaper added that it was unclear whether Art Van’s stores would reopen.