Texas firm eyes several Levin Furniture stores in bankruptcy deal

The Mt. Pleasant flagship store that was the foundation for the century-­old Levin Furniture empire may reopen — but only as part of a new furniture chain under a pending bankruptcy court deal.

A Texas-based private equity firm bid $6.7 million to buy leases and unsold furniture in 27 Art Van, Levin and Wolf furniture stores across four states, including Pennsylvania and Michigan, according to details outlined in Delaware court filings. The deal also would include Levin locations in Robinson and McMurray, as well as Wolf Furniture outlets, in Harrisburg, Altoona, Leesburg, Va., and Towson, Md.

In court filings, US Assets, the Dallas firm behind the bid from U.S. Realty Acquisitions, said it may rehire employees who were dismissed after Michigan-based Art Van filed for bankruptcy in March.

US Assets declined to answer questions. However, the company’s Facebook page includes a post for Love’s Furniture, with the notation “Coming Soon.”

Jeff Love is CEO and founder of US Assets, a private equity firm founded in 2014 with holdings in commercial markets, health care and retail.

The pending sale is the latest chapter in the tale of financial woe that prompted Art Van, which acquired the Levin and Wolf chains in 2017, to file first for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection March 8 and then for Chapter 7 liquidation days later.

Less than a week before the initial bankruptcy filing, Robert Levin, the grandson of Levin’s founder Samuel Levin, inked a deal to buy 44 stores in the chain he sold to Art Van three years earlier — when Levin’s had sales of $220 million a year. That deal fell through after the coronavirus shutdown prompted Art Van to shutter all of its stores and move to liquidate its assets.

Levin, of Squirrel Hill, recently set up a $2 million fund to provide grants to former Levin’s employees who lost their jobs in the Art Van bankruptcy. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Should the US Assets deal close, it would mark the second entry into the business by private equity.

Like Levin’s, Art Van was a family-­owned business and the largest retail furniture outlet in its region when Thomas H. Lee Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, bought the chain in 2017.

The bankruptcy has left hundreds of customers across Pennsylvania who had put down deposits or paid in full for furniture to file claims with the bankruptcy court. As of late April, 644 Pennsylvania customers had logged claims with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro.

Shapiro said consumers can file a complaint by calling 800-441-2555. The deadline for filing claims is June 16.