Friedmans Jewelers [Dallas, TX]

Jewelry Advisors Group was solicited by the “unsecured creditors committee” to bid on liquidating the assets of Friedman’s Jewelers, which was forced into bankruptcy. Prior to facing financial issues, Friedman’s was one of the top three jewelry store chains in the country.  In response, Silverman proposed a joint venture with other non-jewelry liquidators that specialize in large chain liquidations and was chosen to liquidate the entire chain, which reported an annual volume of $200 million from its 377 stores. Silverman placed approximately 100 supervisors in the chain’s stores to oversee the liquidation and projected that its joint venture would generate approximately $70 million from the “going out of business” sale. The firm also brought in additional inventory to augment the existing inventory in the stores.  Systems were put into place to ensure accurate reporting of the additional inventory, and a detailed marketing plan was implemented to maximize recovery during the sales event. The sale resulted in over $100 million in sales, exceeding the projections by over 40%. Meanwhile, Friedman’s expenses were reduced by over 15%. The cash generated from the sale far exceeded the needs of the secured creditors, leaving a substantial balance for the unsecured creditors who were not expecting to receive anything. Overall, a win-win for all parties was the result.