Richmond, Virginia-based LL Flooring, the former Lumber Liquidators, which announced plans to liquidate and close all stores last week, has agreed to a last minute deal that will save thousands of jobs and keep hundreds of its stores open.
Late Friday, the company said an agreement was reached with F9 Investments, a Miami-based private equity firm led by Thomas Sullivan, who founded Lumber Liquidators 30 years ago. The “going concern sale,” means F9 will acquire 219 stores, inventory in those stores and the company’s Sandston, Virginia, distribution center.
The deal still requires bankruptcy court approval, but is expected to be completed by the end of September.
F9 is an existing LL Flooring shareholder. Its other investments include Cabinets to Go and outdoor furniture maker Thos. Baker.
Closing sales continue at 211 LL Lumber store locations, including one in Woodbridge, Virginia. Those stores will remain open through the store closing process.
In addition to the Woodbridge store, which is still closing, there are LL Flooring stores in Chantilly, Manassas and Leesburg, Virginia, plus Beltsville and Rockville, Maryland. The company has not disclosed which additional stores will close.
LL Flooring filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in August, with intention of finding a buyer for the business. It pivoted to a planned liquidation after saying it was unable to reach an agreement, despite multiple offers.
Lumber Liquidators, founded in 1994 selling discounted hardwood flooring and other flooring products, changed its name to LL Flooring in 2022.
The company was subject of a 60 Minutes investigation in 2014 linking it to Chinese-made laminate flooring with high levels of cancer-causing formaldehyde, which led to criminal charges filed by the U.S. government, plus several class-action lawsuits.
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