Fortunoff is a New York –based retailer of outdoor furniture and jewelry.
30-688: The company started as a home, jewelry and furniture retailer founded in 1922 by Max and Clara Fortunoff. After being sold to private equity companies in 2005 and 2009, the company was re-purchased by the Fortunoff and Mayrock families, who have relaunched the outdoor furniture and jewelry categories. Fortunoff Backyard Stores, under a license to Furniture Concepts, now operates 33 Fortunoff Backyard Stores in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. Combined with its parent company in Texas, Chair King, it
60-477: A Kmart (now Walmart ). The mall was instead built by Simon Property Group , and they continued to manage and co-own the mall until August 2012. The mall was also the first on Long Island to house clothing chains H&M , Old Navy , Nordstrom Rack , and Saks Off 5th . It was also the first to house restaurants including The Cheesecake Factory , Dave & Buster's , P.F. Chang's China Bistro , and Rainforest Cafe (closed on October 19, 2000). The Mall at
90-565: A retail store in 2014 near the site of the former location at the Mall at the Source . Lesso Home New York Lesso Home New York is a planned mixed-use development center located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, New York , on Old Country Road & Merchants Concourse (Ellison Avenue) , currently owned by Lesso Mall Development Long Island Inc. The center is being built inside
120-423: Is a creditor with the benefit of a security interest over some or all of the assets of the debtor . In the event of the bankruptcy of the debtor, the secured creditor can enforce security against the assets of the debtor and avoid competing for a distribution on liquidation with the unsecured creditors . In most legal systems, secured creditors also have the option of releasing their security and proving in
150-603: Is believed to be the largest independent outdoor furniture dealer in the country. Fortunoff Fine Jewelry, licensed by Esther Fortunoff, operates a single store at the Lesso Home New York in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, New York – as well as online. The original Fortunoff store was on Livonia Avenue in Brownsville , Brooklyn , New York. The chain's flagship store opened in 1964 in East Garden City , on Long Island, New York ; it later anchored The Mall at
180-472: The Center Court included P. F. Chang's China Bistro and Lord & Taylor Outlet . The center court is also where Steve and Barry's was; in its place is a Fortunoff Backyard Store. Nordstrom Rack , Old Navy , and Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th relocated to the neighboring Gallery at Westbury Plaza. The carousel has since been removed. The Off 5th Saks court is the upper tip of the L, a long hall that includes
210-755: The Food Court and the former Saks Off 5th. The 1st floor has a Dave & Buster's , the only tenant left in the court. It also contained the former Circuit City . Like the Off 5th Saks Court, the Fortunoff Court is a long hall, ending with the former Fortunoff. It also has the 2nd floor entrance to the former Ayhan's Shish Kebab and The Cheesecake Factory . The court also used to contain Gymboree Play & Music , Famous Footwear , Golf Galaxy , and Men's Wearhouse & Tux . Secured creditor A secured creditor
240-595: The Fortunoff and Mayrock families with the possibility of relaunching the brand. In September 2009, the company reached an agreement with Furniture Concepts, LLC allowing Furniture Concepts to sell Fortunoff-branded outdoor furniture. As part of this agreement, Furniture Concepts reopened the chain's former Backyard Store unit. As of 2018, Furniture Concepts operates Fortunoff Backyard Stores in New York , New Jersey , Connecticut , Delaware and Pennsylvania . In 2010, Esther Fortunoff launched fine jewelry online, followed by
270-471: The Fortunoff/Lord & Taylor venture prior to the abrupt bankruptcy filing one year and a day after NRDC's purchase of the company. The timing of the filing allowed NRDC's Fortunoff "shell" companies, created during the initial purchase, a secured creditor position above other creditors. On February 17, 2009, Fortunoff stopped accepting its gift cards as payment, angering customers. A bankruptcy auction
300-715: The Source which was built around the Fortunoff store. Fortunoff had four full-line stores in the chain. In addition to the Westbury flagship, these stores were located in White Plains, New York ; Woodbridge, New Jersey ; and Wayne, New Jersey . In addition, Fortunoff operated 16 specialty stores: Jewelry and fine gifts were offered at the chain's shops on 57th Street in Manhattan, which closed in February 2009, and were also offered at Fortunoff's Paramus Park Mall location. A clearance center
330-404: The Source had two floors and is shaped like an L. Because of this, the mall had separate "courts", named after the stores that anchor it (except for Center Court). Each anchor store had its own public entrance but not all have mall entrances; these stores tend to stay open later than the interior stores. The Center Court is the main entrance and includes a carousel and train. Some of the stores in
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#1732847625964360-399: The Source is also adjacent to many other shopping complexes and restaurants. 2009 saw the shuttering of all three anchor stores — Fortunoff, Steve & Barry's, and Circuit City — crippling foot traffic and resulting in a steady abandonment by its remaining tenants (outside of its restaurants, which maintained their standalone customers). On August 9, 2012, it was announced that the property
390-620: The Source. David's Bridal moved to the nearby Roosevelt Raceway Shopping Center in June 2015, leaving the Fortunoff court almost completely vacant. In May 2017, Lesso Mall Development Long Island Inc. (a subsidiary of the Hong Kong listed LESSO Group) purchased the mall for $ 92 million. On October 21, 2017, it was announced that the Mall at the Source would be redeveloped into a Decor Hub for Lesso Home; redevelopment had been originally scheduled to be completed by
420-494: The fall of 2018, but has since been delayed. It will include showrooms for many manufactures for home furnishings, decor, walkable markets, etc. The format will be much similar to the Italy-based Eataly . The firm aims to recast the long-ailing retail center as a home-furnishings marketplace for design professionals, contractors and retail buyers—with a big food and entertainment component for local shoppers. The Mall at
450-584: The founding family remained involved in the management and operation of the company. The sale, which originally was to have closed in December 2004, eventually closed in July 2005. During the spring of 2009, CONSOR Intellectual Asset Management was retained to sell the Fortunoff brand , intellectual property and related intangible assets . As a result of that effort, in July 2009, the Fortunoff brand and intellectual property were reacquired by David Fortunoff and members of
480-453: The luxury-goods chain. Finding no takers, layoffs began on February 12, 2009, at the Fortunoff headquarters in Uniondale, New York . A class-action lawsuit against Fortunoff was filed by laid-off employees who alleged violations for federal and state WARN Act laws. It was further alleged that many of Fortunoff's vendors were lured into shipping increased consignments of merchandise and goods for
510-430: The mostly unoccupied Mall at the Source , which was named for its former anchor store Fortunoff (advertised as "The Source") operated until June 2009. The mall opened in 1997, under the management of Simon Property Group . With the 2009 closures of Fortunoff, Steve and Barry's , and Circuit City , three large anchor stores had become vacant. The drop of foot traffic by the loss of the anchors has caused other stores –
540-550: The parent company of longtime New York retailer Lord & Taylor . The sale was estimated to include Fortunoff's debt of approximately $ 60 million. Industry analysts speculated that a likely result of the buyout by NRDC would bring Fortunoff-branded jewelry and home furnishings departments into most if not all of the 47 current Lord & Taylor locations. This list includes the department store's flagship Fifth Avenue location, where such holdings could exceed 100,000 square feet (9,300 m) in sales floor area—approximately one sixth of
570-534: The raceway's property. Fortunoff built its store several years later in 1964, as they followed their customers east from the original Fortunoff location in Brooklyn. Alan Fortunoff bought the entire property north of the current boundary of Transverse Drive from Roosevelt Raceway in the early 1980s. In the late 1980s, Alan Fortunoff planned to construct the Long Island Galleria shopping mall, one comparable to
600-471: The size of the massive Roosevelt Field Mall a few miles away but with different stores. It was to be built by the Westfield Group and include Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom as anchor stores. Community pressure over congestion concerns forced Fortunoff to scale back the size and scope of the mall. Roughly half of the property was sold to Price Club (now Costco ), which developed their portion to include
630-528: The three aforementioned sub-anchor chains, plus Saks Off 5th , & Forever 21 – and the entire food court – including McDonald's , Starbucks , and Ranch 1 – to pull out from the mall. Simon Property Group and unnamed co-owners of the Mall at the Source defaulted on a $ 124 million balloon interest-only mortgage in March 2009. It was purchased by a European pension fund in August 2012 and auctioned. In November 2016, it
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#1732847625964660-526: The total area of the store. The NRDC deal closed in March 2008. NRDC also released statements about intentions of infusing an additional $ 100 million in capital to Fortunoff and expanding the chain to over 50 stores. NRDC never followed through investing the planned capital needed to rescue the brand. In July 2008, NRDC Equity Partners , purchased Canada 's 338-year-old retailer, the Hudson's Bay Company . The new combined company called Hudson's Bay Trading Company
690-440: Was also operated in East Garden City, New York . Indoor and outdoor furniture were the focus of another 14 stores throughout New York, New Jersey , Connecticut and Pennsylvania ; these stores were known as "Fortunoff Backyard Stores". The following years saw Fortunoff continue to struggle, and on February 4, 2008, the chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy along with accepting the $ 100 million sale to NRDC Equity Partners,
720-473: Was announced that the Mall at the Source would be sold and could be demolished to make way for a new mixed use development. In May 2017, Lesso Mall Development Long Island Inc. – a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-listed LESSO Group – purchased the mall for $ 92 million. On October 21, 2017, it was announced that the Mall at the Source would be redeveloped into a decoration hub for Lesso Home, which
750-510: Was composed of Fortunoff, Lord & Taylor , Creative Design Studios , and the HBC 's divisions: the Bay , Zellers , Home Outfitters , and Fields . On February 5, 2009, Fortunoff filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing a weak 2008 holiday season, ballooning costs in its partnership with Lord & Taylor and reduced borrowing capacity due to the recession. Officials at Fortunoff originally hoped to sell
780-492: Was entrusted with auctioning the residual diamonds from the fine jewelry division. Fortunoff now continues to do business as an online jewelry retailer and operates its Fortunoff Backyard Stores. The Fortunoff and Mayrock families, descendants of the founders, owned 100% of the company until November 2004, when a 75% interest in the company was acquired by Trimaran Capital Partners and the Kier Group. However, several members of
810-465: Was hired for management. In 2013, a Lord & Taylor outlet store and the Jewelry Emporium and Mall opened in the former Nordstrom Rack and Off 5th, respectively. However, these stores failed to increase foot traffic at the mall, and the vacancy rate continued to increase. In 2014, Dick's Sporting Goods closed a substantial portion of its Golf Galaxy stores, including its store in the Mall at
840-449: Was originally scheduled to open in the fall of 2018, but has been delayed. A few retailers, The Cheesecake Factory , Dave & Buster's , and a Fortunoff outdoor furniture and jewelry store remain open during renovations. Roosevelt Raceway bought the property when it expanded the harness-racing track in the 1940s for additional parking. In the early 1960s, Ohrbach's constructed a department store on leased land at north-east corner of
870-407: Was scheduled for February 23, 2009. The chain began liquidating all of its stores on February 25, 2009; the sales concluded a little more than three months later in the first week of June 2009. When the company was in process of being liquidated, plans to brand Lord & Taylor 's fine jewelry and home-furnishing departments under the Fortunoff brand were canceled. SimplexDiam Inc. of New York City
900-418: Was to go up for auction by the end of the month; by then, the mall was under 50% occupancy. The opening of the nearby Gallery at Westbury Plaza in late 2012 prompted Nordstrom Rack, Old Navy, and Saks Off 5th to move away, leaving the future of the mall uncertain. On August 28, an auction was held, but was unsuccessful in attracting buyers. Lenders then took ownership of the mall, and Newmark Grubb Knight Frank
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