Stein Mart purchased, returning online

The company that has been buying bankrupt brands has added another retailer to its growing portfolio.

Retail Ecommerce Ventures emerged as the winner of a bankruptcy court auction for the intellectual property of Stein Mart Inc., with a winning bid of $6.02 million. REV plans to relaunch the brand, which declared bankruptcy in August and subsequently shut down operations, as an online-only family fashion and home goods retailer in 2021.

Founded in 2019, Miami-based REV has built a diverse group of e-commerce-focused businesses by acquiring the intellectual property assets of Dressbarn, Franklin Mint, Linens 'n Things, Modell's Sporting Goods, Pier I Imports and, most recently, Radio Shack.

In its latest purchase, REV's new majority-owned subsidiary, Stein Mart Online, acquired the Stein Mart nameplate as well as its private label brands, domain names, social media assets, and customer data from Hilco Streambank, an IP advisory firm that was marketing the assets. 

To date, the off-price sector has been in no hurry to sell online. Marshalls, which is owned by TJX Cos., just launched a website last year. REV executive chairman Tai Lopez said Stein Mart was a pioneer in taking an off-price brick-and-mortar retail concept online. 

"The company's investments in an omnichannel platform for its offering of designer and private label fashion apparel, shoes, home décor and accessories paved the way for Steinmart.com to post double digit sales growth and increase its average online order to $80," Lopez said. "We look forward to building upon the solid foundation of existing Steinmart.com customers and introducing new loyalists to the brand by improving the online shopping experience, broadening the merchandise mix and deploying targeted social media marketing campaigns."