Dive Brief:
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A group of investors that had backed Retail Ecommerce Ventures — owner of Pier 1 and other retail brands — now owns the portfolio, a spokesperson confirmed by phone on Tuesday. The transaction closed in the last 90 days and terms are not disclosed, the company said.
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“Omni is a new company that has acquired most of the assets from REV,” and “the transaction that ceded the REV assets to Omni enabled REV to dissolve as an operating entity” without resorting to bankruptcy, according to an emailed statement Wednesday from Danielle Bitts, head of brand and marketing at new owner Omni Retail Enterprises.
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Omni is now “the parent company of Bodybuilding.com, Pier 1.com, DressBarn.com, Mentorbox.com, and owns the intellectual property of Modell’s Sporting Goods, Franklin Mint, SteinMart, Linens-N-Things, and Ralph & Russo,” per an Omni press release.
Dive Insight:
Last year, rumors swirled regarding REV’s financial struggles, with some observers expecting a bankruptcy filing. Instead, REV’s backers have taken over.
They are actively looking for new acquisitions and are currently in talks with other retail brands, according to the spokesperson. Most, though not all, are digital only.
This approach is similar to REV, which in recent years snapped up a series of distressed retail brands that subsequently disappeared from the physical landscape but continued to operate online. At press time, the retailers listed in Omni’s portfolio were also still listed on REV’s website. On Tuesday, Omni’s spokesperson said that would soon be taken down.
REV co-founders Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr are not involved in the new venture, the spokesperson said. Their stable once also included RadioShack, which as of last year is majority-owned by Unicomer Group.
Not all of REV’s projects have survived. Two years ago, REV invested $35 million in off-price retailer Tuesday Morning, which was later sold to Hilco Merchant Resources for $32 million as part of Tuesday Morning’s bankruptcy. Ultimately the half-century-old off-pricer opted to liquidate.
These brands’ new owner may differ from REV in looking beyond the web when considering their potential.
“Omni is considering operating in numerous consumer channels, and one of those channels is operating physical stores,” Bitts said. “Omni plans to include organic social strategies as part of their community building efforts. With this will come new content, creators and partnerships.”
Bitts also said that the intellectual property “being deployed for the brands now owned by Omni is owned solely by Omni,” and the spokesperson noted that Omni owns the affiliated fulfillment operations as well.
