Some Art Van Furniture stores could reopen under new name

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Some former Art Van Furniture stores in Michigan could reopen under a new name.

WDIV, the NBC-affiliate in Detroit, reports a federal bankruptcy judge approved a deal which would allow a Texas-based private equity firm to buy 17 closed Art Van locations. The sale could be finalized as soon as this week.

Art Van Furniture, the former Michigan-based chain known for rambunctious advertisements promising low prices, announced in March the decision to close all of its approximately 190 locations.

The company was started by Art Van Elslander in metro Detroit in 1959. It was sold to Thomas H. Lee Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, in 2017. Crain's Detroit Business news reported in mid-February that it was considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization or liquidation.

Van Elslander died in February 2018 at the age of 87.

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Local 4 News at 6 -- May 11, 2020