August 12, 2009 -- CONSOR has
been asked to manage the marketing and sales initiative for the intellectual
property and intangible assets of Friedman’s and Crescent Jewelers.
The first Friedman’s store opened in Savannah, Georgia
in 1920. By the late 1990s, Friedman’s Inc. had become the largest specialty
retailer of jewelry with over 390 locations in 23 southeastern, southwestern
and midwestern states. Another force in the industry, Crescent Jewelers
was founded in 1935 with the opening of the first store in Oakland, California
and had expanded to 123 stores in 3 western states by the early 2000s. In
2006, Friedman’s Inc. purchased Crescent Jewelers and together they became the
leading US
operator of jewelry stores with over 475 stores in 20-plus states generating
over $435 million dollars in annual revenue.
Friedman’s Jewelers and Crescent Jewelers together represent over 150
years of expertise in the jewelry industry. “This is a unique opportunity for a
new owner to leverage the awareness of a value-based jewelry brand,” said Doug
Bania, Director of Business Development, CONSOR. “The ability to capitalize on
the goodwill of a name that is instantly recognizable to consumers can be
invaluable to both established jewelers and newcomers to the industry.”
The diverse intellectual property portfolio includes
marquee trademarks such as Friedman’s Jewelers and Say it with Diamonds, as
well as domain names such as friedmans.com and crescentjewelers.com, among
other intangible assets.
For more information, please contact Doug Bania
with CONSOR Intellectual Asset Management at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or 800.454.9091 x 216.
CONSOR Bankruptcy and Reorganization Experience
Amherst Fiber Optics
Triaged, marketed, took
bids, and sold IP assets (patents, software, prototypes) for tax relief in
bankruptcy
AstroTurf
Bundled, triaged, and
valued patents, trademarks, and international licenses for Chapter 7 sale
Barneys
Valued international
trademarks and licenses and helped negotiate secured debt retirement in a
swap for those intangible assets
Boston Market
Valued and licensed the
Boston Market frozen food opportunity and successfully negotiated in excess
of $30 million in guaranteed royalties
Collins & Aikman -
International
Triaged, valued, and
negotiated the sale of the patent and technology assets used by the European
affiliates
Collins & Aikman – United States
Triaged, valued, and
negotiated the sale of the patent and technology assets used by the American
affiliates
Dan
River
Patents, corporate
brand, product brands, and copyrights and designs valued a marketed
Domain Name Portfolio
Valuation
Triaged and valued 1,000
domain names valued at over $3 million for Chapter 11
El Comandante Puerto Rico
Valued and sold gaming
and thoroughbred racing IP, including licenses and government permits
Triaged, bundled,
marketed and sold IP portfolio at auction for over $2 million for Chapter 11
Jacobson's Stores
Disposed of private
label credit card files (data, not receivables), private label brands, and
store name through informal out of court auction
Jenny Craig
Brand valuation and
licensing strategy development and packaged assets for sale to Nestle
Kenar
Inventoried, triaged,
valued and disposed of Kenar family of trademarks for $4 million
LA Gear
Identified and leveraged
the LA Gear family of domain names and trade names outside its core area of
business
Marvel Entertainment
Valued all Marvel
characters and assets, anddeveloped
strategy to license and increase cash flow in Chapter 11
Montgomery Ward
Triaged and disposed of
IT systems, technical works and manuals, private label brands and the store
name
Owens Corning
Valued the technical and
brand assets, for use in the settlement of claims in this long running case
Polaroid
Inventoried, triaged,
and valued Polaroid IP assets and developed an IP holding company framework
which positioned Polaroid to successfully emerge from bankruptcy
Service Merchandise
Triaged and sold store
name and numerous private labels, store level, catalog, and Internet
databases through informal out of court auction
Starad, Christopher
Radko
Valuation for asset
based lender, included brands, designs, data files and company name
Tower Records
Sold IP asset portfolio
for $4.2 million at auction, including franchises, interest assets, databases
