Fortunoff Brands LLC has agreed to license rights to Fortunoff-brand fine jewelry in the United States and on the Internet to Four Leaf Designs, a new partnership between Esther Fortunoff and David Fortunoff, and Lester Friedlander and Shaun Apgar, the principals of jewelry wholesaler Clover II. Four Leaf Designs will launch an e-commerce site and open stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
“This marks the reintroduction of a proud brand in a market that has long associated Fortunoff with service, quality, and value,” said Esther Fortunoff. “We are delighted to be able to once again to provide our loyal customers with the fashionable, world-class-quality jewelry they love at prices that make sense.”
According to a statement from Fortunoff Brands, Four Leaf Designs plans to launch the e-commerce site as early as this fall and focus on stores next year. New stores are expected to be in the same markets though not necessarily the same locations as the previous stores.
Fortunoff Holdings filed for bankruptcy in February 2009, a year after being purchased by NRDC Equity Partners LLC. Eleven of the top creditors in the Chapter 11 filing were jewelry companies. Eventually, the filing was dismissed by the court, leaving many vendors outraged and in the red. Earlier this year, The Fortunoff Backyard Store was re-launched under a license to Furniture Concepts and seven stores opened.
Clover II is a jewelry wholesaler with manufacturing facilities in Italy, China, and Canada. Clover operates the Robert Lee Morris brand, which has retail, wholesale, and television shopping businesses, and the Elizabeth & James jewelry brand, under a license with Dualstar Entertainment Group. The company was founded by Lester Friedlander, who has been in the jewelry business for 35 years.
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