Feb 11, 2009 8:07 pm US/Pacific
Family Retakes Mervyn's Name, May Make Comeback
(CBS 5)
Just months after declaring bankruptcy and shutting down all its stores, Mervyn's could be making a comeback of sorts.
Mervin Morris, the founding father who gave Mervyns its name, told CBS 5 Investigates last December that he felt his former company had been "raped" by the equity investors who bought it just a couple of years ago. Now his sons are taking back the Mervyns name.
For the Morris sons, this business is all in the family. "My dad built a fabulous chain of stores which was unfortunately mismanaged in the last few years. We wanted to get the family name back or his name back, see if we could create it again," said Mervin's son Jeff Morris.
So Jeff Morris and his two brothers purchased the Mervyn's name, and intellectual property, like the all-important customer lists. Their plan? Open Mervyns dot com. And it's not just about family loyalty. "We actually think there's really an opportunity to do something that will be a successful commercial venture," Jeff Morris said.
Succesful, by turning those brick and mortar stores into a store online where customers would find their favorite brands once again. Merv Morris, the man who in 1949 turned a single store in San Lorenzo into a multi-million dollar national chain, said he told his sons, don't buy on emotion: "I advised them not to invest the family fortune, but they are smart enough they don't need my advice on that!"
The Mervyn's chain went bankrupt last year after it was purchased by private equity firms.
Now, Morris' three sons are developing what they hope will be a better business plan to put Mervyn's back on top. "I don't think you're going to see Mervyn's reincarnated in its original form. I think there will be a Mervyn's name on the horizon somewhere there, just how and when and what the magnitude will be I am not sure. That is going to depend on my boys," said Merv Morris.
In a bankruptcy auction the family confirms four other companies bought mervyn's other assets, including its most popular clothing lines High Sierra, Hillard and Hanson and Ellemeno.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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