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Linens 'N Things On Auction Block

News Channel 8 photo by PAUL LAMISON

A customer walks into Linens 'n Things on North Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. The Tampa area has 10 of the stores.

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By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: October 10, 2008

TAMPA - Over the next week, shoppers at Linens 'n Things probably won't notice much of a difference. There still will be the retail marketing efforts offering discounts and other deals, but after Tuesday, there could be some big changes in store.

Linens Holdings Co., the Clifton, N.J.-based company that owns the 33-year-old retailer, filed for Chapter 11 protection in May with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, and now has settled on a plan to auction its inventory.

Rich Tauberman, spokesman for Linens Holdings, said Thursday that the outlook for the chain after the auction is anybody's guess.

"It's the start of the process this week," Tauberman said. "We don't know which way it will go. Nothing will happen until the auction process is completed.

"It would be premature to say that all the stores will close, some will close or none of the stores will close."

The Tampa Bay region has 10 Linens 'n Things, including stores in Brooksville, Sarasota and Winter Garden. There are two in Tampa, one in Brandon and stores in Clearwater, Lakeland, Port Richey and St. Petersburg.

Across the nation, 6,600 people work at the stores.

Tauberman said the chain could not pay its debts and filed for protection to reorganize, but as the economy continued to sour, real estate values plummeted and credit became difficult to obtain, executives decided to go the auction route.

A couple of outcomes are possible, Tauberman said. A single bidder could buy the company and keep all or some of the stores open, or the business could be bought at auction by a liquidator who might sell off the inventory and close the chain down.

The inventory auction is set for Tuesday, and a bankruptcy judge is scheduled to rule on the chain's sale the next day, he said.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760.

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