All Le Cornu furniture to go under the hammer in auction clearance of the iconic South Australian retailer
AN estimated $2 million worth of furniture will go under the hammer at bargain prices as the final chapter of the Le Cornu brand nears its end.
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AN estimated $2 million worth of furniture will go under the hammer at bargain prices in Le Cornu’s final sale.
The public can from today bid for 1000 unsold items sitting in storage at the iconic furniture retailer’s Keswick warehouse, which closed its doors for the final time on October 9.
Andrew Monks, business manager of auction house Evans Clarke, which is managing the online sale under the instructions of the Le Cornu Furniture Group, expected significant interest considering Le Cornu’s reputation.
“You can fill a whole home basically ... if you’ve just bought a home or need a piece of furniture, this is an amazing opportunity” he said, estimating total retail value of the goods at $2m.
“We are calling it the end of an era sale.
“I’ve been in the auction industry for 11 years and I don’t really know of an auction of this scale with a South Australian icon such as Le Cornu.”
Fantastic Holdings bought the Le Cornu business from the Le Cornu family in 2008 for $1.3m but in June this year the announced it would close the store due to deteriorating profits with the loss of 70 jobs.
The Le Cornu company was founded in 1861 and had traded from the Keswick site since 1973.
The land is owned by the Le Cornu Family Trust who put the 3.6ha Keswick site on the market last September to settle the estate of family partiach Lance Le Cornu who died in 2013.
It has a long-term lease on the building with Fantastic Furniture which ends in 2022.
Jamie Guerra, managing director of commercial real estate agent Jones Lang LaSalle who is negotiating the sale of the property, said there had been “significant” interest from buyers to potentially use the site for a mix of residential or retail development.
“The property is still available for sale, we are working through with interested parties,” he said.
Bidding for the furniture ends next Thursday night.
There will be further auctions of fixtures and fittings over coming weeks.
Mr Monks said the giant Le Cornu sign in the carpark would not be part of those auctions.
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