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Bidz.com acquires Whitehall IP

September 16, 2009

Culver City, Calif.--Bidz.com announced on Wednesday that is has acquired the intellectual property of defunct Whitehall Jewelers, which was auctioned off on Tuesday in the offices of a New York law firm.

As the winning bidder, the Culver City, Calif.-based company, which operates the jewelry auction site Bidz.com as well as the fixed price online store Buyz.com, now owns the trademark registrations and domain names for Whitehall Jewelers, Lundstrom Jewelers, Marks Bros. Jewelers and White Star Private Label, as well as customer mailing lists with more than 800,000 names, addresses and transaction information.

"We are extremely pleased to have acquired all of the intellectual property for such a well-known brand as Whitehall Jewelers with a 100-year-old family history and good will," Bidz.com Chief Executive Officer David Zinberg said in a press release. "I am confident that this important acquisition consisting of its IP assets and over 800,000 customers will create additional growth opportunities for Bidz and better position us for the future."

Founded in 1895 as Marks Bros. Jewelers, Whitehall operated 373 stores in 39 states at the time it filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2008.

In National Jeweler's 2008 State of the Majors report, the chain retailer ranked No. 3 on the list of Top 50 North American Jewelry chains by store count.

Following its bankruptcy filing, Whitehall's stores were liquidated after attempts to a find a buyer or secure additional funding were unsuccessful.

Needham, Mass.-based financial advisory firm Streambank LLC handled the sales and marketing efforts for Whitehall's IP portfolio.
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