Report: Fortunoff Talking to Liquidators

New York City Fortunoff Fine Jewelry & Silverware LLC has closed its flagship Manhattan store and is in talks with companies to liquidate most of its merchandise, Bloomberg News reported.

A spokeswoman for Fortunoff did not return messages. A spokeswoman for Fortunoff owner NRDC Equity Partners LLC also declined to comment.

Liquidation would come one year after Fortunoff last sought bankruptcy protection and was purchased by NRDC, owner of the Lord & Taylor department store chain. Jewelry has been among their worst-performing products as consumers abandon discretionary purchases.

The lease on the company’s flagship store at 57th Street and Fifth Avenue expired Jan. 31, said David Mark at Kasowitz Benson Torres & Friedman LLP, a law firm representing the landlord.

NRDC, based in Purchase, New York, bought Fortunoff for $110 million, including $80 million in cash in March 2008. The firm is a venture between Robert C. Baker and Richard A. Baker, principals of National Realty & Development Corp., and William Mack and Lee Neibart, partners of Apollo Real Estate Advisors LP.