Sharper Image Shutting Down Stores

The Sharper Image is calling it quits, shutting down its remaining 86 gadget and lifestyle stores...and blowing out $50 million in inventory.

The saga of The Sharper Image’s bankruptcy woes has reached its final chapter: the company has announced it plans to shutter its remaining 86 retail locations and blow out some $50 million in inventory, offering discounts of 20 to 40 percent on all merchandise.

The closeout is being handled by Hilco Merchant Resources, which, with Gordon Brothers and Bluestar Alliance, picked up the failing retailer for $49 million at a bankruptcy auction on May 29. Hilco had already been liquidating Sharper Image’s assets, including 96 of the company’s existing retail locations.

"This is an outstanding opportunity for consumers to realize unprecedented savings on a remarkable selection of products not to be found anywhere but in Sharper Image stores," said Hilco president Michael Keefe, in a statement. "This is sure to be a very popular sale, which will not last very long and comes at a perfect time for making Father’s Day gift purchases."

Sharper Image had been posting losses since 2005, and litigation over the safety and performance of its now-infamous Ionic Breeze air purifiers lead to vendors and suppliers rolling back credit lines, along with an erosion of consumer confidence.

The Sharper Image is best known for selling high-tech gadgets for the home, including things like automated massage chairs, personal grooming products, robotic vacuums, high-end phones, audio gear, and even kitchen and car products.

Following the retail store shutdown, Hilco says it plans to develop a global licensing strategy around the Sharper Image brand, "exploiting" the heritage of the name to market products in both existing and new product categories.