Bidz Acquires Colibri Assts for $6 Million

Bidz.com, a publicly traded online jewelry retailer, has acquired the inventory, intellectual property, trademarks and tools of Krementz, Van Dell, Shiman, Dolan & Bullock, Taylor Avedon, Angelite, Skal, Skalet, Magical Years, Little Miss Pride, Sideways, Darling Diamonds, Fingerprint Locket and others, in the bankruptcy auction of The Colibri Group on Friday.

Colibri, a manufacturer and marketer of century old heritage branded jewelry products, has been placed into receivership in January.

In addition to the trademarks and inventory, Bidz will make the inventory available for both auction and sale on its Bidz.com and Buyz.com websites.

The purchase of these brands from Colibri represents substantially all of the jewelry brands manufactured by Colibri that were available for purchase in the bankruptcy auction, Bidz said.

Many of the brands that Bidz acquired are century old. Krementz exists since 1866, Shiman, is over a century old and Dolan & Bullock is in business since 1919.

Bidz expects to begin to auction the jewelry on its website in May. The company expects to sell the newly acquired inventory primarily through online auctions on its Bidz.com and Buyz.com website.

According to the Providence Journal, 14 protestors were arrested as they unsuccessfully attempted to block the bankruptcy auction. According to the report, while the auction took place at the Colibri plant in East Providence, more than 100 people, including former employees and members of workers' right groups, picketed outside in protest.

Colibri ceased operations and, according to the Journal, left 280 employees without jobs.