We’ve been following The Sharper Image bankruptcy quite closely on SavvyWallet. To quickly sum up the bankruptcy, Sharper Image filed for bankruptcy in February. At the same time, The Sharper Image voided all of their gift cards and merchandise credit. Then, Sharper Image decided to accept their gift cards if consumers spent twice the value of their gift cards. Sharper Image attempted but failed. Then around June, all The Sharper Image stores started to close down, one by one, thus discontinuing all use of their gift cards. I’m not sure if there are any stores around still.

The fact that The Sharper Image is sitting on roughly $25 million in gift cards bothers me. That’s $25 million
that The Sharper Image owes it’s consumers. However, The Sharper Image
is still around and is keeping their name for licensing purposes. I
don’t see how they can continue to make money, but not pay it’s
consumers back the money that is rightfully theirs.

So get this. Yesterday, a press release was submitted by The Sharper Image.

According to MediaPost’s Marketing Daily:

-Begin-
Less than nine months after going belly up, Sharper Image is getting a shot at rebirth. Its new owners have signed a $540 million, five-year licensing agreement with HoMedics, which makes personal health, wellness and relaxation products.

While the current economic climate may not seem ideal for
re-launching a brand many people associate with vibrating chairs and
other high-end gadgets, Federico De Bellegarde, VP/licensing for
Sharper Image, disagrees.

“We have 32 years of a really rich consumer history, and our customers loved our products,” he says. “And while people are very cautious right now about how they’re spending their discretionary income, our
following embraces emerging technologies. As long as we introduce
products that are truly innovative–not just some product we’ve
rebranded–and price them right, consumers will respond.”

The Sharper Image shut down its nearly 200 retail stores
early this year, stung not just by consumers cutting back on spending
and increasing competition, but also from the protracted legal woes
surrounding its Ionic Breeze air purifiers. (Back in 2005, Consumer
Reports said that the devices not only failed to clean air, but were
potentially unhealthy as well.)

De Bellegarde says many consumers either won’t know or
remember the back-story to the company’s bankruptcy, but will recall
the brand name. Among the new offerings will be MP3 docking
stations; products for the home environment, including air purifiers;
and a category called Concierge, which will include things like
motorized tie racks and yes, those iconic nose-hair trimmers.

Now owned by the Hilco Organization and Gordon Brothers Group,
the company is formulating a marketing and advertising strategy for the
new products, which will make their debut at the Consumer Electronics
Show early next year in Las Vegas, and at the International Housewares Show in Chicago in March. Products
will be distributed through such retailers as Bed Bath and Beyond and
Macy’s, as well as through catalogs, online, and home-shopping programs.

-End-

Ok, there are several things that bother me about what is going on:

• “We have 32 years of a really rich consumer history, and our customers loved our products” — I used to think The Sharper Image made super cool products, but how about products that aren’t safe? Don’t forget the unhealthy ionic breeze and the exploding toy helicopter. I think he said correctly, “…our customers LOVED our products.” Good luck trying to convince us.

• “De Bellegarde says many consumers either won’t know or
  remember the back-story to the company’s bankruptcy, but will recall
  the brand name” — doesn’t this statement bother you? It surely
  bothers me. Consumers should remember the back-story to the company’s
  bankruptcy. We, the media, the readers, the consumers need to get
  together and not support a company that created unhealthy products,
  nonetheless sold them. In addition not paying us back what is
  rightfully ours - our hard-earned money.

• “Products will be distributed through such retailers as Bed
  Bath and Beyond and Macy’s, as well as through catalogs, online, and
  home-shopping programs.” This is where The Sharper Image is going to make its money - on the licensing.

In conclusion, as predicted, The Sharper Image will be around and
earning money. It’s their responsibility to pay their consumers back,
and it’s our job as consumers to make sure that they do.

If you’re interested in organizing a peaceful plan or if you have
ideas, let me know, and perhaps they’ll read this post and assign a
part of the $540 million to their gift card holders.

What do you think?

Join the resolution and the Sharper Image Class Action Lawsuit!

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