Yeah Linens ‘N Things was overpriced, but it still had some great home decor, bedding, bath, and kitchen products. During the 2009 economic bubble bursting it went out of business, but now it’s back with investors bringing the store under a more efficient online regime at LNT.com.
What’s interesting is the domain names Linens N Things.com and Linens And Things.com are both owned by TorreyCommerce which inexplicably has the Linens N Things logo on their featured clients (btw they have Mervyns too).
Now after a company is bought in liquidation, it’s no longer under the same management as it once was. Investors are hoping to rekindle a spark under the Linens & Things brand name and I wish them success. The problem that hobbled the old company was the sky high prices for home decoration. Bad Bath & Beyond was virtually the same company with slightly lower prices so it’s really hard to see how that overpriced, home stuff model was going to work.
Going forward, I’ll alert you of any shopping news on the Net about LNT.com and whether customers are satisfied with the results. Don’t be surprised if I do a little investigative journalism and first hand purchasing from the new LNT.com. In January, 2010 I’ll send them an email asking a few questions after I’ve bought something from the website to get the inside scoop on what’s going on. Until then, my official stance is I really like buying home stuff online and I’m all for another major competitor driving down prices even more. There really are some fantastic deals out there that I can’t wait to cover.
Edit: Don’t buy anything from LNT.com or any associated new Linens and Things stores. I just read a gauntlet of online shopper horror stories of people getting wrong orders, incomplete orders, and mostly no orders with little to no ability to actually talk to a live person. Looks like whoever took over had no idea of what they were doing and only wanted to take money from customers without ever actually delivering a product in return. This is unfortunate as I was really pulling for a comeback, but after one failed attempt due to the numerous online complaints, you can forget about a comeback.
On the Internet, credibility and trustworthiness are everything. Once you lose them, they’re gone. Readers, the attempt at bringing back Linens N Things wasn’t brought by reputable businessmen (or women) and now it is a failure. I think it was a great idea and under the right leadership would have flourished. Once again, don’t buy from LNT.com or any Linens And Things site.