Thrifty Oil is high bidder for Footstar’s Mira Loma facility

Thrifty Oil is high bidder for FootstarÆs Mira Loma facility    Footstar Inc., a footwear retailer, has sold its distribution center in Mira Loma, Calif., to Thrifty Oil Co., a real estate firm. Shippers' News Wire had reported the center was purchased by Alere Property Group LLC.
   As part of a Chapter 11 restructuring, Footstar reported an agreement July 9, subject to approval by a bankruptcy court, to sell the Mira Loma facility to Alere for approximately $20 million. Alere had planned to lease the land and buildings to FMI International LLC, a third-party provider of logistics services to the fashion, footwear and retail industries.
   Following an auction held July 19, the bankruptcy court approved the sale of Footstar's Mira Loma center to Thrifty Oil for about $28 million. Thrifty Oil, the highest bidder, will lease the land and buildings to FMI under the same terms that Alere had proposed.
   The bankruptcy court also approved a previously announced agreement between Footstar and FMI, in which FMI would purchase the materials handling equipment in the Mira Loma facility and provide warehousing and distribution services to Footstar's Meldisco division for eight years.
   As of July 3, Footstar operated 2,441 Meldisco licensed footwear departments nationwide. The company also distributes its own Thom McAn brand of leather footwear through Kmart, Wal-Mart and Shoe Zone stores.