Fortunoff brand returns to retail shops and online

The Fortunoff brand is returning to the jewelry retail scene with plans to launch an e-commerce site and open retail stores in the tri-state area.

Family members Esther Fortunoff and David Fortunoff have formed a partnership with Lester Friedlander and Shaun Apgar. They're the principals of jewelry wholesaler Clover II, which owns Robert Lee Morris Inc., a retail and wholesale jewelry business, the group announced Monday.

"We are delighted . . . to once again provide our loyal customers with the fashionable, world-class-quality jewelry they love at prices that make sense," Esther Fortunoff said in a news release.

The new partnership, Four Leaf Designs Llc, will launch an e-commerce site under the Fortunoff name as early as this fall, the group said. New stores are expected next year in the same markets the old Fortunoff retail chain once ran before it went bankrupt and closed its doors.

Four Leaf Designs Llc has an exclusive licensing agreement with Fortunoff Brands Llc to use the Fortunoff brand for fine jewelry products in the United States and on the Internet.

Fortunoff Brands Llc, which is owned by the Fortunoff and Mayrock families, purchased all of the intellectual property of Fortunoff, including the brand name and related trademarks, last year.

The Fortunoff name has long been associated with the well-respected regional retailer of gifts, housewares, furniture and jewelry, which was founded by the Fortunoff and Mayrock families. Family-run and owned for many decades, the retail chain was sold twice to private equity firms and twice filed for bankruptcy protection before closing last year.

Since the old retail chain's operation was shut down, Fortunoff Brands, Llc, also made a licensing agreement with another group, Furniture Concepts, Llc, which launched a chain of seven Fortunoff Backyard Stores on Long Island and New Jersey earlier this year.