Breaking News: Alpha Omega Liquidation Starts Tomorrow

As Bostonista reported earlier today, a Boston bankruptcy court sold Alpha Omega’s assets to a group of investors. Boston Daily spoke with Michael O’Hara, the Chief Restructuring Officer for Alpha Omega. He told us that readers should dust off their credit cards, as the investors will start selling Alpha Omega’s assets off tomorrow morning at all four locations.

O’Hara has been with the company since December 21, two days after we reported the Raman Handa and his family fled to India, leaving shuttered stores and shellshocked employees behind. O’Hara says the employees shouldn’t fear for their jobs during the liquidation sale, or when Ross-Simons takes over the Natick and Prudential Center locations.

“Employees were hit by a bomb,” O’Hara said, referring to the sudden closure. “And they stepped up big-time. The company was attractive [to buyers] because of these people. Ross-Simons wanted the ability to hire them.”

The liquidation sale will run until May. Customers who had special orders that were delivered can pick them up at the store. If your order wasn’t delivered, you’ll have to ask a manager what to do next. After the liquidation sale, the stores will close and be restocked with Ross-Simons inventory. The Rhode Island-based chain began as a catalog company, primarily selling crystal tableware.

The catalog is still popular, but the crystal has made way for brands like Rolex and Breitling. Ross-Simons is also backed by a multi-billion dollar private equity fund, which leaves employees less vulnerable to any potential bad management decisions in the future.

We asked O’Hara if he’d heard from the Handa family. “I haven’t had any contact with them,” he said. “I can’t even speculate what they’re doing.”