Two Swoozie's stores in Atlanta to reopen

Swoozie’s, the Atlanta-based gift store chain that filed for bankruptcy protection in April and then liquidated, is returning to the retail scene this summer.

Two Atlanta stores and five more nationwide will reopen, including one on Roswell Road that could open its doors in July.

Gart Capital Partners, a Denver-based private equity investment firm, purchased the remaining assets of the Swoozie's on Friday. The purchase price was not disclosed. Gart made the purchase through an auction held by the bankruptcy court.

The chain was co-founded in Atlanta by Kelly Plank-Dworkin in 2001. She will continue to operate the stores, in partnership with Gart Capital, said Ken Gart, managing partner of the firm. He told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was impressed by the loyal following Swoozie’s had inspired, which was one reason his firm wanted to purchase the remainer of the chain. Most of the chain’s inventory was sold by a liquidator, so the firm will need to restock the stores.

Gart said sales on Swoozie’s Web site could resume in as few as two weeks.

Gart said his firm also owns the 30-store Colorado Bag n Baggage chain and golf instruction chain Golf TEC, which has 145 locations.

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Rachel Tobin Ramos

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