Online surplus merchandise firm leases space in North Las Vegas

An online surplus merchandising firm has leased 150,000 square feet of industrial space in North Las Vegas and will hire up to 100 employees during the holiday season, an executive for Washington, D.C.-based Liquidation.com said Tuesday.

The warehouse at 3010 E. Alexander Road is stocked with thousands of surplus items from big-box retailers and items returned to department stores.

The merchandise is repackaged and sold in bulk auctions to small and medium-sized businesses that might not normally have access to such products, said Rob Caskey, vice president of marketing for the firm.

"It's basically an online auction marketplace," Caskey said as he walked past row upon row of shelves filled with flat-screen TVs, video game consoles, toys, garden tools and handbags from labels such as BCBG, Michael Kors and Burberry.

The Las Vegas facility turns around about $2 million to $3 million of inventory a month, and that number is expected to grow to $4 million as business increases, Caskey said.

Merchandise up for bid is found at www.liquidation.com, accompanied by photographs and a manifest on the product history, including its original retail value. The product comes in unprocessed and is then categorized, packaged together and sold at auction, Caskey said. Minimum bid is $100.

Most of the buyers are small businesses that will resell the merchandise at flea markets and brick-and-mortar discount stores, he said. Bulk lots are sold by the truckload, pallet or small package, and conditions range from new in the box to customer returns and slightly used.

Caskey said the merchandise is sold "as is," though TVs are tested and graded for their condition.

"They're salvage TVs. Maybe they don't turn on or they have a cracked screen, but there's a big market for this, like TV repair shops that need the parts," he said.

Liquidation.com relocated its West Coast warehouse operations to North Las Vegas from Fullerton, Calif., because lease rates were more reasonable here and newer space was available, Caskey said. He did not know financial details of the lease transaction.

A second-quarter report from Colliers International brokerage showed industrial rent at 53 cents a square foot, a decrease of 3 cents per foot from a year ago. Industrial vacancy stands at 15.5 percent, compared with 14.5 percent a year ago.

Industrial sector jobs are still being lost, said John Stater, research director for Colliers. In the past year, no sector of industrial employment has added jobs.

Liquidation.com has hired 40 people since opening the warehouse a couple months ago, Caskey said. Las Vegas has a large work force of skilled workers in warehouse operations, he added.

In addition, Liquidation.com sells equipment such as ice cream freezers, evaporation coils and refrigeration condensers left over from store remodels.

The warehouse makes it easy for Las Vegas buyers to pick up merchandise directly from the facility instead of having it shipped. Liquidation.com still has customers coming from Southern California, Caskey said.

The company has similar-sized warehouses in Plainfield, Ind.; Cranbury, N.J.; and Garland, Texas.

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.