Current USA Inc. is the new owner of Lillian Vernon Corp. Stationery and home décor retailer Current USA agreed to purchase all assets of Lillian Vernon and the offer was approved yesterday by the U.S. Bankruptcy court in Wilmington, DE. The final price has not been determined yet, says Mike Muoio, president and CEO of Lillian Vernon, but a bankruptcy court filing indicates that Current’s offer was $15.8 million.

Current topped an earlier bid of $9.2 million by PersonalCreations.com’s parent, Creative Catalog Corp. .

Current says it will continue to operate Lillian Vernon, No. 59 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, from its Virginia Beach, VA, headquarters. The acquisition is expected to close April 10, Current says.

Current is a subsidiary of Taylor Corp., a print, media and marketing company. The company sells stationery products, home décor, personalized gifts, and accessories via catalog and the Internet. Most of its sales are directly to consumers.

Lillian Vernon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February, citing mounting shipping and product expenses and lower-than-expected holiday sales. Muoio says other expense challenges proved insurmountable, including a headquarters building lease agreement imposed by former owner Ripplewood Holdings LLC, which bought Lillian Vernon from its founder and namesake in 2003. Another ongoing expense was for information technology, including the cost of a protracted and finally abandoned e-commerce system installation.

The annual building payment was $11 million and I.T. expenses were $6 million a year when Muoio joined Lillian Vernon in early 2006, he says. Those expenses, plus an $8 million increase in freight and postage expenses last year were too much. “I’m a tough guy, but I can’t imagine more of a ‘perfect storm,’” he says. “Everything fell into alignment to be absolutely awful.”

Still, Lillian Vernon’s management team and employees were able to turn around its merchandising strategy; it just wasn’t enough to stave off bankruptcy, Muoio says.

Many employees have been laid off and those remaining will find out their future on Monday when Current is expected to make job offers to those it wants to keep. Muoio says the purchase by Current can only help Lillian Vernon. “Current is a tremendous company, as is Taylor. We think we found good home for Lillian Vernon moving forward and are proud of the work we’ve done,” he says.