Levitz Furniture, the troubled home furnishings retailer that filed for bankruptcy protection last month, is closing all 76 of its stores nationwide, including two retail outlets and a distribution warehouse in Sacramento.

The New York-based company began a liquidation sale at all its stores Thursday.

The liquidation was launched after a bankruptcy judge last Monday approved the sale of PLVTZ Inc., which does business as Levitz Furniture, to a group of bidders for $57.6 million.

Prices for furniture are discounted 20 percent to 50 percent, he said.

Founded in Pennsylvania in 1910, the furniture giant was known for its low-priced offerings and slogan "You'll love it at Levitz."

It pioneered the furniture warehouse concept in the 1960s, but in the 1990s, that approach fell out of favor with customers who seemed to prefer store layouts that resembled furnished rooms.

"People didn't want to shop in a warehouse, they wanted to shop in a real furniture store," said George Whalin, president of Retail Management Consultants in San Marcos.

"They were not a very well-run company. ... They haven't been a viable retailer for a good, long while."

Levitz first filed for Chapter 11 in 1997 as Levitz Furniture Corp. After the filing, it merged with Seaman Furniture Inc. and emerged from bankruptcy in 2001 as Levitz Home Furnishings.

That company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy again in 2005 and sold its assets to Prentice Capital Management LP for $93 million. Prentice set up PLVTZ to buy the company. At that time, Levitz closed 35 stores in an effort to return to profitability.

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