Sharper Image Corp has won bankruptcy court permission to sell all of its assets at a May 28 auction.

Bankruptcy Court Judge Kevin Gross approved the auction yesterday at a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware. Gross also authorized the home-gadget seller to pay a 2 percent break-up fee if a rival buys assets sought by a joint venture that includes liquidator Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Merchant Partners.

‘The operations of the on-going stores have been disappointingly below projections,” the company said in court papers. Since filing for bankruptcy on Feb. 20, Sharper Image hasn’t had enough cash to replenish its stores with new products.

The 31-year-old retailer, which sells household gadgets from air purifiers to car-navigation systems, filed for bankruptcy saying it planned to close about half of its 184 stores while reorganizing. Before the filing, Sharper Image, based in San Francisco, had lost money in 11 of the last 13 quarters.

Posted: 05|15|08 at 8:26 am. Filed under: US News.