Marbles starts liquidation sale, closing 37 stores

Marbles: The Brain Store started a liquidation sale this week, discounting puzzles, books and other products up to 60 percent off, after it filed for bankruptcy.

The company filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Feb. 3 and plans to close 37 stores nationwide, including five in Illinois. They are in Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, downtown Naperville, Old Orchard in Skokie as well as Water Tower Place and Lincoln Square in Chicago. A store in Aurora closed in January.

A Schaumburg store manager, who declined to give her name, said a closing date isn't available yet. A call to the company was not immediately returned.

The store, started by Lindsay Gaskins and Karen Luby in 2008, touted hand-picked fun ways to build better brains and allowed customers to try games and products in the store. In 2014, Florida-based Amzak Capital Management made an equity investment in the company.

Marbles filed for bankruptcy on Feb. 3 because it fell behind on rent payments at it store, according to reports citing the bankruptcy filings.

• Daily Herald Business Writer Anna Marie Kukec contributed to this report.