K-B and eToys

K-B Toys (Pittsfield, Mass.), continuing to clean the bones of the eToys.com carcass, has bought the bankrupt Internet retailer's name and web site at a bankruptcy auction. Last month, K-B Toys paid $5.4 million for eToys'unsold inventory.

The country's Number Two toy retailer, presumably trying to shore up its less-successful KBkids.com operation, bid nearly $3.4 million for eToys'intellectual assets during bankruptcy proceedings in Delaware. The deal also includes softwear and perhaps two eToys warehouses still up for sale.

Visitors to eToys.com will now be sent automatically to KBkids.com. That division was formed in July 1999 when then-Consolidated Stores, which owned K-B Stores, combined its online toy operations with those of BrainPlay.com. Less than a year later, KBkids.com cut 30 percent of its staff as part of a streamlining effort probably associated with Consolidated's intention to make K-B Toys an attractive prospect for equity investors. In fact, a group led by K-B Toys management and private equity firm Bain Capital did buy K-B Toys from Consolidated Stores (now named Big Lots. Inc., as of yesterday) in late 2000.