A large amount of surplus industrial equipment from the company MyPillow is now up for auction online, including from the company’s Minnesota factory.
The items are being auctioned off using K-BID Online Auctions and items include dock trucks, sewing machines, forklifts, boxes and more, according to the listing page. 824 items will be auctioned off and the event ends on July 18 at 7 p.m.
Mike Lindell, the MyPillow Chief Executive Officer, told Minnesota television station WCCO that the auction is a surplus auction that “is a reflection of the change from big box and mall store sales to a direct-to-consumer approach.” Lindell said MyPillow in-store sales were canceled by retailers such as Walmart and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Additionally, Lindell told the station that some employees had to move job roles to avoid being laid off, and that MyPillow “has made a number of adjustments.”
“I do every customer like my only customer and every employee like my only employee,” he told WCCO.
Lindell told WCCO that Menards, Fleet Farm, and some other stores continue to carry the MyPillow products.
Lindell’s support for Trump, baseless election fraud claims
The company was impacted by Lindell’s backing of former President Donald Trump’s election fraud claims, for which he is currently fighting off a $1.3 billion defamation lawsuit.
Lindell has previously said that MyPillow lost $100 million after his election fraud claims, WCCO reported. His company also lost an arbitration case in April related to election fraud claims, leading to his company, Lindell LLC, being ordered to pay $5 million.
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On Monday, Lindell went live on Facebook where he talked about the auction, saying it comes after retailers “abandoned” MyPillow.
“What are we supposed to do, everybody? Just paperweights there? No, we are auctioning it off,” Lindell said during the live stream. “Before they did this to MyPillow, we were so big that we needed like four times of the equipment we had right now to make retail packaging, to make the retail pillows. So my guys said, ‘Hey, can we get rid of some of this stuff, and sublease part of that building?’ Which we said, ‘Fine.'”
Lindell and the MyPillow company did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on the auction.
Kate Perez covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@gannett.com or on Twitter @katecperez_.
