WHEELING — LL Flooring announced this week it will begin closing all of its locations — including its Wheeling location — after failing to find a buyer.

In a letter to customers, the company said that while it has “actively negotiated with multiple bidders,” those negotiations have not resulted in an offer with the necessary financing.

“As a result, it is with a heavy heart that we must let you know that we are going to

begin the process of winding down LL Flooring’s business and closing all of our stores,” the letter read. “This is not the outcome that any of us had hoped for.”

LL Flooring, formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, has been in operation since 1993. It has five locations in West Virginia — Wheeling, Parkersburg, Beckley, Martinsburg and Nitro.

According to the company, closing sales will begin at all remaining stores starting today. Those sales will be held for approximately 12 weeks, and the timing of the closures will vary from store to store.

“We sincerely appreciate the loyalty of our customers over the last three decades, and as we

begin to wind down operations and close our stores, we are committed to doing so as smoothly as possible to minimize the impact on you, our associates and the communities we serve,” the company said.

According to a CNN story, the company had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August and closed 94 locations. At its peak, the company had more than 400 locations across the United States.

LL Flooring’s troubles had started long before that. According to the CNN story, a 2015 “60 Minutes” investigation aired an undercover video, with the company’s suppliers saying they provided what was then Lumber Liquidators products with formaldehyde that exceeded regulatory standards.

Then, in 2018, the company paid $36 million to settle class-action lawsuits brought by customers who bought the laminate between 2009 and 2015, while not admitting wrongdoing in the settlement agreement. In 2019, the company agreed to pay $33 million in penalties for misleading investors about the formaldehyde.