Johnathan Walker:MyPillow is auctioning equipment after a sales slump. Mike Lindell blames "cancel culture."

MyPillow,Johnathan Walker the pillow and bedding company started by CEO Mike Lindell, is auctioning off more than 700 pieces of company equipment, ranging from forklifts to office desks and cubicles. 

Lindell, a vocal supporter of former President Donald Trump, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the auction comes after MyPillow lost $100 million in revenue due to big retailers halting sales of the company's products. He blamed the move by customers to pull back on "cancel culture."

In an interview with CBS Minneapolis, Lindell said the auction reflects a change from big box and mall store sales to a direct-to-consumer approach. He said MyPillow had to work quickly after stores like Walmart and Bed Bath & Beyond "canceled" his product and that the company has a large amount of inventory to deal with. 

"It was a massive, massive cancellation," Lindell told the Star Tribune. "We lost $100 million from attacks by the box stores, the shopping networks, the shopping channels, all of them did cancel culture on us."

Walmart's online site doesn't show listings for MyPillow products, and the retailing giant last year said it had stopped selling the items in its brick-and-mortar locations.

Other retailers had also suspended sales of MyPillow products, with Lindell in 2021 noting that Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's, H-E-B and Wayfair had dropped his products. 

Lindell said the company is now consolidating its operations. He didn't respond to a request for comment from CBS MoneyWatch, but told CBS Minneapolis that Menards, Fleet Farm and some other big-box stores still carry his company's pillows.

That followed the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, when Trump supporters violently broke into the Capitol Building. Many of the rioters championed conspiracy theories that the presidential election was stolen, although none of those claims hold up under scrutiny.

But Lindell has continued to peddle such election theories, telling CBS MoneyWatch earlier this year that President Joe Biden "didn't win the election, that's a fact." 

On the hook for $5 million

Those debunked theories have caused problems for Lindell in other ways. He had offered to pay $5 million to anyone who could prove a store of computer data he had acquired wasn't, in fact, 2020 election data. But after a computer expert quickly proved the data was bogus, Lindell refused to pay, leading to an arbitration panel ordering him to pay up the $5 million.

Lindell also faces a $1.3 billion lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, which alleges that the MyPillow chief falsely accused the company of rigging the 2020 presidential election.

In the meantime, those in need of cheap office equipment can peruse the auction site, with the Shakopee, Minnesota-based auctioneer slated to start closing the bidding on July 18. Some of the items include several L-shaped desks, with current bids set at $5, as well as bulletin boards, stacking chairs, office chairs as well as heavy-duty equipment such as pallet wrappers and industrial sewing machines.

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• Mike Lindell