"Can't" is a really bad word to use and I am not certain if "they" here are the corporation or the bankruptcy steward I'd mentioned.

If you're talking about the corporation I think that any sensible neutral party would probably come down on the side that the corporation has no entitlement to those goods.

If you're talking about the bankruptcy steward then the goods were held by the franchise so if it went through bankruptcy those goods would be under consideration by the steward - I think they'd usually find that the original owner should be entitled to the goods since they're relatively non-fungible. The proceeds from sold goods are likely a more complicated answer since money is fungible and divisible. I could accept that there would be scenarios where a steward would think that the corporation should recover a portion of the proceeds.

The court can do almost anything. Its happened before.

https://www.cozen.com/news-resources/publications/2020/is-yo...