HIGH POINT – 2023 was a tumultuous year for the furniture industry, with several high-profile furniture companies going out of business, as well as a multitude of other shutdowns and layoffs. Here’s a rundown of all the closures, layoffs and bankruptcy filings Furniture Today reported on this year.
Shutdowns and closures
Roesing Furniture, a fourth-generation retailer that had been in business since 1902, announced in January that it was closing as owner Bob Roesing was retiring.
Sofas Unlimited, a Pennsylvania-based furniture store in operation for 31 years, announced its closure March 30. In a Facebook post, the store cited the retirement of its owner and having no successor in the family as reasons for the closure.
Creative Metal and Wood, a Thomasville-based furniture manufacturer in business since 1954, abruptly closed its doors early March.
Family-owned furniture retailer NB Liebman shuttered its doors after more than a century in business. The company announced its plans in March.
Office furniture supplier MillerKnoll said in April it plans to shutter its Sheboygan, Wis., factory and lay off 162 employees, as part of a consolidation strategy.
In April, news came that Serta Simmons Bedding was closing three factories, two in the U.S. and one in Canada. The company said the changes were part of its “optimization” of its manufacturing footprint.
In May, North Dakota retailer Furniture for Less opted to shut down as its two owners planned for retirement. The business was in operation for 25 years.
Also in May, the 123-year-old retailer Rominger’s Southern Furniture based in Winston-Salem launched a going-out-of-business auction. The store’s third-generation owner passed away in 2022, and her daughter didn’t wish to continue the business. The store had experienced problems due to mandatory closings and supply chain constraints due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June, Cox Manufacturing, a North Carolina-based manufacturer of custom upholstery, abruptly ceased operations after more than 90 years in business.
Perhaps the biggest closure of the year was Klaussner Home Furnishings, which shut down abruptly in August, leaving nearly 900 employees out of a job. In a notice posted to its website, the company wrote that its lending source had “unexpectedly refused to continue to fund” its operations.
Upholstery manufacturer and Top 100 retailer Mitchell Gold & Bob Williams closed in August, laid off all workers and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after its funding was cut off.
On Sept. 19, Louis Shanks Furniture in Austin, Texas, announced that it was working with Planned Furniture Promotions to handle the going-out-of-business process and will close its last two stores: in its hometown and in San Antonio.
In September, Hatboro, Pa.-based Gamburg’s Furniture announced it was going out of business after 94 years and four generations of family ownership, as owners Sidney and Joyce Gamburg were retiring.
The closing brick-and-mortar chapter for Bed Bath & Beyond was written earlier this year, as it went into bankruptcy and closed all of its stores. Its intellectual assets were acquired by Overstock.com, which has since rebranded its online presence to Bed Bath & Beyond.
In October, Massachusetts-based retailer Winchendon Furniture closed after 84 years and three generations of family ownership.
Minnesota furniture retailer Rosenthal Contemporary Interiors began total liquidation after 128 years as a family-owned and operated business, with the owner retiring after more than four decades at the helm.
Small, high-end custom upholstery manufacturer Barclay Furniture Associates shut down in November after 73 years of being in business. The Massachusetts-based company announced its closure on its Facebook page, holding one final sale in which “everything must go.”
Bankruptcy filings
In January, Serta Simmons Bedding and 13 of its affiliates filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a move designed to slash its debt from $1.9 billion to about $300 million.
In February, retailer Tuesday Morning returned to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for its second filing in less than three years to relieve its “exceedingly burdensome debt.” The move didn’t help, and the company announced plans to shutter all of its stores.
Mattress Firm’s parent company, South Africa-based Steinhoff International, announced in April that it is working under a restructuring plan with the Dutch courts in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.
Z Gallerie, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the third time, began marking down its merchandise and closing its stores in October.
Layoffs
In January, mattress and case goods supplier Malouf Home reduced its workforce at its corporate headquarters in Utah. The company declined to reveal the number of jobs cut.
In January, Norwegian furniture manufacturer Ekornes announced it would cut 700 full-time jobs in the Asia Pacific region and 150 jobs in Norway.
In a 10-K filing with the SEC filed on March 29, Top 100 retailer RH noted that it cut approximately 440 positions as it implemented what it called a business reorganization.
E-commerce giant Wayfair announced in January it would cut 1,750 jobs — 10% of its global workforce — as it moved forward with a $1.4 billion cost-restructuring plan in the summer of 2022. About 18% of those jobs, representing about 1,200 employees, were from Wayfair’s corporate staff. Wayfair said it would incur between $68 million and $78 million in costs, primarily for severance and benefits, related to the layoffs.
After revealing a steep drop in third quarter profit in November, vertical mattress retailer Sleep Number announced it would cut 10% of its workforce and close up to 50 stores by the end of 2024. According to its website, Sleep Number employees more than 5,500 workers.
See also: The five biggest issues the furniture industry faced in 2023 – Bobby Dalheim