Leath shutting down Wisconsin stores
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, May 7, 2007
Atlanta — The owners of Leath Furniture have decided to close the chain's two remaining Wisconsin stores, and have begun going-out-of-business sales there.
The stores in Fond Du Lac and Eau Claire are Leath's most remote, said Roy Hester, a Leath investor and vice president of sales for liquidator Planned Furniture Promotions. The sales are expected to run until the inventory is gone, which is usually 90 days, he said.
The Top 100 company already has closed a third Wisconsin store in Greendale.
The Atlanta-based retailer has 18 Leath stores in the Midwest, including the Wisconsin stores that are closing, and seven Modernage stores in Florida. The company was acquired this past summer by SB Capital Group, a division of Schottenstein Stores, and by several Planned Furniture Promotion executives and Leath management.
Last month, the company said it would close the Modernage stores — citing tough competition and a weak business climate — and began the GOB process.
Hester has maintained that "all possibilities are being considered" for the 18 Leath stores, including finding a buyer.
Leath's corporate headquarters has been dismantled for the most part, however, and the buying staff has been let go.
