Wisconsin furniture retailer Porters of Racine to close

High-end store has been open for 152 years

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, December 31, 2009

RACINE, Wis. — Porters of Racine, one of the oldest high-end furniture stores in Wisconsin, has announced it will close after 152 years in business, the Racine Journal Times reports.

"The decision has been made," Micah Waters, vice president of the retailer, told the newspaper. "Under this economy the high-end luxury market has been hit like we have never seen before."

Porters, which was established in 1857, has a flagship store in Racine with four floors of furniture and 80,000 square feet. Waters said the store will close next year but did not give a date, the Journal Times said.

Last week, the company announced that it was closing a furniture clearance center in Wauwatosa, Wis. Two other clearance stores closed earlier.

Click here to read the Journal Times story.