Two Ashley stores in North Carolina to close
Both likely to reopen, in new location or different format
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, June 30, 2010
RALEIGH, N.C. — The operators of five Ashley Furniture HomeStores here and in the surrounding region will close two of them starting next month, with plans to reopen one in a better location and the other in a new format.
DeShon Hodge, a partner in the licensed HomeStores with Fred Hudson, CEO of Sanford, Fla.-based furniture retailer Hudson's, said the lease on its 35,000-square-foot showroom in Durham, N.C., is expiring soon. He said the company is considering alternative sites in the greater Raleigh-Durham area for an eventual relocation.
While the timing is not set, Hodge said the company - FreDe Enterprises LLC of Clayton, N.C. - is looking at buildings that are roughly the same size or smaller.
The Goldsboro, N.C., HomeStore - about 45 miles east of Raleigh - was underperforming and also will close, Hodge said. In that market, the operators said they may open another store format in the same location, though the plans haven't been firmed up.
Liquidation sales at both stores will start in mid-July and will run for about 90 days, Hodge said. He said the company hasn't projected how much revenue the sales are expected to generate.
"We're reviewing some other opportunities within the Raleigh area and if the right location becomes available for the right price we would certainly consider other locations," Hodge said. "We want to capitalize on the TV and newspaper media we are currently using as much as possible."
Fred Hudson added, "We're just trying to better both stores, and this is a great time to do it."
Hodge and Hudson operate three other HomeStores in North Carolina in Raleigh, Fayetteville and Clayton. They declined to disclose the stores' annual sales.
Hudson's, combined with the five Ashley Furniture HomeStores, was No. 83 on Furniture/Today's latest Top 100 ranking with estimated sales last year of $57 million.
The Hudson's business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May primarily to restructure real estate debt, Fred Hudson said. He said he now expects to emerge from bankruptcy in November.
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