Liberty Furniture to close after 87 years
Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, June 29, 2011
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Liberty Furniture, a family-owned retailer located here that has been in business for 87 years, is closing its doors, according a story by The Florida Times-Union.The retailer started a going-out-of-business sale on Monday, June 28, and plans to permanently close in two months.
Liberty's 21,000-square-foot showroom and 12,000-square-foot warehouse location, at 5555 University Blvd. W., is also for sale. The company had operated out of this space since 1986.
"It's very difficult to make money in furniture these days," said Bea Sherman, co-owner of Liberty with husband Marvin and daughter of founder Herman Weiss.
Liberty survived the Great Depression and a fire in 1973 that destroyed the company's warehouse and store and killed Weiss' son Paul. Weiss, an Austrian immigrant, named the store after the Statue of Liberty in honor of his new home.
"It's sad to close something down that we've worked so hard to make successful," said Marvin Sherman.
About 40 employees will be dismissed when the store closes, the Shermans said.
During the store's heyday in the 1980s and '90s, it won a furniture sales industry arts award and employed 13 interior designers. Liberty also sought to give back to the community by putting on 15 designer showcase benefit events to raise money for the Jacksonville Symphony.
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