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Bograd's Fine Furniture latest victim of tough economy

High-end N.J. store closing after 81 years in business

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, September 9, 2011

RIVERDALE, N.J. — Bograd's Fine Furniture, the high-end store here that got its start during the Great Depression, is closing, saying it's not willing to sacrifice its quality and service ethic in an era of belt tightening.

Joe and Marcia Bograd are closing the family’s high-end store in Riverdale, N.J., which has been in business for 81 years.

The retailer is promoting "Bograd's Last and Best Sale" to consumers beginning next week. Lynch Sales will run the event, which is expected to conclude before the end of the year.

"The thing that we've become convinced of is that the business model we're part of has died - the high-end, large, single store that has to buy its inventory (and has) millions of dollars on display," said Joe Bograd, chairman of the company his father and uncle founded in 1930.

"When business slows down, it's virtually impossible to get the kind of turn (we need), with the kind of service we give, to make a profit."

Bograd also said the company has been unsuccessful in attempts to refinance its mortgage on the retail building since April 2010, even though it was never late with a payment in some 15 years.

"The banks and the credit agencies - if you have the name furniture in your title, they don't want to talk to you," he said.

Mark Bograd, president, said that as the economy worsened people grew afraid - including industry partners.

"Money is tight for everyone, and it has affected many relationships that used to be based on things like trust, friendship," he said.

Joe Bograd put it this way: "It's just not fun any more."

Key suppliers to the 30,000-square-foot store include Stickley, Hancock & Moore, Century, Theodore Alexander, Tomlinson, TRS and Matsuoka International. For more, click here.

Mark Bograd said the retailer isn't calling the closing a "going-out of-business sale" because GOBs have a negative connotation, suggesting financial distress, and "we're not forced to do this."

"We decided the right way to close the business is to pay everyone, deliver the furniture and to close with honor," he said. "We'd like to show people that can be done."

The company already has signed a deal to sell its nearby 28,000-square-foot warehouse and its store is on the market, Joe Bograd said. But he said his family may not rush to sell, given the store's prime location on Interstate 287 and the depressed real estate market.

The Bograds haven't ruled out a possible return to the industry, maybe in a smaller format, but declined to elaborate.

Joe Bograd, who has worked in the business for 55 years, said he will attend next month's High Point Market "just to say thank you to a lot of people who have been very good to us over the years."

In 2008, Joe Bograd received the David Druckman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Greater New York Home Furnishings Assn. for his "tireless involvement in the industry."

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