HIGH POINT — Every year, businesses begin, and businesses end. And in 2022, Furniture Today has reported on these retailers who have decided that this year is the end of their run.
In January, Whitley Furniture Galleries of Zebulon, N.C., announced that it was going out of business after 113 years. R.J. Whitley founded Zebulon Supply Co., a general mercantile store, in 1909. His son, C.V. Whitley, joined the business in 1916 and eight years later took over management of the business upon his father’s death. In 1959, C.V.’s daughter Nancy and her husband Amos Estes took over the business until their retirement in 1993. Their children, Charles Whitley Estes and Nelle Carroll, owned it last.
Retailer N.B. Liebman, a 100-year-old retailer out of Mechanicsburg, Pa., announced in March that it was closing its doors. “My deepest gratitude to all the people who’ve been part of NB Liebman, from the countless families we served to the wonderful store staff who became part of our family,” said Charles Liebman. “I’ve been personally privileged to serve this community for more than 50 years of the company’s history.”
The Larrabee family, owners of Larrabee’s Furniture & Design of Littleton, Colo., made the decision to go out on top in July. Larrabee’s began in Boulder in 1962 and eventually set up shops in Fort Collins and Greeley over the years. Over time, Fort Collins evolved into the flagship before the family closed it and operated out of Littleton during the past decade or so.
News came in late September that Lastick Furniture, a Pottstown, Pa., mainstay for 50 years, is closing as its owners are retiring. Eli and Sonia Lastick founded the business with their son Jerry in 1973. Jerry’s sister, Marsha Lastick-Petnick joined the business with her husband, Martin, in 1979.
Just this week, longtime Worcester, Mass.-based retailer Rotmans announced that it has begun the going-out-of-business process. “It’s reached the point where my kids are in other careers, and there is no other family involved. I’m 83. It’s time to make the changes and move on,” owner Steve Rotman told Furniture Today. “We’ve done phenomenal. We’ve been at the top in Worcester for the past 25 years. The business has been fairly good over the past four or five years. It just got to the point where it was getting more stressful.”
See also: Layoffs, closings and bankruptcies 2022. Latest to be hit in furniture industry – Furniture Today
Thomas Lester is Retail Editor for Furniture Today and Digital/Managing Editor for Home Accents Today. A graduate of Emory & Henry College’s Mass Communications program, Lester spent a dozen years working for newspapers in Virginia and North Carolina covering an array of subjects, ranging from community news, government, education, ACC sports, professional baseball and more before joining Furniture Today in 2013. Reach out to me with your story ideas, tips and more at [email protected]
