Sofa Express...

[Ames#1171]

Sofa Express poised to close stores...

An Ohio furniture retailer with a nearly 50-year history is eliminating its corporate staff and beginning the process to close stores.

According to documents filed with the Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, Sofa Express Inc. plans to close all eight of its Central Ohio stores and its headquarters and warehouse. Another six stores in northeast Ohio are scheduled to close, putting 436 workers out of a job altogether. That tally includes 253 workers at the Groveport, Ohio, headquarters.

The company has five Tri-State stores. The location at Governor's Square in Symmes Township is open, but only selling furniture in its showroom. The other locations on Union Cemetery Road in Symmes Township; Spiral Boulevard in Florence; Madison Road in Norwood; and Commons Drive in Springdale are currently open. Stores on Colerain Avenue and Eastgate Boulevard closed earlier this year.

Sofa Express said in its filings with the state that "very recently, and despite attempts to secure the company's financial future," it was closing the headquarters and stores "due to its financial situation."

The store closings and job cuts are expected to occur over the next several months and could start as early as Tuesday, according to Sofa Express' filings. The company's corporate office was open Tuesday.

Repeated calls to Sofa Express Chief Executive Officer Woolard Harris and to parent company Klaussner Furniture Industries Inc. were not returned.

Sofa Express' Web site is not working, with a message that it is under construction.

The trade publication Furniture Today is reporting all of the company's more than 40 stores are expected to close. The publication reported Sofa Express sent a letter to store managers Monday stating closings would begin Tuesday.

Sofa Express runs stores in Ohio, Florida, the Carolinas and Tennessee and had sales of $206 million in 2006, according to Furniture Today.


Sofa Express e-mail says stores to begin closing...

DAYTON — Furniture retailer Sofa Express and More informed its stores by e-mail on Monday that they would be closed, starting on Tuesday and continuing for up to 60 days.

The company's announcement, coming just as the Christmas shopping season ramps up, gave employees no indication when their particular stores will close. It also did not say what provision will be made for customers who are awaiting delivery of furniture from Sofa Express.

"As you know, very recently and despite attempts to secure our financial future, Sofa Express Inc. has determined that it must close your facility due to its financial situation, resulting in the termination of your employment," according to an employee notification letter from Alisa Schueneman, human resources director of Sofa Express, dated Monday and received at the company's Huber Heights store. "Your loss of employment is expected to be permanent."

Schueneman informed the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services that the closing of the company's corporate headquarters in Groveport, near Columbus, will eliminate about 250 jobs within the next few months. Schueneman did not return calls on Tuesday about how many other employees would lose their jobs as the stores are closed throughout the system.

Eric Bailey, a sales employee at the Huber Heights store, confirmed that the store had received an e-mail Monday advising of the planned closings. It was not clear when the various stores would close, Bailey said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

"It said it could take up to 60 days," he said of the note.

Calls to the headquarters of Sofa Express and to its parent company, Klaussner Home Furnishings in Asheboro, N.C., on Tuesday were not returned. The Sofa Express corporate Web site was inoperative, with a note saying it was "currently under construction."

Management decided about six weeks ago to stop accepting custom orders for furniture, Bailey said. Custom orders account for about 60 percent of business at the Huber Heights store, he said.

That has made it difficult for sales personnel whose wages are commission paid on sales, Bailey said.


Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.



Sofa Express operations

Headquarters: Groveport, Ohio.

Operations: Approximately 40 stores, primarily in Ohio, Tennessee, Florida and the Carolinas. Its stores include three in the Dayton market, with one each in Miamisburg, Huber Heights and Beavercreek. All three stores were open on Tuesday. The company also operates distribution and clearance centers.

Sales: $206.9 million for transactions involving furniture, bedding and accessories in 2006.

Source: Furniture Today, business publication that covers the furniture industry.

[Kmart4life]

That Sucks!
ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST:(

[dmx10101]

When I visited Jacksonville, FL this week I remember going by the Sofa Express there.

[Ames#1171]

Here is the Sofa Express in Middleburg Heights, OH.  I took this with my phone when I was in the car with my mom today.