Barely a year ago, the executive suite at Art Van Furniture was rolling out a triumphant 60 year anniversary celebration, marking six decades of service to furniture buyers across the American Midwest. Today, the company founded in Detroit back in 1959 has announced a total liquidation and the closure of every company-owned store in the country. In fact, the liquidation sales will begin tomorrow, Friday, March 6th, 2020.
Detroit TV stations are reporting that every employee was notified of the shutdown in phone calls made to them early today.
Fox 2 in Detroit quotes company spokesman Diane Charles as saying, “Despite our best efforts to remain open, the company’s brands and operating performance have been hit hard by a challenging retail environment. We recognize the extraordinary retail, community and philanthropic legacies that Art Van Furniture has built for decades in the community.” She adds, “On behalf of the company, we want to offer our sincere appreciation to our employees for their dedication, commitment and hard work. We also want to extend our gratitude to the many customers, vendors, franchisees, charities and communities who have supported these retailers.”
As recently as last month there were media reports that the store was considering filing for bankruptcy and exploring potential options to survive, but those plans apparently did not pan out and the stores will be closed.
Art Van Elslander opened his first store in a 4,000 square foot showroom in East Detroit back in 1959. The company eventually grew over the next 60-years into the number one furniture and mattress retailer in the entire Midwest. They soared to more than 200 stores in nine states.
The company was privately owned for 58 years until it was acquired three years ago in March of 2017 by Thomas H. Lee Partners out of Boston — one of the world’s most experienced private equity firms. Later that year they also acquired two other well-known furniture retailers, Levin Furniture and Wolf Furniture.
Those two most recent acquisitions, Levin & Wolf Furniture in Ohio and Pennsylvania will be sold to Robert Levin, “pending court approval,” according to a statement from Art Van officials. However, 8 Wolf Furniture stores in Maryland and Virginia will be among the stores being liquidated.
A total of 141 Art Van branded stores in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri are slated for closure, however there are some 20 additional franchise locations in Michigan which are not affected by the liquidation. There was no immediate indication which stores are franchised and unaffected, however, these are the nearest Art Van stores to Michigan’s Great Southwest:
- Mishawaka, Indiana
- Portage, Michigan
- Portage, Indiana
- Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Battle Creek, Michigan
- Holland, Michigan
