GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Warren-based Art Van Furniture will close all of its company-owned locations in Michigan, as well as Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri. Liquidation sales will start this week.
"Despite our best efforts to remain open, the company's brands and operating performance have been hit hard by a challenging retail environment," company spokesperson Diane Charles said in a statement Thursday. "We recognize the extraordinary retail, community and philanthropic legacies that Art Van Furniture has built for decades in the community."
Art Van Elslander opened his first furniture store in metro Detroit in 1959, according to a press release from Art Van. The company grew to become the number one furniture and mattress retailer in the Midwest. Van Elslander passed away in 2018, just a year after a majority stake of the company was sold to a Boston-based private equity firm.
"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," Charles said.
Liquidation sales will begin Friday, March 6 at all Art Van Furniture, Art Van PureSleep and Scott Shuptrine Interiors in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and Missouri.
The company has nearly 200 stores in 9 states with more than 3,000 employees.
Art Van acquired Levin & Wolf Furniture from owner Robert Levin in 2017. Levin is coming out of retirement to buy back stores in both Ohio and Pennsylvania, pending court approval.
Eight Wolf Furniture stores in Maryland and Virginia will be liquidated.
SHIFT IN OWNERSHIP
Thomas H. Lee Partners purchased Art Van in 2017 and expanded the company at a rapid rate, according to Paul Isely, an economics professor and associate dean at Grand Valley's Seidman College of Business.
"They were trying a very aggressive expansion," Isely said. "What it would appear is that it didn't work as well as they hoped."
Isely said there was also a series of management changes and three different CEOs since the firm took over.
"We've seen this in other places like Sears. In those cases, that change in culture, that change in management style, that change in focus has often led to problems within that firm," Isely said.
Isely estimates about $100 to $300 million will be lost in Midwest economies as a result of the closure, and most of that is in Michigan.
LOCAL COMMUNITY IMPACT
A spokesperson for Art Van said the Art Van Sports Complex in the Rockford area, as well as, the Art Van Santa Parade will both have to find new sponsors.
Art Van Sports Complex president Mike Guswiler said the complex will continue to operate as usual. He said that much of the financial backing from Art Van Furniture happened back in 2014, however, the company does contribute annually to the complex.
Guswiler would not disclose how much Art Van gives per year, however, he said the naming rights contract with the company was supposed to go through 2024.
Guswiler said he is not sure yet what will happen with that contract.
The Art Van Santa Parade did not yet return request for comment.
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