Founded in 1969 in Atlanta Georgia, Storehouse Furniture was well-known for its contemporary furnishings. In fact, it was Storehouse Furniture that was responsible for many of today’s best international manufacturers coming to the United States. Through both company-owned stores and franchises, Storehouse Furniture became a well-known name in the southeast, mid-Atlantic and Texas regions.

In 1999, Storehouse Furniture was acquired by Rowe Companies, from McLean, Virginia, and was integrated into Rowe’s Home Elements. Together, this new retail division had more than 60 stores across 15 states and even won the ARTS award twice for most outstanding national furniture store as well as Retailer of the Year from “Home” magazine in 2003.

However, industry kudos wasn’t enough to save Storehouse Furniture and Rowe Companies filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2006. Storehouse Furniture had hoped to keep their doors open, but a U.S. District Court in eastern Virginia ordered the company to liquidate its assets as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. Storehouse's inventory was valued at $60 million and Rowe was unable to find a purchaser willing to keep the stores up and running. In October, Storehouse Furniture was sold to Hudson Capital Partners, who promptly liquidated their inventory and closed all the stores. "The Storehouse liquidation sale was ordered following exhaustive efforts to sell the chain or obtain fresh equity, which proved unsuccessful," Hudson Capital Partners co-founder Jim Schaye said in a statement.

What Does That Mean For Other Furniture Companies?

With stores like Storehouse Furniture closed, it leaves an obvious niche in the market waiting to be picked up by another retailer. Whether it’s a larger furniture chain or a smaller state or regional chain, one company’s demise can be another’s gain; it’s just a matter of effective market placement.

But clearly, Storehouse Furniture had the customers based on market demographics and store locations. And the company had been showing growth, but it was insufficient to meet growing operational demands.

Case studies showing where and how such furniture companies like Storehouse and Rhodes fail while others like Nebraska Furniture Mart continue to thrive could help other struggling furniture companies as they seek their own niche in the marketplace. Using industry analysts, current and future companies could learn from the success and failures of alternative online web stores such as was the case with Rhodes Furniture as well as what went wrong at Storehouse. More importantly, how companies like Nebraska Furniture Mart continue to thrive on basic principles of truth and low prices.