132-year-old bankrupt furniture brand shuts production facility

Homebuyers have received some good news to start the new year, as mortgage rates have fallen from about 7.04% on Jan. 16, 2025, to about 6.15% on Jan. 2, 2026, according to Freddie Mac. House hunters might give it a little more time to see if the rate drops further before pulling the trigger on a ...

Jan 3, 2026 - 09:00

Homebuyers have received some good news to start the new year, as mortgage rates have fallen from about 7.04% on Jan. 16, 2025, to about 6.15% on Jan. 2, 2026, according to Freddie Mac.

House hunters might give it a little more time to see if the rate drops further before pulling the trigger on a purchase and a mortgage, but the declining rate is encouraging for the real estate market.

Furniture sales declined

An improving real estate market would be a welcome relief for the furniture industry, which suffered slow sales at the end of 2025, recording sales decline by 1.87% in September 2025 and 0.08% in October 2025.

Sales were almost flat in November 2025, slightly ticking up by 0.01%, according to the National Retail Federation's CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor for November 2025.

The National Retail Federation has not yet released the CNBC/NRF Retail Monitor for December 2025.

Furniture industry sales

1.87% decline in September 2025
0.08% decline in October 2025
0.01% increase in November 2025
Source: National Retail Federation

A slow real estate market has been one of the factors causing distress in the furniture sector, along with rising labor and product costs driven by inflation, increased tariff levies, and lingering effects from the Covid pandemic.

In some cases, furniture retailers close their doors because it's time for the owners to retire from the business, such as Miramar Beach, Fla., retailer Tuskers Home Store and Wisconsin furniture store Meiselwitz, which both revealed in December that they would go out of business.

In other cases, companies closing their furniture stores are also closing their manufacturing facilities.

*Kroehler Furniture shut down its North Carolina manufacturing plant.*
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Kroehler Furniture closes manufacturing plant

132-year-old bankrupt Kroehler Furniture Company permanently closed down its Conover, N.C., manufacturing facility on Dec. 31, after sending a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter to the North Carolina Department of Commerce on Dec. 29, only two days before closing.

The closing of the facility will result in the layoffs of 208 Kroehler employees, according to Woodworking Network.

Kroehler owners sent a WARN letter

"This confirms that Kroehler Furniture Co. has determined that it will be closing its facility located at 1800 Conover Bld. E, Conover, NC 28613, due to a significant reduction in business, resulting from its parent company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Regrettably, your employment will be terminated as part of this closing," the company wrote in the WARN letter, according to WHKY-Radio.

The WARN Act requires employers with 100 or more full-time employees to provide 60 days' advanced written notice to employees of a worksite closing that affects 50 or more employees, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

An employer may be liable for up to 60 days of back pay and benefits to their employees if they don't comply with the 60-day WARN requirement.

Kroehler manufactured for Value City Furniture

Kroehler, which is owned by American Signature Inc., manufactured furniture for the Value City Furniture brand. The company blamed a significant reduction in business for closing the plant, WHKY reported.

The company was seeking capital or business to keep operations going, it wrote in its WARN letter, and "reasonably in good faith believed that advance notice would preclude its ability to obtain such capital or business."

Kroehler said that it delayed giving notice, since it believed "new capital or business would allow the company to avoid or postpone a shutdown for a reasonable period."

American Signature, the parent company of American Signature Furniture and Value City Furniture, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Nov. 22 to reorganize its business and sell its assets to stalking-horse bidder ASI Purchaser LLC, after closing several of its stores.

More closings:

Casual Mexican restaurant chain closes more locations
79-year-old national trucking company closes down, no bankruptcy
65-year-old Home Depot rival shutters business permanently

The parent company, which operated about 120 stores across the U.S. with 3,200 employees, closed store locations to realign its market presence, the company said in an October statement.

Kroehler manufactured bedroom sets, dressers, sofas, recliners, cabinets, bookshelves, and other furniture pieces.