Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Boyles Furniture liquidation sales wrapping up

Going-out-of-business sales are entering their final days at the two remaining Boyles Furniture & Rug stores in Pineville and High Point, barely a year after the stores' parent company announced it was exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a plan to survive and pay off debts.

Conover-based Hendricks Furniture Group filed for bankruptcy in 2009, citing the dismal housing market and decline in home furnishing purchases. At its height, the company operated 34 stores in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, many under names other than Boyles, and Hendricks had retail sales of more than $270 million a year, according to court filings.

But after emerging from bankruptcy, the company was down to five Boyles stores in the Carolinas, which it said at the time were profitable. Since last year, three have closed, in Mocksville and Hickory.

By October, court filings show Hendricks had repaid about $28 million to its creditors and $2 million in legal and accounting fees. In December, a judge officially closed the company's Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. On December 31, the company announced it was liquidating the last two Boyles stores, 61 years after Boyles opened.

Commercials posted online Monday urge customers to get to the Boyles stores in Pineville and High Point for the "final days" of liquidation sales. No final date for the sales was given, and no one at Hendricks Furniture Group could be reached immediately on Wednesday.

"We are now closed for business," announced a recorded message at the company's corporate offices.The message said that the remaining stores are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, but didn't say how long the liquidation sale will last.

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been a Boyles customer and I always regretted it. Really terrible customer service-an indifferent attitude at best, new furniture delivered soiled, ick.

I won't miss them.

Anonymous said...

You could always buy lots of overpriced furniture at Boyles, and be assured the inside of your home would look just like thousands of others.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:31 – So true, I’m 35 now, but remember shopping at Boyles several years ago and no sales people would even approach me and my wife; maybe it was the flip-flops, shorts and tee-shirts, but they turned their backs on a young couple who had combined incomes above $175k. Just more proof that you don’t judge a book by its cover and that you should treat people the way you’d like to be treated. So long Boyles, we don’t need pretentious retailers like you anyway.

Anonymous said...

We LOVED window shopping at Boyles and picking out what we wanted and then buy it in High Point or Hickory at a huge discount.

Anonymous said...

My experience at Boyles was similar. Our experience purchasing a kitchen table was poor. When we had issues the salesman suddenly forgot who we were. Most recently we bought an expensive leather couch and two matching chairs and two ottomans. We ducked that salesman but still had a so-so experience. We looked elsewhere for tables, etc. and had a great experience at Crate and Barrel on good looking, solid wood furniture that was less than engineered pieces at Boyles.

Anonymous said...

Pretty sure there a lot of couples out there with a "combined income over $175k" wearing flip flops. What about a young single guy with an income of $80k? If I'm wearing flip flops will they also judge my income unfairly?

Maybe they just figured you were cheap?

Just sayin.

David P said...

Based on their "pre-liquidation" prices, they are still making money at their closeout prices. Sounds more like crappy management and poor customer service to me.

WHAT IT DOES said...

all i remember is shopping at Boyle's like everyday and always like seeing people buying furniture and stuff and like then they would ship the furniture home. and i was always like looking around at all the great displays but sometimes wondering like, for real, are these overpriced? and other times i would just like sit down and try out the different beds and stuff but sometimes the beds would feel different from the chairs, like they were made different or something, but i could never really figure out: like was it different reasons for the way they felt or what? but people would like buy both kinds, anyways, usually because they would like say they wanted a bed for one thing but like a chair for a totally different reason. but sometimes like it would just seem like it was so weird that it was just like every other furniture store. Boyle's...like half my childhood there.

Anonymous said...

No, no, no Anon 2:55, I guess you had to be there, they were jumping at the people coming through the door wearing what I’d call ‘church cloths’, but my wife and I did a couple laps around the store and the sales people would see us and walk the other way, it was laughable! I’m in sales and know how to book a commission, money is green no matter who it comes from, a single guy making $80k, my wife and I or Warren Buffet, it all spends the same, but all I expect is to be treated kindly; clearly after reading some of these comments, Boyles deserves to go out of business.

Anonymous said...

I actually walked in there right after church but my husband was not with me. The sales people were talking in the front of the store to each other and ignored me. Then my husband came in a few minutes after I did and he got the same response. We were furnishing our new 3000 square foot home completely. Their lost not ours!

Anonymous said...

Terrible customer service and the highest prices for the same furniture found elsewhere. They got what they deserved.

Carolina Interiors carried most of the same brands, had lower prices and wonderful service. They too had to close their doors. They did not deserve their outcome.

Anonymous said...

When the goal of your purchasing dept. is to put your customer base out of work your business will one day fail. To much crappy asian sweat shop inventory did Boyles in. Out of work americans could not afford Boyles.

Anonymous said...

When I moved here, all I needed was a formal dining set and after looking around, bought one at Boyles. I chose a Jackson Carter table and chairs because it was a North Carolina mfr ....well, I get the set and buffet and it all says underneath: MADE IN CHINA. One side of the table was shiny, the other, dull! They had to send a "wood tech" to look at it and repolish it, but it took weeks. Never again! I can see why they went out of business.

Anonymous said...

Wow, seems like everyone leaving comments has sour grapes. I always had excellent customer service at Boyles; many of my friends did also. I found their prices competitive - not the sticker price, but the quote you actually would get from a salesperson. I shop all over the outlets also, so I'm not comparing to high priced stores. Moved here from out of state, prices are much higher for the same furniture lines at areas outside NC. I will miss Boyles - especially their annual clearance sale in Hickory!!!

Anonymous said...

Carolina Interiors is BACK in business! They reopened in late 2009 in the same location in Kannapolis. Joel Blackwelder is still there and we all know what wonderful design work he does! Same great quality of furniture and the same great prices!

They are open Tuesday through Saturday 10-6 I believe. Closed on Sundays and Mondays. Telephone number is 704-933-3333. Web address is carolina-interiors.com.

Anonymous said...

We bought furniture from Boyles. Their furniture lines were of better quality than most and their prices very competitive considering the quality and lines they sold. We always got good service.

Anonymous said...

Waited almost 4 months for a sectional sofa to be delivered. Later found out the delay was because the company couldn't afford to pay the furniture maker. Sad to say but Boyle's is an example of a company that didn't change during the downturn and expected the same results as the boom times.

Anonymous said...

I am an avid furniture shopper and found Boyles to be a mixed bag. We started out at the old Boyles Outlet off of Sardis Road. They used to carry Maitland Smith and Baker pieces at incredible prices. When they moved to Independence, we noticed the quality changed and we stopped going. We would browse at the Boyles Furniture Showroom from time to time and did order a couple of pieces there but tried to make sure we had done our homework (particularly their shipping and delivery costs). The salespeople were paid by commission so I'm surprised if they were not eager to help anyone. We typically told folks we were just looking until we knew we wanted to buy something. Only once did we have a problem and Boyles fixed it promptly. I personally will miss their annual Blow Out sale in Hickory - they had some amazing deals in their day.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ely - let us know if Baker is going to do their semi-Annual warehouse sale this year or if Hickory is also slowing down with these types of events!

Anonymous said...

Funny that all of these negative comments are anonymous and the writing style is similar in every post. Hmm same person with an ax to grind? Boyles was always a nice place to shop for me and my family.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely right on!!
First of all .. Whoever is posting the negative comments does NOT know furniture...
What I do know??
A bunch of idiotic women who don't have anything better to do.
Boyles was a good business at one time.
But again you take a bunch of idiots who DONT know furniture running their mouths...
As a designer just by listening to their garbage
Shows their stupidity..
First of all of you dumbass women..
None of you... As much as you would like to think ..
CANNOT get into furniture market in high point
Only to the trade
As for the owners of boyles.. I am sure..
Like all of the higher end dealers
Have taken their market elsewhere..
It may not be a boyles.. But it will not be dealing with stupid retail customers wanting something for nothing!!!
Which means even higher prices for the stupid people..
It drives prices higher not cheaper.. Dumbass's!!

Anonymous said...

Carolina interiors was awful!!!
I wouldn't buy from them then or now!!
I can't believe someone would even compare boyles
To Carolina interiors...
Yuk yuk yuk

addypotter said...

It's always said when stores go out of business. I wish them the best. It is nice when you can find great deals at furniture liquidation though.

Unknown said...

I've been to a few overpriced furniture stores, and I always wondered how they survive. I guess sometimes they don't. But their furniture liquidation sales are nice, unless they didn't learn their and lesson and still price their products too high.

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