Norris Furniture & Interiors Closing In Florida; Hendricks Furniture Refocuses On Carolinas

Furniture World Magazine

Larry Hendricks, owner of Hendricks Furniture Group (HFG) and Norris Furniture (Norris), announced his management team’s plan to exit the Florida market and dissolve the Norris retail brand. The announcement is one element of a two-part strategy to realign Hendricks’ retail holdings in light of current challenges in the marketplace. The first step in the strategy is to divest of non-performing business units, primarily the Norris retail locations and related support facilities in South Florida. “Norris has accounted for 80 percent of our losses, and just 15 percent of our revenues,” said owner Larry Hendricks. “We cannot continue in Florida, with the state’s economy still so unstable, without unnecessarily jeopardizing our other, unaffiliated operations.” Norris stores in Naples and Ft. Myers will begin liquidating stocked merchandise immediately, during which time final customer orders will be fulfilled and all vendor obligations met. The company is working closely with its lending and manufacturing partners to ensure the exit from these challenging markets is completed in an orderly, equitable fashion. The second component of the announcement was that more operational efficiencies and retail adjustments would be taking place within Hendricks’ other company, Hendricks Furniture Group (dba Boyles Distinctive Furniture). These proactive measures will include more customer-focused merchandising and more strategic vendor alliances. The benefits of this more integrated, disciplined approach are expected to continue contributing to Boyles’ stability—and to serve as a foundation for the company’s growth as the economy begins to recover. “We’ve made difficult but very necessary decisions to realign our operations with the current state of the economy,” said Hendricks. “We regret the impact these changes will have on our dedicated employees, but I am confident we will now be able to move forward as a leaner, more customer-focused company.”