Centre County will soon lose three locally-owned furniture stores, with the longtime owner set to retire and close the businesses later this year.
Owner Brad Ishler, 68, intends to close Amish Furniture Connection (Benner Township) and his two Your Furniture 4 Less locations (Benner Township; Rush Township) by mid-March. He opened his first furniture store 12 years ago.
“It wasn’t an easy decision because I enjoy what I do,” Ishler told the CDT. “But you get to a certain age in life and you realize there are other things that become more important than working — family and kids and grandkids.”
Ishler said he’s thought about retiring, and his businesses’ next steps, over the last few years. But he began seriously contemplating the move in August and announced it in December. Some customers received a letter in late December, indicating a going-out-of-business sale, and Isher’s stores recently began a similar marketing campaign earlier this week.
Because Ishler leases all three properties, and because he said no one was in line to take over, it made more sense to the owner to hold a going-out-of-business sale instead of trying to sell the business. It’s not yet known what, if anything, might be coming to those locations instead.
Isher has two stores in the Bellefonte area and one near Philipsburg. He characterized Your Furniture 4 Less as a typical furniture store, while Amish Furniture Connection has a more boutique feel.
Typically, the three locations have combined to support between 10-12 employees.
“It is difficult,” Ishler added. “You value your employees. You value your customers. And I think we had a good reputation in the area; we had a lot of repeat business. And we have a lot of customers coming in, telling us they wish we weren’t leaving. It’s nice to hear that.”
Ishler doesn’t yet have specific closing dates for the three stores, outside of likely being sometime in mid-March. But it is possible, he said, for Amish Furniture Connection to close earlier.
Josh Moyer earned his B.A. in journalism from Penn State and his M.S. from Columbia. He’s been involved in sports and news writing for nearly 20 years. He counts the best athlete he’s ever seen as Tecmo Super Bowl’s Bo Jackson.
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January 20, 2024 at 06:00PM
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3 Centre County furniture stores to close later this year. ‘It wasn’t an easy decision’ - Centre Daily Times
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