By Jim Jordan

A Lexington furniture store has closed its doors after accepting thousands of dollars in payments for furniture that has not been delivered.

Norwalk, The Furniture Idea, in Hamburg Place was operated by Danny Hillard, president of Hillard Enterprises, who is a franchisee of the Norwalk Furniture Corp. in Norwalk, Ohio.

Hillard could not be reached for comment despite attempts over several days.

A notice on the store’s door says the business is ‘temporary closed.’ It provides a phone number that leads to an answering machine, but no explanation for the closing.

No bankruptcy filing had been made as of late yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Lexington.

Also taped to the store’s front door is a note from Sherry Price, a customer who wanted other customers to contact her. Price said she has heard from about a dozen people who are owed money or furniture.

Price deposited about $1,400 with Norwalk for a sectional sofa and chair that was to be delivered in early March, but has not been, she said.

Businesses say they have lost even more.

The Racquet Club apartments paid $17,000 for furniture for its common areas that has not been delivered, said leasing manager Ellie Brown.

Jim Gerken, CEO of Norwalk Furniture Corp., said customers will not lose their money or the furniture they ordered. But he added that customers need to be be patient while Norwalk’s attorneys work on the case.

‘The unfortunate situation here is that the legal contract between the consumer and the store isn’t something we can interfere in, or have much effect on, until we get in touch with the franchisee and we enter into a legal agreement to take care of these people,’ Gerken said.

‘We are not going to abandon them,’ he said, ‘but we have to go through the legal steps required before we can take any action.’

‘All I can say is, we are over a 100-year-old company that hasn’t stayed in business that long by disappointing customers,’ Gerken added, ‘but I understand the frustrations they are feeling, and we are trying to resolve it as quickly as we can.’

Price said Norwalk customers have been unable to contact Hillard. She said the company’s Palumbo Drive warehouse, where some of their furniture might be stored, is also closed.

Price said she put her name on the store’s door so she could act as a clearinghouse for information about the situation.

‘I knew there had to be more people (who had losses), and I knew it would be better for all of us if we kind of united or banded together,’ she said. ‘Each person I have talked to has had a different piece of the puzzle.’

Hillard has been in the furniture business in the Lexington area since the late 1980s.

Hillard worked for Clark Equipment Co. in Georgetown until it closed and then went to the Kentucky Small Business Development Center to learn how to start up and manage a furniture store.

The result was Sofas and Such, which opened in 1987 in Georgetown. Hillard later sold that store to buy a Fine Designs Sofa Gallery franchise on Richmond Road in Lexington.

Fine Designs was owned by Norwalk Furniture, a family-owned Ohio company that was founded in 1902. The Richmond Road location adopted the Norwalk name and later moved to Hamburg.

Protect yourself

Before you order furniture or other expensive items from a retailer, the Better Business Bureau of Central and Eastern Kentucky recommends you call the BBB at 259-1008 to see whether other customers have filed complaints against the retailer.

If you proceed, make the deposit or the purchase with a credit card, said BBB spokeswoman Heather Clary.

Then if something goes wrong, you can dispute the charge within 60 or 90 days (depending on your credit card’s rules) and have the charge removed from your account.

If the retailer operates a franchise store, call the franchising company to see whether it can intervene on your behalf if there is a major problem with the retailer.

And if the retailer goes into bankruptcy, file a claim with the court so you can recover at least part of what you are owed if the debtor has any assets, Clary said.

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