A longtime Ethan Allen furniture dealer in Kettering will stop selling the manufacturer’s products this fall to bring a new furniture maker into the store.
Owner Bob Day plans to convert his store, Ethan Allen of Kettering, to the Drexel Heritage furniture line in November. A sale on Ethan Allen furniture begins Sept. 18, he said. Drexel Heritage has a much broader selection than Ethan Allen, he said. Drexel’s brands include Lillian August, Postobello Home and Vera Bradley.
Day, who owns the store with his wife Susie, said he and other independent Ethan Allen dealers are growing unsure of the manufacturer’s direction. The product selection has shrunk over the years, leading to a 3 to 10 percent yearly decline in store sales, he said.
“We just don’t seem to know what direction the company is headed,” Day said. “It seems like we’re always changing and going into different directions. It used to be we catered to a very large section of the community … in the last several years … selection become limited.”
Day is the second generation of his family to sell furniture in Dayton. His parents became Ethan Allen independent store owners 68 years ago. He has 17 employees and could potentially another five workers after converting to Drexel.
Day estimates that the store, located at 1000 E. Dorothy Lane, will be closed for one to three weeks, likely beginning in late October, for interior remodeling. The store will reopen as Drexel Heritage of Dayton.
“It was tough leaving Ethan Allen because we’d been with them for a long time,” he said. “It’s still a good product.”
Danbury, Conn.-based Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. (NYSE: ETH – News) sells furniture and accessories at 313 stores, of which 158 are company-owned. The company has nine U.S. manufacturing facilities including two sawmills.
High Point, N.C.-based Drexel Heritage Furniture Industries Inc. is part of the combined operations of HDM Furniture Industries, Inc., a subsidiary of the St. Louis, Mo. based Furniture Brands International.
Published September 13, 2014 by the Dayton Business Journal
