By Tom Stieghorst
It’s curtains for Modernage Furniture.
The venerable retailer is closing its seven Florida

stores, which have been outfitting South Florida homes and condos since the 1940s.

Billboards have been put along Interstate 95 advertising a going-out-of-business sale at the stores, which include locations in Boca Raton, Oakland Park and Pembroke Pines.

Those sales begin today at all locations except the one in Oakland Park, which will start slightly later than the others, said Roy Hester, vice president of Planned Furniture Promotions, which will liquidate the inventory.

Sales have been declining at Modernage, which was hurt by the active hurricane seasons in 2004 and 2012 and increased competition from City Furniture, Rooms to Go, Ashley Furniture and El Dorado Furniture.

“Florida had no Ikea stores,” said Hester, referring to a trendy European brand that plans to open in Sunrise this summer. “Now they’re coming in Tampa, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.”

Modernage was founded in the 1920s in New York and moved to Miami in 1940. It claims credit as the first retailer to introduce the modular wall unit in the 1960s.

Hester estimated more than 200 people work for Modernage, which is owned by Atlanta-based Leath Furniture.

“It’s sad to see an institution like that have to close,” he said.

In addition to its stores, it runs an eight-acre warehouse at a site in north Miami-Dade County.

Furniture retailers in South Florida and elsewhere have been affected in recent months by the slump in real estate sales, which has reduced demand.

Efforts to reach a Leath official for comment were unsuccessful.

Tom Stieghorst can be reached at tstieghorst@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5008.