Furniture Depot to close after 27 years in Ashland

The Furniture Depot of Ashland, a 27-year-old business, will close next month and begin liquidating its inventory Thursday.

"The economy killed us basically," said Sheryl Clear, who owns the business with her husband, Loren Clear. "It started a couple years ago but this last year was pretty tough. We just decided it was time."

The 498 Oak St. store sells contemporary, upholstered and wood furniture made in North America.

The Clears bought the business 15 years ago and moved it from its location on Fourth and A streets to its present building on Oak Street, which they constructed. The Depot is the only full-service furniture shop in Ashland, according to Sheryl Clear.

"It's been a gradual process of watching the sales decline and watching the forecasts for the economy which are not good," she said. "There have been a lot of factors that have impacted this kind of business. First of all, we sell big-ticket items."

Many of the Depot's customers are retired and living on fixed incomes, so they aren't as willing to spend money in the recession, she said.

"People lost a lot of money in the stock market," she said. "Even if they're doing OK on a day-to-day basis, they don't have the net worth that they're used to so they're not spending as much money."

The Depot's entire inventory of living room, dining room, bedroom and office furniture will be on sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays, until it is gone. Sheryl Clear expects all the furniture to be sold sometime in February, she said.

She will continue to operate Sheryl Clear Interior Design.

"We've always been a resource for people and I think that I can continue to be that kind of resource for people through my design business," she said.

Staff writer Hannah Guzik can be reached at 482-3456 ext. 226 or hguzik@dailytidings.com.