HANOVER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Rhys Evans has worked for Noble Furniture for the last 25 years. While he is not a part of the family that owns and operates the business through blood or marriage, he says he's treated like one of their own and has been through a lot by their side.
"When I started in '94. It was probably the busiest I've seen it, we were delivering six days a week from morning to night and then in the mid-2000s it dropped off, you know 2008 it was bad, and then it came back a little bit, but never to what it was," explained Evans.
Evans says what has hurt the business most, is a deviation of customer preference away from American made furniture.
"The imports and the big box stores, everybody wanted to buy not quality, but for change, so they could change it more often. Instead buying cheap stuff instead of expensive stuff," added Evans.
The owner tells Newswatch 16 with all of those ups and downs in the industry, he saw closure coming, but the coronavirus pandemic that lead him to make the final decision.
"We shut down the 21st of March and didn't reopen until the first of June and then the first two weeks business was real good, but then after that it just dropped back off again, and from there they decided it wasn't worth trying to keep it going," said Evans.
The store will reopen on Wednesday, July 15, and everything in the store will be at least 30% off.
Owners hope to be cleared out by September, anything left over will likely go to charity.