PAT FLYNN
THERE ARE growing fears for the future of as many as 80 jobs after a Galway-based furniture business ceased trading suddenly over the weekend.
With headquarters in Ballybrit in Galway, Curley Furniture Carpets Ltd operated stores in Galway, Clare and Kilkenny employing up to 80 staff.
Notices posted on the doors of the company’s Ennis store on Saturday morning said: “Curley Furniture Carpets Limited (in receivership) has ceased trading”. Customers were advised to contact receivers Grant Thornton in Galway.
However, despite a telephone number being posted at the Ennis premises, all calls were immediately transferred to an answering machine.
Grant Thornton were appointed joint receivers and managers on April 2nd last. In accounts filed last year, Curley’s Furniture and Carpets showed a pre-tax loss of €3.8 million in 2009 following a drop in revenue.
The company continued to trade and underwent some restructuring last month, including a change of name from Curley’s Furniture to Curley’s Interiors.
Curley’s had also closed a branch in Craughwell in Galway but reopened it again some months later.
The company had hoped to continue as a going concern but this depended on the “availability of continued support from the company’s bankers”.
Efforts to contact director John Curley were unsuccessful. Telephones at all the company’s outlets also rang out yesterday and on Saturday.
A Grant Thornton employee who visited the Ennis store late on Saturday evening declined to comment and referred all queries to the Galway office.
Security staff have maintained a round-the-clock presence at the Ennis store since the receivers took over the premises on Saturday morning.
A stream of customers called to the Ennis branch during the day on Saturday only to find the building locked.
One customer said: “I can’t believe it. I was here last weekend and all but had a deal done.”
Mayor of Ennis Cllr Michael Guilfoyle said: “This is another jobs blow and I would hope that the receivers will make their position clear as soon as possible and outline what the future holds for this business.
“Workers in particular, but also customers, will want to know as soon as possible whether that’s the end of the business and, if people are owed money, if they will get it back.”
Source: www.irishtimes.com
The sale at Bograd's in Riverdale continues as owner's retirement remains on hold - NorthJersey.com
Those looking to redecorate or even find a special piece of furniture still have a chance to visit the final sale at Bograd's.
Bograd's has been a seller of fine furniture since the store first opened in Paterson in 1935, moving to this borough in 1996.
When store owner Joe Bograd announced he would hold the final sale last September, people from all along the Eastern Seaboard drove out to visit the establishment.
Since then, the lines have all but vanished but Bograd's is still offering quality furniture at big discounts.
During this sale, guests can see 50 percent off of the regular price of all furniture and accessories. Bograd also said that during June, guests can get an added discount that includes 25 percent off all furniture.
This sale will go on until the company can sell or lease the building at 81 Paterson-Hamburg Turnpike. It has already leased out the home on the corner of the property to Inn Style, a full-service salon, and was able to sell its property on Riverdale Road, Bograd's Second Home, to its neighbor EVS Metal, which is about to expand.
Bograd said his store is still in business now because he does not want to leave the building empty.
What's more, those who come by can expect to find new items in stock. Bograd explained that when furniture manufacturers heard that his store was still open, they offered to send the store furniture on consignment.
Bograd told them he would do it only if they could offer it for a wonderful price, "and so we've gotten some wonderful product," he said.
Guests who stop by can still expect to find fine furniture from the brands they are familiar with like Guy Chaddock, TRS, Samuelson, and Henredon, according to Bograd.
Source: www.northjersey.com
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