Indiana Retailer Closing after 58 Years

February 6, 2007  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on February 2007 Gary, Ind., furniture retailer Albert E. Slater Furniture will liquidate between $2.5 million and $3 million in inventory in preparation for closing permanently, the (Gary) Post Tribune reported.

Business has been good, Larry Appelsies, vice president of the corporation, said, but the store will close due to his impending retirement. Sale of the remaining merchandise should take 30 to 60 days.

“I’ve had some health issues. Life is too short, so after 58 years we are closing,” Appelsies said.

Albert E. Slater and his wife, Betty, founded the business in 1949. Their daughters, Eadie Appelsies and Debby Silverman, took over the company with their husbands when their parents left the business. Jerry Silverman is the retired company president.

Neither of the couples’ children was interested in running the business after their parents’ retirement, and the owners did not want to sell the store and the name to someone outside the family.

The store has 14 employees, most of whom Appelsies said agreed to remain on board to help with the shutdown.