Retailer closes stores in Las Vegas, nationwide

Thursday, July 12, 2001 | 11:19 a.m.

HomeLife pulled the welcome mat out from in front of its 133 furniture stores Wednesday, an abrupt end to a company that struggled from the outset.

The closings, including HomeLife's one standalone store in Las Vegas, come amid a retail shakeout that has seen falling profits and the demise of big-name competitors Helig-Meyers and Montgomery Ward.

The company said it hopes the closures will be temporary and that executives are negotiating with potential lenders. But the statement notes, "We currently do not have firm dates established for business reopening."

HomeLife was the nation's eighth-largest furniture store with sales of $680 million in 2000, according to the Furniture Today trade paper.

Sears started HomeLife in 1989 as a generally free-standing furniture store. The concept was good, but the chain was neglected, said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Report.

"It was a money loser for Sears for a variety of reasons, (among them) too few stores scattered over too wide an area of the U.S. It was very difficult to operate efficiently that way."

The chain was sold to Citicorp Venture Capital Ltd., a private investment firm in 1998, though Sears maintained a 19 percent interest in the furniture stores and housed 14 HomeLifes inside its department stores.

Sears today announced it will take a $185 million charge against its second-quarter earnings as a result of HomeLife's discontinuation of its operations.