The furnishings retail sector has suffered from financial misery within the final 12 months with main dwelling furnishing firms closing shops and submitting for chapter safety.
Firms which have filed for chapter embrace AFC Acquisition Corp., proprietor of Albuquerque-based furnishings chain American Dwelling Furnishings & Mattress, which filed for Chapter 11 chapter to reorganize its enterprise, shut sure shops, and proceed working on March 4.
American Signature Inc., which operated Worth Metropolis and American Signature Furnishings chains, filed for chapter in November 2025 and started liquidating its 89 shops in January 2026.
The furnishings trade has cited declining gross sales, because of a multi-year housing stoop, and rising product and labor prices pushed by inflation and better tariffs, for a discount in furnishings firm gross sales and income.
Monetary misery has led one other main chain to file for chapter and liquidate its shops.
38-year-old American Mattress will liquidate its shops in Chapter 7 chapter.
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American Mattress liquidates in Chapter 7
Iconic, family-owned mattress retail chain American Mattress has misplaced its battle to stay in enterprise, as its Chapter 11 chapter case has been transformed to Chapter 7 liquidation.
A going-out-of-business-liquidation sale had not been introduced, and the corporate had not introduced the variety of workers affected by the shop closings, ultimately examine.
Choose Mary F. Walrath of the U.S. Chapter Court docket for the District of Delaware signed an order on March 16 changing the American Mattress Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 liquidation after approving motions from the U.S. Trustee and the Official Committee of Unsecured Collectors within the case at a March 13 listening to, in line with Furnishings Right now.
The Official Committee of Unsecured Collectors alleged in a Jan. 28 conversion movement that the debtor had not made significant progress towards reorganization, had not filed a reorganization plan, and had operated with out credible monetary projections, a marketing strategy, or impartial monetary oversight.
The U.S. Trustee additionally filed a movement on Jan. 30 to both convert the chapter case to Chapter 7 or dismiss the case, for the reason that debtor had not paid hire for leased shops, had not paid skilled charges, and had recorded $1.26 million in working losses since November.
The Elk Grove Village, In poor health.-based furnishings chain, which operates 45 areas in 4 states, together with Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Florida, nevertheless, confronted the Chapter 7 conversion filings with an objection within the U.S. Chapter Court docket for the District of Delaware on March 3, 2026, claiming {that a} purchaser has provided to buy its property and pay all remedy prices, Furnishings Right now reported.
American Mattress stated in its objection that if its case had been transformed or dismissed, solely the secured lender can be paid proceeds from the liquidation, whereas unsecured collectors would obtain nothing.
In its objection, American Mattress stated it had cashflow issues because it filed for chapter, which it stated it was addressing, and it was creating an exit technique from chapter. It additionally deliberate to file an asset sale movement, the report stated.
The debtor’s guardian, AFM Mattress Firm LLC, filed its Chapter 11 petition on July 6, 2025, itemizing $1 million to $10 million in property and liabilities and looking for to reorganize its enterprise and restructure debt.
AFM Mattress Firm didn’t file a restructuring plan or identify a brand new funding supply on the time. The debtor has roughly 100-199 collectors, and the petition indicated that funds shall be accessible for distribution to unsecured collectors.
The debtor had reportedly been closing areas with notices posted on entrance doorways stating, “Store Temporarily Closed.” The notices present a cellphone quantity to name for questions and to inquire about orders.
American Mattress, which was established in 1988, options prime mattress manufacturers, together with Serta, Beautyrest, Sealy, Tempur-Pedic, Purple, and Stearns & Foster.
The mattress retailer’s monetary misery matches misery within the furnishings enterprise nationwide, as gross sales declined 0.82% for 2025, in comparison with 2024 unadjusted, in line with the CNBC/Nationwide Retail Federation Retail Monitor.
For January 2026, furnishings and residential furnishings gross sales declined 0.31% month over month seasonally, the report stated. February outcomes haven’t been launched but.
“Furniture, of course, is many times a discretionary and deferrable expense, so weakness in the overall economy or declines in consumer confidence, like we’ve seen the last few months, can impact consumers’ willingness to spend,” Mark Laferriere, an assurance accomplice at Smith Leonard, instructed Properties.com in November 2025.
“Furniture purchases are also tied to the overall housing market, which has been sluggish, but could be primed for a resurgence with higher inventory and the ongoing reductions in interest rates,” Laferriere added, as TheStreet’s Daniel Kline reported.
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