40-year-old Georgia Furniture Mart chain shutting down

When people face financial challenges, or even have worries about the economy or their job, they can usually put off a furniture purchase.

Even if you need a new bed, table, dresser, or couch, but can't really afford one, you can scrounge one up on Facebook Marketplace and other similar sites. Furniture is one of the easiest household purchases to postpone.

"The explanation offered is almost always the same. Housing is down. Tariffs are up. Inflation is squeezing consumers. Costs - from fuel to freight - remain elevated," wrote Furniture Today Editor Emeritus Ray Allegrezza, to explain why so many furniture stores have closed.

GlobalData Managing Director Neil Saunders thinks the answer is even more basic.

"It's easy to blame the economy for this. And it's easy to blame online. And neither of these things should be completely dismissed. However, when you get under the skin of the closures, it's obvious that the primary cause is usually the age-old failure to align with demand," he posted on LinkedIn.

Now, another long-standing furniture chain, Georgia Furniture Mart, has decided to close all of its stores.

Georgia Furniture Mart shutting down

Originally named "Underpriced Furniture" when it launched in 1986, the company was built around offering quality home furnishings at the lowest prices available, according to its website.

"We also strive to provide friendly, professional service through a diversified staff that reflects our customer base and makes them feel like family," the company shared.

Georgia Furniture Mart's website and social media make no mention of the chain's impending closure. News of the shutdown, however, was reported by Atlanta's WSB-TV 2.

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The Georgia Furniture Mart is going out of business and will close its Norcross and Kennesaw locations. The company's third location, a distribution warehouse for online and in-store sales, will also shut down.

"We are deeply thankful to everyone who has been part of this journey and entrusted us with their homes," founder Michael Hall said in a statement. "While this chapter is coming to a close, the memories and relationships we've built will always remain."

Final liquidation at both stores will begin on July 16, with "deep discounts offered" on a large list of items for homes, according to the company.

Georgia Furniture Mart is part of a larger trend

A number of furniture chains have shut down in 2025 and 2026.

That's something analysts blame on the housing market.

"The combination of elevated mortgage rates and home prices has pushed housing turnover rates near historic lows. And if people aren't moving, there are fewer consumers in the market for a new couch or dining table," eMarketer Senior Analyst Zak Stambor shared.

In his April comments, he laid out the dire situation for furniture retailers.



"You can see that dynamic in the numbers. Sales at furniture stores are down about 8% since 2022, and this year is off to another sluggish start, with sales in the first two months down 4.8% YoY," he added.

Those conditions have led to a number of long-standing brands to shut down, including, but not limited to:

• Value City Furniture: Began closing stores after parent American Signature Inc. filed Chapter 11 in November 2025. The company later announced the liquidation of all remaining 79 Value City Furniture stores, according to RetailDive.
• American Signature Furniture: Liquidated all 10 remaining stores alongside Value City Furniture as part of its parent company's bankruptcy proceedings in early 2026, RetailDive reported.
• Circle Furniture: The New England retailer closed all nine stores in late 2025 and later filed Chapter 7 liquidation, according to Furniture Today.
• Metro Mattress: The New York mattress chain filed Chapter 11 in 2025 after failing to find a buyer and ultimately liquidated its remaining stores, Yahoo Finance shared.
• American Mattress: The Midwest mattress retailer filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2025 and later wound down operations, TheStreet reported.
• 5th Avenue Furniture: Filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2025 after years in business, becoming another casualty of the furniture industry's downturn, according to TheStreet.

The furniture industry has grown as well

Allegrezza noted that the furniture business has plenty of growing retailers as well.

"Earlier this week, Thomas Lester reported on 27 retail openings announced or updated during the first quarter," he wrote in an April opinion piece.

He shared some other growth examples in the piece:

• Bob's Discount Furniture has been opening new stores across multiple states, often stepping into vacant big-box locations.
• Ashley Furniture continues to invest in new and refreshed large-format stores.
• Ikea is pushing ahead with new formats and a stronger fulfillment-driven model.
• And in the Midwest, Gardner White expanded aggressively in the aftermath of Art Van's collapse.

Allegrezza noted that demand has lessened, not disappeared, and that room remains for well-run operators to grow.

"What separates them is less about exposure to headwinds and more about how they respond to them," he added. "The strongest retailers treat disruption as opportunity. When competitors close, they move quickly to secure real estate, pick up displaced customers, and gain share. They are not waiting for conditions to improve; they are acting within the conditions that exist."

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This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 5:03 PM.