High-end Richland furniture store closing after 40+ years. Something new is coming
David Ennis is taking a well-earned bow after selling high-end furniture at the Richland Wye for more than 43 years.
Ennis, 62, is presiding over a retirement sale that doubles as a liquidation event at the Tri-Cities outpost of Ennis Fine Furniture, established in 1946 by his grandparents in Boise.
Ennis is selling the 22,000-square-foot building and its 1.3-acre site to La-Z-Boy and expects to wrap up his business by Oct. 24.
La-Z-Boy has not announced its Richland plans. The Michigan-based furnishings brand sells its namesake recliners, sofas, tables and other furnishings..
In the interim, Ennis is conducting a high-profile retirement sale boasting $4 million in inventory.
Ennis and his team of 13 together with extra staff opened the doors to customers on Wednesday. The public sale continues through this weekend.
Customers are asked to bring the flier to the store. It can be printed from the website too: ennisretirementsale.com, as a condition of entry.
Ennis said he will remain in the Tri-Cities, but will dedicate his retirement to travel, golf and other pursuits. He does not have children to extend the Richland store into a fourth generation, he said.
Founded in Idaho
Ennis was founded nearly 75 years ago.
The local version debuted in 1981 on Fowler Street in a building that once housed Interiors by Thomson. It was briefly branded Liberty Dexel Heritage before converting to the family name.
Ennis said opening in Richland was a calculated move. The family had a chance to open a Drexel Heritage store in Spokane.
Buying the Richland building shored up their claim to the Eastern Washington market for what he calls heirloom furniture, the quality pieces passed down from one generation to the next.
Ennis, whose brother is president of the family business, said furniture was always front and center in his life.
His career path, he said, was, “Dad telling us to get to work.”
The Ennis children grew up sweeping floors, polishing furniture and performing other tasks. In time, they extended the business beyond Boise.
For David, that meant Richland.
In 40+ years between the Columbia River and Columbia Center mall, on the Kennewick-Richland border, the store’s fortunes have been tied to the community’s.
“We’ve ridden the Tri-Cities wave over the years,” he said, citing federal spending on the Hanford cleanup, long the key driver for the economy and the well-paying jobs that enable customers to buy statement furniture.
That includes watching the population double to more than 300,000, accompanied by a rise in households needing furniture.
Ennis Fine Furniture has never competed in the value end of the market. Even on sale, a pencil-post bed carries an asking price of $17,000.
Ennis said he relishes the relationships that endured for decades. Clients will tell him they still have sofas they purchased years earlier.
La-Z-Boy transition
The Ennis team has the opportunity to join La-Z-Boy when it opens.
Rene Vasquez, sales manager, joined the team at the start as a warehouse worker and rose through the ranks. His own children grew up in the store, he said.
Vasquez said the business was prospering and recording sales growth before the COVID-19 pandemic brought widespread shutdowns in 2020.
It revived quickly when people could shop again. Valsquez joked that being stuck at home drove people to redecorate, which was good for sales.
“They had a chance to site down and look a their old sofas,” he said.
The retirement store closing sale opened with a private event on July 31 and Aug. 1. It is open to the public starting Friday, Aug. 3.
Ennis Fine Furniture is at 1895 Fowler St., near Columbia Center in Richland. Call 509-350-2114.
This story was originally published July 31, 2024 at 4:11 PM.