Connecticut Home Furnishings to Close After 93 Years

Connecticut Home Furnishings, a longtime Hartford retailer founded in 1932, announced it will close permanently and hold a heavily discounted liquidation sale through 5 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025.

The family-owned store, which reoriented toward high-quality handmade furniture in 1984, said customers should expect steep reductions on well-known brands and that all purchases made during the liquidation must be removed at the time of sale or arranged for prompt delivery. The company posted on its Facebook page that its staff will remain available to complete any outstanding orders and to assist customers with questions during the wind-down.

Owner Tom Hall told local media he is retiring and expressed gratitude to the community for decades of support, saying the store had been honored to "helping you pick your first sofa to finding the perfect dining table for generations of memories." Longtime customers and former employees posted condolences on social media, with one customer writing, "So sad, I have shopped there since it opened its doors as Silk Tree Factory. You will be missed."

Connecticut Home Furnishings is one of several furniture retailers that have announced closures this year amid a challenging market for big-ticket items. Retail analyst Neil Saunders of GlobalData said higher interest rates have dampened demand for large purchases and encouraged consumers to favor smaller home refreshes instead. "Softness in big-ticket furnishings and furniture will persist until interest rates come down," he told Forbes.

The sector has seen a string of setbacks in 2025. Texas-based home décor chain At Home filed for bankruptcy in June and is closing at least 32 stores this month. Regional chains such as Trees n Trends shut operations this summer, and major players have also pared back locations in some markets, including recent IKEA closures in parts of the U.S. and the U.K.

Industry observers say a mix of rising financing costs, shifting consumer spending and continued inventory and supply-chain strains have combined to make the environment difficult for standalone furniture shops and chains alike. For independent, legacy stores that rely on in-person sales of higher-priced items, the pressure is especially acute.

Connecticut Home Furnishings began in 1932 as a general home goods retailer selling everything from appliances and toys to furniture and bicycles before focusing on handmade furnishings in the mid-1980s. The store's closing marks the end of a local retail presence that spanned generations and several retail cycles. The final liquidation sale runs through this weekend, and the owner said employees will assist customers with orders and deliveries during the closing process.