An attorney representing Santa Maria Decor Inc., the company that owns Ashley Furniture in Santa Maria, said that customers will get the furniture they paid for.
The furniture store, which is independently owned and has a registered trademark agreement with the parent company, Ashley Furniture Homestore, filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Dec. 7, 2015.
According to Robert Rosenstein, who represents the company, he’ll file a motion on May 11 in bankruptcy court that will allow Ashley to send furniture shipments to its Santa Maria location.
In contrast to other bankruptcy filings, a Chapter 11 allows the company to organize itself so that it can stay in business. With this filing, the store is also protected from lawsuits to collect debts for a period of time.
“It’s just part of the normal business of bankruptcy,” Rosenstein told the Sun.
Customer Jacqui Juno, 31, of Grover Beach, said she’s been waiting to receive her $2,300 worth of furniture—a sectional sofa, a nightstand, a headboard, and two lamps—since February, and the store hasn’t lived up to its six to eight week delivery promise.
Juno added that the store hasn’t received a shipment since the day after Thanksgiving and hasn’t been able to fulfill the orders taken that day.
Ashley Furniture didn’t respond to calls made by the Sun, but Rosenstein said the company worked out an arrangement where the parent company, which is based in Arcadia, Wis., will deliver the orders.
It’s not the first time an Ashley Furniture in Santa Maria’s been in financial trouble. A store located at 1318 S. Broadway closed in 2007 and made a list of the top 500 companies delinquent on their taxes two years ago.
In 2014, the store was $519,752 behind on its tax bill.
“The president of the company is Michelle Miller and all she ever wanted to do is make sure everyone gets their furniture,” Rosenstein said.
But after waiting months to get her furniture, Juno isn’t sure she wants it anymore. She’d rather get her money back, although the store refuses to issue a refund.
“I just want my money back because I don’t want to deal with them anymore,” Juno told the Sun. “At this point, if they have to produce the furniture, who knows what quality it would be.”
This article appears in May 5-12, 2016.