Arlington Heights furniture store closing

Factory Direct furniture in Arlington Heights is closing at the end of the week due to the deteriorating economy, store managers say.

"We can't survive," general manager Wayne Zhang said Monday. The store at 750 E. Rand Road at Palatine Road is holding liquidation sales through Saturday when it officially closes. All merchandise is now marked 20 percent off liquidation prices.

The owner of the store, who resides in China, will continue to operate another store he owns, DAZ Furniture, in Libertyville. The Lake County location opened about three months ago at 801 E. Park Ave., the former home of longtime O'Reilly's Furniture.

Zhang said the original plan was to operate both stores. But the economy put an end to that idea.

"We're not making enough money to pay the rent," he said of the three-year-old Arlington Heights location.

The shop is the latest in a string of furniture stores to close because of the economy. The Amish Furniture Shoppe in Gurnee reported that it's closing at the end of March due to "harsh economic conditions." The owners plan to continue to operate their Deerfield location.

Retail experts say that during an economic downtown, furniture is often a low priority, pointing to the shuttered Wicks furniture chain.

Zhang is hoping that the Libertyville location can survive.

"It's going slow," he said. He explained that the owner of the company has five furniture factories in China and makes furniture for Ikea and other European and California distributors.

"The Libertyville store is medium to higher-end furniture," said Zhang, a resident of Buffalo Grove.