A national flooring retail is closing all its stores, including in NC. What we know
A national flooring retailer with several North Carolina locations is closing all of its stores amid bankruptcy.
LL Flooring, which was formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, announced the news in an Aug. 11 letter to customers.
“It is with a heavy heart that we must let you know that we are going to begin the process of winding down LL Flooring’s business and closing all of our stores,” CEO Charles Tyson wrote in the letter.
Which North Carolina stores will be affected?
LL Flooring has more than a dozen stores across the state, including several in the Triangle. A handful of the locations are listed as “closing soon” on their respective websites.
- Raleigh
- Durham
- Garner
- Morrisville: The location at 9557 Chapel Hill Road is closing soon.
- Winston-Salem
- Arden
- Charlotte
- Fayetteville
- Gastonia: The location at 2930 E. Franklin Blvd. is closing soon.
- Greenville
- Greensboro
- Hickory
- Matthews
- Salisbury: The location at 403 Bendix Drive is closing soon.
- Wilmington
- Kill Devil Hills
- Burlington: The location at 1809 S. Church St. is closing soon.
- Mooresville: The location at 510 River Highway is closing soon.
As of Aug. 11, the retailer had more than 300 locations across the U.S.
LL Flooring store-closing sales
All stores have now initiated store-closing sales.
The sales are expected to last about 12 weeks. Store closing dates will vary by location.
History of LL Flooring, including recent legal and financial struggles
Lumber Liquidators was founded in Stoughton, Massachusetts, in 1993 by Tom Sullivan. He purchased surplus wood from companies and resold it to customers at a discount. Eventually, Lumber Liquidators began working directly with mills.
The company, which changed its name to LL Flooring in 2022, offers a variety of flooring types including vinyl, hardwood, tile and carpet.
“This is not the outcome that any of us had hoped for,” Tyson wrote of the closures.
Lumber Liquidators faced legal issues after a “60 Minutes” investigation in 2015 reported that the retailer’s laminate flooring contained illegal, dangerous levels of formaldehyde. The flooring company later agreed to stop selling the product and pay $36 million to settle two class-action lawsuits, according to the Associated Press.
In a financial report from earlier this year, LL Flooring announced that net sales were down 21.7% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023.
This story was originally published September 9, 2024 at 1:48 PM with the headline "A national flooring retail is closing all its stores, including in NC. What we know."
