Furniture company to lay off 101 Florida employees amid bankruptcy

Furniture retailer W.S. Badcock LLC will lay off more than 100 workers at its headquarters in Polk County and launch sales at all of its stores as it prepares to go out of business. The developments come after parent company Conn’s HomePlus filed for bankruptcy July 23 in Texas.

Both home furnishings companies have been in business more than 100 years and now are filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Badcock will be closing its facility at 190 Northwest Phosphate Boulevard in Mulberry and starting terminations of 101 employees as of Sept. 23. More layoffs are expected afterward as the company goes through the bankruptcy process and winds down operations at the site, which is set for permanent closure, Badcock says in a statement provided to the Florida Department of Commerce dated July 24 and posted July 29 to the state website.

Founder Henry Stanhope Badcock started W.S. Badcock Corporation in 1904, opening the first store in Mulberry. The furniture company has since grown to more than 380 stores across eight states in the Southeast, according to its website, which says it has locations in Florida, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.

All Badcock furniture stores will be closing and are promoting sales up to 50% off merchandise, the company posted on Facebook July 29.

Many of the Badcock stores are in Florida, with dozens on the Gulf Coast, including these:

• 521 Hughes Road in Auburndale
• 1350 North Broadway (US 98) in Bartow
• 6920 Cortez Road West in Bradenton
• 525 West Brandon Boulevard in Brandon
• 136 Hancock Bridge Parkway in Cape Coral
• 14009 7th Street in Dade City
• 3608 Fowler Street in Fort Myers
• 9909 State Road 52 in Hudson
• 6100 South Florida Avenue in Lakeland Christina
• 1225 North Combee Road in Lakeland Combee
• 1409 North Florida Avenue in Lakeland North
• 6625 US HIghway 98 North in Lakeland Lake Gibson
• 126 Highway 60 West in Lake Wales
• 900 Missouri Avenue North in Largo
• 25665 Sierra Center Boulevard in Lutz
• 2665 Davis Boulevard in Naples
• 703 South Evers in Plant City
• 7305 State Road 54 in New Port Richey
• 1750 North Tamiami Trail in North Fort Myers
• 1529 US 301 in Palmetto
• 1039 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte
• 1510 College Avenue East in Ruskin
• 2200 ML King Street South in St. Petersburg
• 5435 North 56th Street in Tampa East
• 6621 Memorial Highway in Tampa West
• 5500 6th Street in Zephyrhills

National furniture, appliance and electronics retailer Conn’s HomePlus acquired W.S. Badcock LLC in December.

At the time, lead independent director Bob Martin said in a statement that the move to combine the two companies “significantly enhances Conn’s scale, allowing us to leverage a powerful infrastructure and deliver strong financial returns for many years to come."

Seven months later, Conn's HomePlus filed for bankruptcy, citing in part falling sales due to a reduction in discretionary spending.