Ross Furniture to close, consolidate with Furniture Finds in Cape Girardeau

Adam Ross’s family has owned Ross Furniture in Jackson for longer than he’s been alive. In an effort to be able to spend more time with his own family, Ross made the decision to close the 2310 E. Jackson Blvd. location and consolidate it with his Furniture Finds store in Cape Girardeau.

“It’s been a great location, and Jackson’s been great. I hate leaving Jackson, but I had to pick one, and with the amount of volume we’re doing out of Furniture Finds, that one just won out,” Ross, now the store's general manager and the company's vice president, said.

His father and grandfather started the business in uptown Jackson in 1979, expanding to Perryville less than a decade later. Ross himself joined the family business when he was 18.

When the family relocated the Jackson store to its current location around a decade ago, they closed the Perryville store to focus their efforts on a single locale.

“We were doing four times the volume we were used to [in Perryville] out of just one section of the store here,” Ross explained.

The success of Furniture Finds led to a similar situation, he said. Despite both it and Ross Furniture having 25,000 square feet of showroom space, 70% of the company’s sales come from Furniture Finds. Ross said he never imagined Furniture Finds would do so well after it opened five years ago.

Furniture Finds specializes in closeout and discounted furniture. Both stores sell a variety of beds, couches, desks, lamps, tables, upholstery and other items.

Ross decided to close Ross Furniture a year ago but managed to talk himself out of it. The whole family had built it up; he said it was their heart and soul. However, at one point he was visiting 50 vendors in a three-day span and determined he couldn’t do both stores justice.

“With the two stores, I haven’t taken a day off besides a Sunday here and there in six to eight months. So yeah, it’s time,” Ross said. “If I can focus all my attention on one store, I’ll make it better.”

Furniture Finds draws customers from as far away as St. Louis, he added, and he has had people from other cities show interest in opening Furniture Finds stores of their own.

“If I ever decide to duplicate it into another location, I think the Furniture Finds name will translate more,” he said.

Most of Furniture Finds will remain as it currently is, with the best-selling Ross Furniture lines relocating there. Furniture Finds will still be open only Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Most of the warehouse crew is moving to Furniture Finds, as are a few other employees, but Ross said they all fully understand his reasons for closing Ross Furniture.

Ross said he would miss the employees not coming along as well as the customers he met over the years.

The Jackson location will hold a continual sale until either everything is sold or the store needs to vacate its building. Everything sold will be replaced by additional inventory, Ross said. He added he would keep updating social media to let customers know what items are on sale.

He said he was aiming to close up shop before November and would work on special orders if customers miss out on any particular items.

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