McMahan's Furniture

Last updated
McMahan's Furniture
private [1] [2] [3]
Industry retail
Fateliquidated
Founded1919, Bakersfield, California [4] [5] [1] [6] [7]
FounderJames I. [8] McMahan [6]
Defunct2008 [1] [7] [9]
Headquarters
Santa Monica, California [1]
,
United States
Number of locations
17 in 2008 [9] [1]
Area served
western United States
Key people
James A. "Jay" McMahan, president [6] [5]
Revenue$45 million in 2007 [9]

McMahan's Furniture was a family-owned [10] [1] [2] furniture retailer with stores in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Colorado [11] and Oregon. [12] Much of its business came from customers to whom it provided credit. [9]

Contents

History

The first store was opened in 1919 [1] [6] [7] in Bakersfield, California. [4] In 1993, Heilig-Meyers bought 92 McMahan's stores for $65 million. [11] In 1996, Heilig-Meyers arranged to buy another 20 stores from McMahan's. [13] Whether the 1996 sale was completed is unknown. Of the stores remaining, three were closed in 2006. [9] The last 17 [14] [9] [1] stores, including two La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery locations [3] (one in California and one in Oregon), were closed in 2008. [1] [7] [9] A company press release cited macroeconomic conditions as the reason: [1] [9] [15] [16]

McMahan’s Furniture announced today August 26, 2008 that it will close its furniture operations within the next few months. McMahan’s has implemented several strategies to react to the current business environment. However, as the economy has continued to slump, the market for home furnishings has continued to decline.

McMahan’s has experienced downturns before and always managed to rebound, however, this decline dating back to late 2006 has been considerably longer and deeper than anything they’ve [ sic ] previously experienced.

Lawsuit

In 1975, a water main near the company's Santa Monica store burst. The company and its insurer, Aetna, sued the city under the theory of inverse condemnation. The company wanted the jury to be instructed that

As to the merchandise losses suffered by plaintiffs, the compensation for those losses may be based on the retail value of the merchandise less average discounts.

but the court refused to give the instruction, and the jury awarded damages corresponding to the wholesale value. The lower court's decision was upheld on appeal. The court of appeals quoted a restatement of the law of torts saying that "damages for the profits which the wholesale dealer or the retail dealer would normally anticipate from a sale are not ordinarily allowed." [17] The suit is considered one of "the leading cases" in California tort law about the value of inventory. [18]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 David Benda (2008-08-26). "McMahan's stores to close: Furniture seller shuttering all 17 sites in California, Oregon". Redding Record Searchlight. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  2. 1 2 David Wertheimer (2008-08-26). "McMahan's".
  3. 1 2 "McMahon's (sic) Furniture To Cease Operations". Furniture World Magazine.
  4. 1 2 Jose Gaspar (2008-08-08). "McMahan's Furniture closing, chain founded in Bakersfield in 1919". Bakersfield Now. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  5. 1 2 "James A. "Jay" McMahan Obituary". Los Angeles Times. 2011-05-10. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Clint Engel (2011-05-09). "Former McMahan's Furniture president Jay McMahan dies at 88". Furniture Today. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Ryan Burns (2008-08-26). "McMahan's furniture chain going out of business". The Times-Standard. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  8. ↑ "Former McMahan's Furniture President James A. "Jay" McMahan Dies at 88 : Page 1 of 1 : Home Furnishings Business". Hfbusiness.com. 2011-05-10. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "McMahan's shutting down operations". Furniture Today. 2008-08-31. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  10. ↑ "McMahan's Furniture - Virtual Store Home Page". Web.archive.org. 2008-08-02. Archived from the original on August 2, 2008. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
  11. 1 2 "Heilig-Meyers Company History" . Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  12. ↑ "Photos Show McMahan's Before and After Fire". 2006-08-12. Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  13. ↑ "Heilig-Meyers Announces Intent To Buy Certain Assets of McMahan's Furniture Company of Santa Monica, California". PRNewswire. August 27, 1996.
  14. ↑ "McMahans Furniture Going Out of Business : Page 1 of 1 : Home Furnishings Business". Hfbusiness.com. 2008-08-26. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
  15. ↑ "McMahan's Furniture calls it quits". The Woodland Journal. 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
  16. ↑ "McMahan's Furniture - McMahan's Home Page". Web.archive.org. Archived from the original on February 28, 2009. Retrieved 2013-01-30.
  17. ↑ "McMahan's of Santa Monica v. City of Santa Monica (1983) 146 Cal. App. 3d 683 [194 Cal. Rptr. 582]".
  18. ↑ Ned Tolbert; Thomas Dunford. "Recovering Damages Under California Property Law" (PDF).
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