Winchendon Furniture going out of business after 84 years
After 84 years of providing high-quality furniture to the Greater Gardner community, the family-operated Winchendon Furniture Inc. is closing for good.
After deciding to retire in the next few months, owners Joe and Cherie Ladeau realized they wanted to protect the reputation their business had established throughout the years.
The Ladeau family has been in the furniture industry for three generations. Joe Ladeau has been involved with the retail furniture company operations for over 80 years. Joe, currently owns the company with his wife, Cherie, and their sons Ryan and Keith.
General store manager Mike Mann said seeing a multi-generational family business closing is sad. Still, he is happy for Joe and Cherie to relax and spend some time traveling and spending time together.
"In order to maintain the Winchendon Furniture reputation of high-quality furniture and service Joe and Cherie decided to close down the stores before they retire," he said. "They thought about how hard their family has worked to build that reputation, and they don't want anyone else to use the Winchendon Furniture name."
It's a family business
Furniture manufacturing, restoration, and sales have been in the Ladeau family business for generations. George Ladeau, Joe's grandfather, started the family legacy while working at a furniture manufacturing company in Gardner. Later, Richard Ladeau, Joe's father, developed an interest in furniture making while working with his father, George, at the factory.
In 1939, Richard Ladeau founded Winchendon Custom Upholstery Co., Inc. He upholstered and restored furniture pieces for local factories and built a reputation through his high-quality upholstering.
Four years later, in 1943, Richard bought the building at 13 Railroad St. in Winchendon to expand his business and restore antique furniture for individual customers. In 1945, Frank Ladeau, Richard's brother, returned home from World War II, and the two became partners, which led the newly established family business to expand from upholstering and antique restoring to selling high-quality furniture.
Brothers Joe and Jack Ladeau purchased their father's half of the business from Frank after his death in 1972. Then, six years later, the brothers bought the other half from Frank and changed the company name to Winchendon Furniture in 1980.
Since 1980, Joe and Jack have pushed to expand the business by adding two new locations. The first one was in Amherst, MA, which was open from late 1980 until June 2019 when they decided to downsize. Then, in 2014, the Ladeau family opened another location in Keene, NH, which closed on Sept. 30, marking the beginning of Winchendon Furniture Inc.'s closure.
When is the official closing day?
General store manager Mann said they don't have an official last day because they are trying to sell as much inventory as possible these first two weeks. He said after the first sale week they will have a better understanding of how much inventory is left and when they will close the doors for good.
Right now, Winchendon Furniture is having a five-day only "Going Out of Business Sale." The sale started Thursday, Oct. 12 and it will end Monday, Oct. 16. Store hours on Saturday are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. then on Sunday hours are from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Store hours on Monday are from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Winchendon Furniture store closing for good as owners retire
