Furniture may be shipped as early as next week for some customers who have waited on orders for months from a bankrupt furniture company.

Wood Armfield Furniture was granted permission Thursday by the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina to begin shipping some of the furniture in its warehouse to customers.

Wood Armfield, a 67-year-old furniture business in downtown High Point, closed its doors June 5.

Phil Kennett, president of Wood Armfield, cited the increasing demand for lower-cost imports as the reason for the closing.

The company also closed its Utility Craft furniture store on Eastchester Drive earlier this year.

The company filed for Chapter 11 in July and left many customers waiting for furniture with no news on when or if they would receive it.

Christy Myatt, a Greensboro attorney representing Wood Armfield, said Thursday that the company could begin shipping orders by Monday.

However, this week’s ruling only applies to customers whose furniture deposits are less than $2,225.

Myatt said the company will be back in court in another two weeks about shipping orders with deposits of more than $2,225.

But for some customers, this development isn’t any comfort.

Debbie Sells placed a $1,700 deposit on her furniture order with Utility Craft, a store owned by Wood Armfield, on Feb. 7.

A few months later Sells, a Kernersville resident, was told her shipment would be delayed until July, but no reason was given.

This week, Sells said she learned from the company’s liquidators that her order may never have been placed and she may not get her deposit back.

They offered to find out and reorder her furniture if she paid the remainder of the total bill for the furniture, an estimated $3,000.

But the liquidators wouldn’t provide a receipt or even a contract, Sells said. The company couldn’t even guarantee she would receive any furniture, Sells said.

But if the company could get the furniture, officials said she may have it by Dec. 31 — almost a year after she placed her original order.

“I’m probably the most irritated I’ve ever been,” Sells said. “I’m apprehensive about writing another check. How do we know we will ever get that back?”

Sells said she doesn’t plan to give any more money to Wood Armfield or its liquidators and will most likely to start over at another furniture store.

Company documents show that Wood Armfield owed customers about $1.93 million in deposits on pending orders.

Last weekend, liquidators started a going-out-of-business sale at the company’s showroom at 460 S. Main St. The sale could continue through the end of the year.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 29th, 2006 at 8:27 pm and is filed under Furniture. Tags: bank, Chester, Debbie, Furniture, Furniture Company, Furniture Store, Grant, Green, Greensboro, HIGH POINT, Kernersville, MFI, Money, North Carolina, Phil Kennett, the Company, Utility Craft, Wood Armfield Furniture, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.