Just before Christmas, Circle Furniture closed all its retail locations without notice. Phone calls to the corporate office were not answered. As of this writing, the Acton store at 425 Great Road looked the same as the day it shut down, with furniture on display, table and floor lamps on, and a floor model sale sign in the front window. The company website, www.circlefurniture.com, now displays a blank page.
The company, founded in the 1950’s in Cambridge, has stores in eight locations including Acton. An outlet store and the corporate headquarters are on Craig Road in Acton. Jonathan Boyle, president of Circle Furniture and a 40-year employee, was blind-sided by the closure. He was quoted in a December 23 article in the Boston Globe saying: “They were having some financial difficulties they were trying to resolve and work around, but that’s all I know. It’s not a great situation.”
According to the Globe article, the Tubman family founded the company and ran it until 2022 when Paula and Robert Richard purchased it. The new owners opened three stores including one in Hyannis, which opened in May. Robert Richard’s Linked-in profile shows no prior experience in the furniture business.
Senator Jamie Eldridge on his Facebook page expressed sympathy for Circle Furniture’s approximately 65 employees and disdain for the owners for giving no advanced notice to them.
If you are a Circle Furniture customer waiting for a delivery, see Left in the Lurch by a store closing? Advice for consumers.
