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Norka Futon, located at 780 North High Street in the Short North, is closing their doors on January 31st. The futon production factory in Akron and the other five locations throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania will remain open. The liquidation sale of all in-store merchandise at the Short North location is expected to begin shortly.
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- cheap: i highly recommend the Millersport sweet corn festival of course,the cor
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- Briana Henry: Well, eventually they plan to add more bands from the region...gotta start
- bucki12: I like the business model, but the internet sales part seems like something
- racheltb: I don't see the Ohio Shrimp Fest on the list. It is truly a good time. h
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Norka Futon is Going Out of Business
By: Walker
Related Posts:
Is their factory in Ohio?
I believe it’s in Akron: http://www.theamericanfuton.com/contact-us.html
http://www.norkawoodworks.com/
NORKA after all is AKRON spelled backwards. Too bad for them.
Droppin like flies they are. Le Luxe? or whatever is going out of business too or did i already miss that thread? is anyone else worried? i can hardly keep track anymore. i know districts like this have a track record of high turnover but this is ridiculous.
Sad. Especially since they not only sold but also manufactured their product.
@jpizzow – I’ve seen just as many, if not more, new businesses start than older ones have closed. So, no, I’m not worried.
Second, if I had the capitol I would def. buy this company. I bet 50% of my friends have bought a Norka Futon at one point.
NEOBuckeye Says: NORKA after all is AKRON spelled backwards.
I never realized that! :O
jpizzow Says: Droppin like flies they are. Le Luxe? or whatever is going out of business too or did i already miss that thread? is anyone else worried?
Here’s the threads for Le Luxe and Take 2 Apparel. Personally, I’m not really worried about it. It’s sad to see any business close, but each of these seem to have a reason for going out of business, and that reason is not “The Short North Sucks Everyone Else Needs to Close Too”. So what reason would there be to worry?
I doubt we’ll see their spaces sitting empty for too long.
That’s totally awesome! Not the store closing, that’s bad, but the name is Akron backward. I figured it was a Finnish or maybe Estonian company.
I wonder if IKEA creeping in around the edges of our market filled that need for cheap furniture with a short shelf life better. After all, my ass always falls asleep when sitting on a futon for more than eight minutes.
The current recession has really taken a toll on furniture retailers in general. I’m sure there will be other retailers closing not only in the Short North but throughout the city before the aftermath of this recession is done.
Actually, at this point, only the Columbus store is closing. The other locations are staying open for business. Still very sad- Norka was a Short North institution.
@ SJT
thanks for that update. I am atleast glad the company is still in business. Hopefully Walker can update his post. Nothing hurts a business more then premature news of their demise.
i dont want this to seem cynical, but do people think that the influx of Short North business closings has anything to do with their “high end” appearance and how people are sort of tired of that scene?
Personally, I never got the entire concept of an upscale futon.
Still, always sad to see a business go.
I bought my first (and only) futon from them 18 years ago. Man, I’m old.
cc Says: Hopefully Walker can update his post. Nothing hurts a business more then premature news of their demise.
I was told to leave it as is…
:(
Nevermind. Was told to update it. ;) Updated!
SJT Says:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Actually, at this point, only the Columbus store is closing. The other locations are staying open for business. Still very sad- Norka was a Short North institution.
I don’t know that a futon store can be a “neighborhood institution.” It’s sad to see them go, but let’s be honest here, their futons were overpriced. If I had $800 to spend on a futon, I’d buy a pull-out couch.
I think Norka was a fine example of ‘you get what you pay for’. Having spent many a sleepless night on a soon to be broken $200 Waterbed’s N Stuff made in china special., I can speak from experience. The mattress factory had decent $500 futons, but they stopped selling them.
The nice thing about futons over pull out couches is their weight and portability (you can take them apart). Have you ever moved a pull out couch? You have to make chiropracter appointments ahead of time.
Also, in 1986 the Short North was a much different place. They were pioneers.
@von – of the last 3, one was a futon store (darn nice futons, but not luxury items) and another was a second-hand clothing store. the luxury bath items place is the exception there.
i see this as a problem of retail in general, there’s an awful lot of empty retail space Arlington, Dublin, Reynoldsburg and even Easton has some unusual gaps right now. Many national mall stores like Bombay & Co, Sharper Image, etc… went under, A&F retrenched Ruehl, Tween ditched Libby Lu, and brands like Payless, Pacsun and Crabtree & Evelyn have closed dozens of outlets in 2009. Some of these may be perceived as high-end, but people are also buying less BOGO shoes at Payless.
as @surber17 has pointed out, the SN has seen several new openings this year and more are slated for 2010. there’s always been turnover on the high and low-end. moreover there’s been a dramatic increase in the overall number of restaurant/retail frontage in the SN since the middle part of this decade which I think lends to a perception of fewer options, when there are actually many more than a decade ago.
as a final aside, I often dream of ditching our futon for a nice mies day bed or the like, but given the space limitations of using the second bedroom as a home office in our house, a futon works perfectly for the random assortment of guests we host each year. i replaced the mattress with an independent spring coil mattress from Norka around 2001. It was so heavy I had to reinforce my solid oak frame. 8 years later it is still without a doubt the most comfortable futon mattress ever, sleeps better than any sofa sleeper my back has ever endured, and gets rave reviews from everyone who crashes on it.