COATESVILLE — Lipkin’s Furniture is closing after 114 years.
The store opened in 1897, a time when furniture was delivered by horse and wagon. The Bernstein family purchased the business in 1964.
Now Michael Bernstein, a second-generation owner, and his wife, Rosalyn, are retiring.
“I’m 71, I’ve been in the business 47 years. It’s very sad,” Michael Bernstein said of the closing that means saying goodbye to “lots of friends and good customers.”
The Bernsteins have three children: two are doctors and one is a lawyer. No one is following in family business.
All of the children grew up in the furniture business, however, helping out at the store and ticketing items, Bernstein said. “They didn’t get a free ride.”
Once retired, Bernstein said he and his wife will be able to spend more time with their 11 grandchildren, which includes two sets of twins. Bernstein’s children and their families live in Boston, New York and Wayne.
Bernstein said Coatesville had a J.C. Penney’s and a Sears when his father bought the business.
“It was a very, very vibrant shopping district,” Bernstein recalled.
Lipkin’s at one time had three stores.
Lipkin’s in Oxford was destroyed by fire more than 20 years ago and a store in West Chester, the only store that was leased, closed a decade ago when the landlord increased the rent significantly, Bernstein said.
Much has changed over the years in the furniture business, including the onslaught of national chains.
“They are tough to compete against,” Bernstein said. “But we had value. We did compete. We owned our own store, owned our own warehouse and we had a very loyal following of customers.”
Bernstein said his customers did not merely like Lipkin’s, “they loved our store.”
Many of the customers have stopped by to say goodbye and tell the Bernteins how sad they are about the store’s closing, the owner said.
And that is something that makes Bernstein feel good.
“I guess everything wasn’t for naught,” Bernstein said, adding that he was at a loss for words, something that doesn’t happen too often to a salesman. “We always tried to be a good, reputable store for everyone.”
Store manager Scott Davis said he’ll miss the customers, too.
Davis blamed the bad economy.
“Even the national chains are hurting, but they have deep pockets,” he said.
Lipkin’s weathered the two World Wars, the Great Depression, numerous Steelworkers’ strikes, countless shifts in home fashion trends and numerous innovations — from the first recliners to mattresses with the comfort of space age materials.
Lipkin’s 35,000-square-foot store at 119 East Lincoln Highway and its 60,000-square-foot, four-story warehouse a block away, are both for sale.
Joseph Hamrick, city council president, said he is sad about the closing.
“We are definitely going to miss them,” Hamrick said.
He said that he and the city manager stopped in to talk to the Bernsteins when they heard about their retirement.
“It’s a shame, we’re down to one bank,” Hamrick said of the city’s Main Street retail section.
Still, Hamrick is hopeful, adding that when the economy turns around and the ongoing economic projects in Coatesville are completed, the city will be re-energized and attractive to new retailers.
Eugene L. DiOrio, vice president of the Coateville-based Graystone Society said he was “sorry to see it happen. It means just one more store has closed in Coatesville.”
Lipkin’s began its going-out-of-business sale at the store on Monday. The store needs to sell off its large inventory of furnishings, including furniture for living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms.
There is no official closing date, Davis said.
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