PORT ANGELES — McCrorie Home Furnishings is closing after 53 years in downtown Port Angeles.
The iconic furniture store’s closure is prompted by the retirement of its owner, Bob McCrorie.
A liquidation sale begins at noon Friday.
The closure does not affect McCrorie Carpet One Floor and Home stores in Port Angeles, Sequim and Port Hadlock, operated by Bob’s brothers, John and David McCrorie.
The Carpet One stores will remain open for business as usual.
After almost 40 years serving the furnishing needs of the North Olympic Peninsula, Bob McCrorie, 60, said he wants to retire and pursue his hobbies — which include building and refurbishing private planes — and other interests.
He also wants to spend more time with his wife, Mickey, an airline pilot for Allegiant Air.
After consulting with his brothers, he decided to close the business and not sell it.
“Our family reputation is too important to me to take a chance on selling this business,” he said.
“I can’t be sure of how a new owner would carry forward.
“Also, with my brothers remaining in business with their Carpet One stores, a new owner could affect their reputation as well.”
McCrorie will continue to own the two side-by-side buildings — with a total of 16,500 square feet — that house the downtown furniture store next to Lincoln Theater.
He will attempt to lease the buildings to new businesses.
He hired Denver-based SPCI Cos. to conduct the sale that begins Friday. He expects the store to sell the last of its inventory by the end of February.
The furniture store is entwined with the McCrorie family history on the Peninsula.
The McCrorie brothers’ grandparents, Hugh and Else McCrorie, homesteaded in Sequim in the early 1930s.
They were dairy farmers, and the McCrorie family farmed into the 1980s.
Bob McCrorie Sr. left the farm to work for the Peoples Department Store in Port Angeles, managing its furniture and appliance departments.
In 1958, he formed a partnership with Raynard Thompson, and they started McCrorie-Thompson Furniture and Appliances at the downtown Port Angeles location that now houses McCrorie Home Furnishings.
Thompson died seven years later, and Bob Sr. kept the name for 12 more years before renaming it McCrorie Home Furnishings.
Upon Bob Sr.’s semi-retirement, his son took over the furniture store while his brother John started the floor-covering business.
The Port Angeles Carpet One store is near Walmart east of the downtown area, and John was later joined in that business by the third brother, David.
In a statement, John and David said:
“Bob has worked long and hard in the furniture business, and we are so happy to see him be able to retire and reap the benefits of so many years of commitment.
“We wish him many happy and fulfilling years of retirement.”
