Longtime East Bay furniture business to close for good due to pandemic - East Bay Times

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CASTRO VALLEY — Not many family-owned stores can boast 75 years serving customers. But instead of celebrating that milestone, Connolly’s Furniture and Mattress is being forced to close.

The business, which has locations at 20600 Redwood Road in Castro Valley and at 2193 First St. in Livermore, plans to close for good within the next few weeks as a result of the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

About 20 people will be out of work, owner Steve Connolly said.

“It’s due to the coronavirus that we are shutting down,” Connolly said. “It’s been really difficult, and it’s been really tough.”

On a recent afternoon, no potential customers came through the doors of the Castro Valley store for at least 30 minutes, a sign of how the retailer has been struggling.

Both the business’s Castro Valley and Livermore locations will close, as well as its distribution center in Union City.

Connolly’s Furniture and Mattress also once operated a store in Fremont. But that closed after the City Council approved rezoning the neighborhood as residential in January 2016, clearing the way for townhomes and live/work units to get built where the store once stood.

Fremont also was where the original store, Walter Connolly’s Appliances and Furnishings, opened.

“My grandfather opened the store in spring 1945,” Steve Connolly said. “He ran it for many years. My father then ran it.”

Connolly and his wife, Liz, took over the stores in 1982. Their daughter, Danielle Connolly, joined as a manager in 2015.

David Gehrke, president of the Castro Valley/Eden Area Chamber of Commerce, said he fears more local businesses will permanently close unless the pandemic eases and health authorities lift safety measures put in place.

“If things don’t turn around, I predict up to 40% of mom-and-pop businesses in Castro Valley will be closed for good by early next year,” said Gehrke, owner of KMC Cleaners & Restoring Services in San Lorenzo.

No exact date has been selected for locking the doors for the final time, Connolly said, adding that it hinges on liquidating inventory. Some items in the stores are now being offered at 75% off.

“Our landlords have been very understanding,” he said.

What may occupy the spots in the future remains unknown.

“Unfortunately, they probably will be vacant for a while,” Connolly said.

The family plans to continue operating online, at least for a while. After that they will explore their options, Connolly said.

Last month, Yelp, the company that allows people to post reviews on restaurants, bars and other businesses, released its second-quarter consumer interest report, which showed the San Francisco and San Jose metro areas with two of the four highest per-capita closure rates in the country.

More than 2,000 businesses in the San Francisco metro area, which includes much of the East Bay, Peninsula and Marin County, closed for good from April 1 to June 30, according to Yelp’s data, while another 3,000 remain temporarily shuttered.

“I think for small businesses to survive today, they will need to pivot and look for another model and ways to do business,” Gehrke said. “Things are not going to work the same way as before.”

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Longtime East Bay furniture business to close for good due to pandemic - East Bay Times
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