BY CATHY JETT
Jimmy Hale was expecting to arrange delivery of the living-room furniture he'd paid for when he called North Carolina Furniture in King George County on Nov. 12.
Instead, a prerecorded voice informed him that the number he'd dialed was authorized to make outgoing calls only.
"We drove out to the company, and there was a sign on the door that they had closed due to the economy," said Hale, who lives in King George. "The sign indicated that floor samples were available for sale, and people expecting deliveries would hear something about it later on."
A week went by with no call, and he said he now fears that the two club chairs, sofa table, coffee table and end tables he purchased will be sold as "floor samples," and he'll never see his money again.
Hale isn't alone. Five people have contacted the Better Business Bureau in the last 30 days to complain about not being able to reach North Carolina Furniture since it closed recently. Some have contacted the King George County Sheriff's Office and Nicole Thompson, the county's economic development director, as well.
"At this point, we are taking all the reports that certainly come to our attention, and will look at those to determine if this is a criminal or civil matter, and will notify the people who have notified us," said Maj. Steve Dempsey.
He said customers should contact the Sheriff's Office if they are trying to get their furniture, and Detective Monty Clift has been assigned to look into the matter.
If this turns out to be a civil case, people will be referred to the consumer affairs division of the Attorney General's Office, Demp-sey said. The Sheriff's Office will handle it if it is a criminal case.
Efforts by The Free Lance-Star to contact Jeff Trivett, who owns North Carolina Furniture, have failed, but Ralph Peregory at Exit Realty Expertise in King George said Trivett told him that he had closed the store and was selling the building because of "severe health problems."
Trivett has listed the 16,000-square-foot store at 11475 Ridge Road with Peregory for $1.39 million.
Business at North Carolina Furniture had been slow for some time, and Trivett had been cutting sales staff, said former employee Cynthia Grimes. He called the remaining four salespeople into a meeting when the store opened at 10 a.m. Oct. 22 and told them the business was closing, and they needed to get their things and leave, she said.
"We knew we weren't doing the business that we did, but it definitely came as a shock," she said. "I felt so bad because we had customers who had placed orders, and we had no idea that it would come to the point that they were going to shut the doors."
Grimes, who had worked at North Carolina Furniture for three years, said she's been applying for work in a number of places, but hasn't been able to find another job.
"It's hard," she said.
Michael Trivett, who owns Trivett's Furniture on State Route 3 in Fredericksburg, said he hasn't spoken to his brother in five years, and their businesses aren't connected. However, he has offered to help North Carolina Furniture customers work with manufacturers to get their orders at wholesale or a discount.
"We want to do what's right for the community as far as we can," he said. "To some extent, we'll try to bail the customers out of this unfortunate situation."
Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com