Bankruptcy Leaves Customers Without a Chair to Sit On

Fate of hundreds of orders unknown after furniture stores close

Hundreds of furniture customers may be out thousands of dollars after the owner of several Broyhill Home Collections stores declared bankruptcy.

Prenzi Inc. shuttered its five Broyhill franchises in North Texas in October, leaving 400 customers with pending orders in the lurch.

Christine Yanger said she can see her furniture from the store window.

"We all feel victimized and very angry," she said.

She put $400 down on her furniture. But many other customers lost much more than that, Yanger said.

"One lady bought two living room sets, and she is out $7,500," she said. "I feel like I have been robbed."

Howard Spector, Prenzi Inc.'s attorney, said his client shut the doors the moment Broyhill Furniture Industries pulled the plug on the stores.

"My client did not take any orders knowing he was going out of business," Spector said. "I blame Broyhill for not working out a solution with us."

Broyhill spokesman John Hastings said Prenzi Inc. owed the company nearly $4 million.

"We are victims too," he said.

"Broyhill is committed to serving the North Texas Metroplex, and we will do everything we can to get the customers their furniture," Hastings said.

But Hastings said Broyhill cannot make any guarantees to customers with outstanding orders.

There are no guarantees a store won't go out of business while holding a customer's deposit money. Paying with a credit card can help, because the credit card company can cancel the charge in some cases.

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