EAST ALTON - Illinois Wholesale Furniture in East Alton and Alton has been a staple in the area for three decades. The business is presently undergoing a major liquidation sale at its 612 W. St. Louis Ave., East Alton, location.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Ray Cooksey is the owner and Debbie Pratte is the manager of the store.
Cooksey said the Illinois Wholesale Furniture sale will likely end Friday. He added even after the sale ends, they will be cleaning up the area and still make deals with whatever is left, regardless.
Cooksey added that there is some solid remaining stock from love seats, to recliners, to table and dining sets, to headboards and chests and a good selection of mattresses.
The furniture store owner said he still hopes to open again at another location, but nothing has come just yet.
“If a miracle should happen, we would like to secure another location in East Alton,” he said. “East Alton and the people of the area have been wonderful to us.”
Illinois Wholesale Furniture was forced to move from the Old Sears store on Piasa in Alton to Eastgate Plaza in East Alton. In 2013, the business moved to a large location at the former Sears store at Alton Square Mall. The location proved to be too big, Cooksey said, and then they moved back to the present location in East Alton in 2016.
“We spent three years at the mall, but we just didn’t the traffic we needed,” he said.
“Our East Alton location is one-tenth of the size of what we had in the past and this contributed to not generating the revenue we needed the last six years. We have to have everything broom swept at this location by the end of the month and everything must go. We will listen to any reasonable offer.”
