Florida-Based Badcock Home Furniture To Officially Lay Off Over 100 In Corporate Headquarters

Photo byMichael Rivera, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If you are a Floridian who has lived or shopped in central Florida, you may be very familiar with the home goods store Badcock. The company was founded way back in 1904 and there are currently over 80 Badcock stores in the Sunshine State. Unfortunately, Badcock's parent company, Conn's, recently filed for bankruptcy and announced store closures. And now Badcock has announced the layoff of over 100 employees in the company's corporate headquarters.

About Badcock: English immigrant Henry Stanhope Badcock founded W.S. Badcock Corporation in 1904. He operated only one store in the small town of Mulberry for sixteen years before it would expand to a dealer model that would allow customers to buy goods on credit and pay in installments.

Although there are 300 Badcock stores scattered throughout the United States, the company was purchased by Conn's in late 2023, which filed for bankruptcy in July of 2024.

Some of the Florida stores receive mixed reviews. For example, a store in Tampa received 2.1 out of 5 stars and many reviewers complained about customer service. A reviewer named Randy wrote in part:

"I purchased a full bedroom & living room set from Badcock on Jan. 15th in cash. Because I did not finance, I must go through a song & dance every time I call in (which is now about 20+ times). It is now March 8th & they have not rectified the issues as of yet. Although folks in the store location were helpful, the corporate Mulberry FL location is absolutely horrible. Not 1, 2 or a few pieces of furniture showed up damaged..."

The Warn Letter And Layoffs From The Corporate Office: In a warn letter dated July 24, 2024, the company shared that it intends to close its facility at 190 NW Phosphate Boulevard (the company's corporate office.) The closure will be permanent and will affect 101 employees with titles like customer service reps, accounts payable clerks, IT specialists, facility maintenance, business analysts, and network engineers, as just a few examples. The employees are not part of a union and have no bumping rights.

The author is not affiliated with Badcock, Conn's, or any other retailer.