Liquidation sale underway at historic Walton Bros. building in downtown Fairbury
Fairbury Furniture, a downtown Fairbury home furnishings retailer established in 2004, will close following a store-closing liquidation sale that began Thursday, Oct. 8. The sale will continue until all inventory is sold.
Owners Rick and Jeanne Wilson plan to retire when the sale concludes, and the historic Walton Bros. building that houses the store will be sold.
“With many mixed emotions, Jeanne and I have made the decision to retire, but we’re doing it on our terms and on a very positive note,” Rick Wilson said. He added that the couple looks forward to spending more time with their children and grandchildren, who all live out of state.
The sale is taking place in the store’s 20,000-square-foot showroom at 100 W. Locust St., inside the 103-year-old Walton Bros. building. Inventory from the company’s mattress store and warehouse will also be liquidated.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars in furniture, mattresses and home furnishings are being offered at liquidation prices. Featured brands include Flexsteel, Best Home Furnishings, American Drew, Ashley, HomeStretch, Magnussen Home, Kincaid, Southern Motion, Sealy, Stearns & Foster and Tempur-Pedic, along with Amish-made furniture collections and other home décor products.
Wilson said the store has built a customer base throughout Livingston County and surrounding counties, including McLean, Ford, Kankakee, Iroquois, Cook, Tazewell, Piatt and Woodford.
“We’re telling everyone to get here first while the selection is huge,” Wilson said, adding that the store is currently well stocked but expects inventory to sell quickly.
He encouraged customers to bring trucks and trailers to take purchases home.
“We’re selling everything off the floor. For the very best discounts, load it up and go,” he said.
The business was originally owned by Norm Rittenhouse and operated on Crystal Lane in Fairbury. After Rittenhouse died in 2014, the store manager acquired the business and moved it to the main floor of the Walton Bros. building, which is owned by the Wilsons. At the time, the couple operated a banquet hall on the upper level.
When the store closed in 2016, the Wilsons opened their own furniture business under the Fairbury Furniture name. They expanded in 2018 into additional space down the block for a mattress and bedroom showroom and later expanded the main store into the building’s upper level after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wilson said the business has focused on offering quality home furnishings at affordable prices while providing a relaxed shopping experience grounded in small-town values. The business also offered mattresses and unique gifts through its WC Market.
The liquidation sale is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, until further notice.
For more information, call 815-692-3000.
