Boise-based Ennis Furniture Co., which operates two stores here, is consolidating its Spokane operations and plans to close its Thomasville furniture store in Spokane Valley, says company Vice President Rick Ennis.

Ennis, who is based in Spokane, says the company's plans are to operate just out of its Ennis Fine Furniture store, located at 8313 N. Division, on Spokane's North Side, after the Valley location closes. He says that at this point he's not sure of exactly when the Ennis Thomasville Gallery store will close. The store is located at 5511 E. Third and is visible from Interstate 90. A closing sale began there on Oct. 21 and will continue until most of the store's inventory has been sold, Ennis says.

He says the Thomasville store currently has five full-time employees, and the company hasn't decided yet whether it will transfer those workers to the North Side store after the Thomasville gallery closes.

That showroom only sells the Thomasville brand of furniture, manufactured by St. Louis, Mo.-based Furniture Brands International Inc., and Ennis says the company will reintroduce that brand at its 25,000-square-foot North Side store around the first of the year. Other furniture brands now sold there include Drexel Heritage, Bernhardt, and Hooker Furniture, to name a few.

Ennis says the family-owned company—which has had a presence here for almost 30 years—decided to close the Thomasville store and consolidate its operations here because of the economic uncertainty.

Another industry trend that partly influenced the company's decision to consolidate, Ennis says, is a shift from single-brand furniture showrooms to those that sell multiple manufacturers' products.

The lease for the 11,000-square-foot Thomasville store ended in September, and because of that, Ennis says he felt that it was an opportune time to consolidate.

He says the company now is leasing that space on a month-to-month basis until its inventory there is liquidated.

Ennis Furniture employs a total of about 24 people here at both of its stores and its furniture warehouse. Aside from its two stores here, the company has outlets in Boise; Richland, Wash.; and Reno, Nev.