Family-owned furniture store serving Lexington and Central KY to close after 35 years
Oak Factory Furniture & Mattress Gallery, a family-owned store that specialized in American-made furniture, is closing after 35 years in business in Central Kentucky.
The store, at 131 Marlene Drive in Brannon Crossing, will close April 30.
Owner Mike Cooper said he and his wife, Denisa, moved to Kentucky from Knoxville to open the store at Crossroads Plaza in Lexington in 1991.
The store has been in Brannon Crossing, just across the Fayette-Jessamine county line in Nicholasville, since 2007.
Much of the store’s inventory was handmade by Amish craftsmen.
As the Coopers’ children, Gene and Samantha, grew, they joined the family business. Local television viewers watched the kids grow up, as the chidlren appeared in commercials for the store for years.
Cooper said their son Gene now works for Bank of the Bluegrass, and Samantha, who has a business degree from the University of Kentucky, worked for Oak Factory until the end of March.
On Thursday, there were still some furniture pieces, along with home accessories, hand trucks and other items remaining on the showroom floor. The building is for sale too, Cooper said.
He said the time was right for the family to be free from the weight of running a business, which includes working weekends and holidays.
Cooper said they’re looking forward to traveling, going on mission trips, visiting family and playing on Herrington Lake.
“It’s been good to us. No complaints,” Cooper said of the business. “God is always good.”
