Officials at Perkins Rowe have not yet decided the next course of action after a furniture retailer shut down and left unpaid rent and undelivered merchandise in its wake. According to The Independent Weekly of Lafayette, W. Home Furnishings officially closed on Aug. 18, when First Bank and Trust seized the Lafayette store’s remaining assets. Numerous complaints had been filed against the store by patrons who claimed that they never received purchased merchandise. The company expanded into Baton Rouge in late 2010 with a location in Perkins Rowe, which has also since shut down. Both The Independent and Perkins Rowe General Manager Rick Balow say the store’s owners, Rene and Nina Ward, have left the state.
Balow says because the store was on a month-to-month, temporary-tenant arrangement, Perkins Rowe was out only one month’s rent. But the shopping center also paid for furniture from the store that was never delivered. “People told of similar things, and manufacturers said they had never even gotten orders,” Balow says. “That was disheartening. Stuff happens; I understand that. But if they were taking deposits and not delivering, that’s in another realm. In my mind, that was criminal.”
Balow says he will soon file a report with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office confirmed today that no report had been filed. Balow says he has not yet determined to take legal action and that the decision would depend upon what he can recover from the business and a bank auction, and on various other factors. If he is able to recover some assets without court action, he says, “It would be a good thing.” —Ian McGibboney
