Longtime family-owned business Big Wally’s Discount Furniture store in Somers Point will close in February after more than three decades of serving the community.
The property has been sold, but the owners did not disclose the buyer’s identity.
“We’ve been blessed,” said Donna Mabe, who opened the Route 9 store with her husband, Wally, in April 1992.
The owners announced in November that they are retiring and selling the building at 514 New Road.
“Our goal is to be closed by February. Then we will become snowbirds — winter in Florida and spend the rest of the year at our home in Linwood,” she said.
Retirement will also mean spending more time with their three children and nine grandchildren.
“There’s a lot of things you miss when you work seven days a week,” she said.
The couple is selling off all inventory at increased discounts before the store’s final closure.
The sale is bittersweet.
“We’ve had people stopping in to say goodbye and to thank us. Our customers were always like friends and we’ve heard from so many nice people,” Donna Mabe said.
She said Big Wally’s outlasted many stores in the area.
“It’s not common for mom-and-pop stores to stay in business as long as we did and make it over 30 years,” she said.
The store hours and retirement sale are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
