Sim’s Furniture announced Tuesday that it is closing its downtown Covington location.
The furniture, appliance, and mattress outlet located at 727 Madison Avenue will relocate to 4600 Smith Rd. in Norwood, Ohio at the end of April, the company said.
Sim’s opened on Madison in the mid-1970s.
In recent years, it has been celebrated for its elaborate holiday window display featuring mechanical North Pole scenes such as a sleeping Santa Claus and elves hard at work.
“Downtown furniture stores are of a bygone era and we held out as long as we could,” Sims General Manager Matt Day said. “We were the last remaining downtown store. It’s become increasingly difficult to operate a multi-level, downtown location without a loading dock or parking availability for our customers.”
Downtown Covington was home to many large department stores in the 20th century, including those that specialized in furniture such as Louis Marx & Brothers and Ostrow’s.
Sim’s has operated in a building that once housed a Montgomery Ward department store location.
Sim’s is holding a moving sale with 30 to 50% of all in-store inventory starting on April 1 until the company moves to Norwood on April 30.
“Our downtown Christmas display has become a tradition for many families,” Day said. “We have loved being a part of Covington and have very mixed emotions about moving. It is sad to see this chapter close for us and for our city.”
Day added that Sim’s is exploring the possibility of an additional Northern Kentucky location at some point.
The chain has five locations across the Cincinnati region, including Florence, Hamilton (Oh.), Forest Park (Oh.), and Eastgate (Oh.), and soon Norwood.