Horton’s Furniture in Wichita to close after almost 80 years

After 78 years in business, Horton’s Furniture is closing.

The business is known in part for the retro sign in front of its 55,000-square-foot showroom on West Kellogg between 119th and Maize Road.

Owners Steve Elpers and Dilman Morris, who bought the business in 1997, are retiring. A liquidation sale has started and will continue until everything, including furniture in storage, is sold.

“It’s whenever we get everything emptied out,” Elpers said.

“We’re bringing out merchandise daily.”

That includes brands such as Bassett, Vaughan-Bassett, Best, King Hickory, Howard Miller, Barcalounger, Craftmaster, Fjords, Homestretch, Pulaski, La-Z-Boy, Hooker, Serta and Simmons.

Rugs and floor clocks are included in the sale as well.

Elpers and Morris have sold the 105,000-square-foot Horton’s building to an undisclosed buyer.

“We tried for a couple years to sell the store,” Elpers said.

With interest rates the way they are, he said, “It’s a tougher purchase . . . especially for an independent operation.”

Frank and Frances Horton started the business in Argonia in 1946 with money that Frank Horton saved while serving in World War II. Even before the war started, he dropped out of high school in his sophomore year to enlist in the Navy.

By the late 1950s, the Hortons had purchased a plane to deliver smaller pieces of furniture across Kansas as well as to take decorators to people’s homes for custom jobs.

After more than two decades in Argonia, they moved the store to Wichita and expanded with a showroom they built in 1967.

When the Hortons first opened their business, they sold appliances as well. It was during the home-building boom following the war.

They also had a store in the Eastgate shopping center at Kellogg and Rock Road from 1977 to 1986.

Though the couple traveled extensively, they also loved to work.

‘’The reason why we’re still here is that we have so much fun,” Frances Horton told The Wichita Eagle in 1990.

“When we’re home on weekends, we just can’t wait for Monday so that we can get back to the store.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2024 at 11:03 AM.