Yeager’s Carriage House closing Santa Rosa store

Yeager’s Carriage House is closing the Santa Rosa furniture store where it has been in business four decades, but aims to reopen by fall in a smaller location.

The Ethan Allen dealer closed its doors last Wednesday and will reopen this Friday to launch a closeout sale, said Ron Cagle, whose family owns the store. All current orders will be filled, he said.

The sale could extend through July. The owners hope to find a new storefront and reopen sometime this fall, Cagle said.

The family-run business is scaling back in the face of slumping sales, which have declined more than 40 percent since peaking in 2001, Cagle said. Competition from online retailers and the recession continue to peel away business, he said.

But the owners are optimistic the business will be successful in a smaller location as an Ethan Allen design studio. They are in talks with Ethan Allen.

The business began as Yeager’s Interiors in Montgomery Village in 1955. It moved to the current location in 1969 and was renamed Yeager’s Carriage House. Cagle’s wife, Sherry, is the third Yeager generation to own the store.