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In the spring of 1991, John and Pam Sadler used $50 to rent a location on Rehoboth Avenue to start a contemporary furniture business. They called it Abizak’s in honor of a son and daughter. They hadn’t even hit their first wedding anniversary yet, but they had youth, confidence and they had faith.
Their business prospered and grew through the 1990s to the point where they expanded to an additional location on Route 1 and a warehouse at Five Points. “We grew a very loyal customer base and were blessed to be able to work together as a married couple,” said John.
Despite a flattening market and changing furniture industry, John and Pam pushed the momentum of their peak years in the late 1990s into the 21st century. In the fall of 2006, faced with an uncertain rental situation in Rehoboth and an opportunity to buy in Fenwick Island where their customer base was growing, the Sadlers decided to move. “We knew the economy had soured a few years before, for our industry and this area,” said John, “but we were depending on it to turn back around to make our move to Rt. 54 successful. The turn never came; this summer wasn’t so good. Now the message is clear. Abizak’s supported us for so long but it’s tired and we have to let it go to sleep.”
Sadler said the couple struggled to keep the business strong despite the downturn. “Maybe too long. And we waited for this summer. But there’s no fairy dust coming to fix our problems. We have our health, we have our house and we have our faith. We don’t see this as a failure or a collapse; it’s a decision. It’s the end of a chapter in our lives and we’re excited to see what the next chapter holds even though we have no idea what that will be.”
The Sadlers told their employees this week about their plans. “A few have been with us many years – in some cases half of their lives. But at this point we can close out, meet our obligations, and use the product that we have in stock to make a graceful exit. Our last day in business at our Fenwick location will be the last Saturday in September. Then we’ll have our annual tent sale at the Five Points warehouse on film festival weekend and that will be it,” said John. “We still have orders to fill and we will be doing that. We will also be putting up a website where people can contact our vendors if they have questions or want to find out where certain lines will be available in the future.”
Sadler said the closing of the business has a direct relationship with the weak real estate market. “When people already have their furniture, they don’t need to replace it when things are tight. There’s been a deterioration in the whole industry as a result. We talk to like-minded stores in other areas and they’re having a tough time. It’s tougher here at the shore because of the seasonality, but it’s tough in other areas for other reasons.”
Sadler said they realized the move to Fenwick was a half hour from Abizak’s primary customer base. “But we had been noticing over the last few years that the growth in our sales was from areas around Bethany and south. The Fenwick site would have been good if the economy started picking up but it didn’t. And staying in Rehoboth wasn’t a possibility.”
Sadler said he hopes people remember Abizak’s with fondness. “We had lots of loyal customers and every purchase went to pay for school tuitions, school clothes and to put food on our tables. But we have to do this now or we will just keep digging ourselves in deeper. This is either a mistake or the sledgehammer to the head that we needed to let it go. We have faith that it’s the right decision.”
Contact Dennis Forney at dnf@capegazette.com
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