If you didn’t buy it from Haaga's you paid too much! Serving the entire state of Utah. 307 E. 2100 South Salt Lake City, UT 84115 For 47 years, Haaga Mattress and Furniture has been the longest running mattress store in the state of Utah, as well as the first manufacturer of We are the factory and specialize in custom-made beds to support your body's unique needs. You'll also find RV, motor home, and boat You'll enjoy our no-credit-check financing options for a smooth, no-hassle purchasing credit, good credit - everyone Count on Haaga Mattress and Furniture to have adjustable beds and bases to support your spine and improve health issues. We also have a sale ending soon.SOUTH OGDEN — It’s the continuing saga of the furniture store that just wouldn’t close. Knight’s Mattress & Furniture, at 4020 Riverdale Road, has been holding a going-out-of-business sale since at least last summer. And although owners of the Utah County-based company have insisted all along they are indeed going out of business, as of Thursday evening the store was still very much open.
That now has the Utah Division of Consumer Protection investigating the company for possible violations of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act. The division could issue an administrative citation for the violation, which would include a $2,500 fine. • RELATED: No 'good night' for Knight's Furniture just yet Mandy Krueger, a consumer protection investigator with the Utah Department of Commerce’s Division of Consumer Protection, said her office has been investigating Knight’s since being alerted to the company’s potentially deceptive practices by a government records request from the Standard-Examiner in early January. The Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act prohibits businesses from claiming a transaction is available to the consumer “for a reason that does not exist.” This includes “reasons falsely used in an advertisement,” such as “going out of business,” “bankruptcy sale,” “lost our lease,” “building coming down,” “forced out of business,” “final days,” “liquidation sale,” “fire sale,” or “quitting business.”
• RELATED: Utah warns consumers of 6 scams likely to perpetuate in 2016 Locally, the South Ogden furniture store has become the butt of jokes on social media for its extensive “going out of business” advertisements that have been circulating for at least the last eight months. Owners of Knight’s insist they’ve been legitimately going out of business, but Krueger said it’s simply been too long to be making that claim. “This Knight’s thing, to me, is more like, ‘Are they ever going to close?’ ” Krueger said. “I mean, I just don’t know.” Although it appeared to be business as usual at the South Ogden store Thursday evening, a salesman, who declined to identify himself, said Knight’s was “pulling out even as we speak.” Also problematic for Knight’s, according to Krueger, has been the issue of building ownership. In January, Nate Knight, co-owner of the Lehi-based furniture company, told the Standard-Examiner he had only opened — and kept open — the South Ogden furniture store as a favor to the building’s owner.
Knight said the building owner had contacted him and asked him to stay there until he could sell the building. “I am absolutely, genuinely going to leave,” Knight told the Standard-Examiner in January. “That store is costing me money every month. But I’ll make up for it over the next three years, because I’m getting a sweetheart lease from the building owner” in Utah County. But Krueger said when she pulled the records for that South Ogden property, it’s owner is Ruff Knight L.C. “It’s registered to a Shane Knight, of Lehi,” Krueger said. “So they own the building.” Neither Nate Knight nor any other company officials could be reached for comment. While Knight’s is leaving its South Ogden location, a new furniture store is already set to take its place. Bill Furniss, of South Ogden, has been in the furniture consulting and wholesale business since the 1980s. He said will begin leasing the building March 14 from Shane Knight to operate a new business called Bill’s Mattress & Furniture Liquidation Outlet.
He’s planning a grand opening in April. “I’m taking the building over,” Furniss said Friday. “We’ll be changing the sign, and taking down all of those other (going-out-of-business) signs. Knight’s will have nothing to do with it anymore.” And Furniss said while he “likes the guys,” he’s quick to stress that he has no connection to the Knight family. “In fact, when people come in, I’ll have a disclaimer on the door saying Bill’s has nothing to do with Knight’s,” he said. Furniss said right now, he’s advertising legal notices to get people to pick up layaway purchases from Knight’s so he can clear it before the new store opens. While Knight’s is now actually closing, it doesn’t get the company out of hot water, Krueger said. She said she’ll continue to pursue action against them, and although her superiors at the Department of Commerce will have the final say, she “definitely” believes she can establish at least one count of deceptive advertising by Knight’s.
“Whether or not a judge will agree with me, we’ll see,” she said. The matter would only go to a judge if Knight’s contests a citation. Krueger said the next step is for her office to notify Knight’s of their violation of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act, and give the company a chance to respond. If Consumer Protection rejects that response, Krueger says a $2,500 administrative citation will be issued. Knight’s could then pay the fine, or request a hearing before an administrative law judge. Krueger believes the Division of Consumer Protection has a strong case against Knight’s Mattress & Furniture. “You just can’t advertise going out of business for eight months as a sales tactic. I’d be willing to go to a hearing on that,” Krueger says. “I just think it’s a crummy way to do business. I mean, obviously you’re doing it with the intent to get people in the door.” Contact Mark Saal at 801-625-4272, or msaal@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @Saalman.