Sales slump seals Scan-World's fate after 23 years

VIRGINIA BEACH

Scan-World, which has sold Danish furniture at Hilltop for 23 years, is closing at the end of March.

The owners, Jens and Hanne Larsen, are both in their early 70s and have decided to retire. Their lease at Hilltop Plaza Shopping Center on Laskin Road is up for renewal in two months, and the recession, housing woes and related decay in furniture sales convinced them it was time to shutter the store.

"It's been tough for the past two years," Jens Larsen said. "Obviously, sales are slumping."

Scan-World specializes in high-end Danish furniture with a classic Scandinavian look - light woods and clean lines. The store will take

special orders through mid-March, making deliveries from its warehouse on Viking Drive through the end of July, Larsen said.

A private going-out-of-business sale for invited customers only will take place Wednesday and Thursday. Scan-World will open the sale to the public on Friday, Larsen said.

Custo mers began cutting back their spending two years ago, Larsen said. With the financial crisis at the end of 2008, banks tightened the limits on credit cards and raised interest rates, making shoppers more wary of taking on debt for big purchases such as furniture.

"The customers are sitting on their money," he said.

Selling furniture priced at the higher end of the market was never easy in Hampton Roads, Larsen said.

The family came to the region in 1981 after Jens Larsen sold his shipping business in Denmark. A friend had franchises selling Scandinavian furniture in other cities and suggested that the Larsens start a store here. The franchise didn't work out, and the Larsens opened Scan-World as an independent business.

At that time, a U.S. dollar was worth 10 Danish kroner, giving the Larsens strong buying power overseas. The dollar's value has since slipped to the equivalent of just over 5 kroner, Larsen said.

In addition, many Danish manufacturers - like those in the United States - are farming out production to factories in China, Vietnam and other Asian countries, Larsen said.

He and his family are not U.S. citizens but work here on a Treaty Trader visa that has been extended several times. It requires that at least 50 percent of their inventory come from Danish imports, he said. Larsen said he expects they might no longer qualify for an extension with so much of the furniture today made in Asia.

The owners plan to return home to Denmark with the two children who helped them run the store.

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com