Ledger Furniture to close its doors

By LYNETTE SOWELL 
Cove Leader-Press 

The parking lot was starting to fill up on Thursday morning with the vehicles of eager shoppers around 9 a.m. at Ledger Furniture, although the doors did not open for the “private sale” until 10 a.m.  
The store, which has been a fixture at its location at 104 E. Avenue D in Copperas Cove for more than 70 years, had been closed for the first part of the week as it prepared for a 90-day liquidation sale. 
Signs on the store windows proclaimed the store’s upcoming final closure, along with a thanks to the community for more than 71 years of serving the community.
According to a direct mail flyer sent out this week to its regular customers, the store is having a “private” sale that started Thursday and runs through Sunday. 
The flyer also gives the reason behind the inventory liquidation and eventual store closure. 
“Due to an unfortunate family medical emergency, and after careful thought and consideration, we have made the difficult decision to CLOSE OUR STORE FOREVER.” 
Hours for the sale are 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. daily, with the exception of Sunday hours from noon until 5 p.m. 
Ledger Furniture had been owned by Les and Linda Ledger, until the couple sold it to Stephen Branch of Waxahachie at the end of 2007. Branch has kept the Ledger name on the store through the present day. 
Along with the inventory liquidation sale of furniture and mattresses from nationally known brands, the property itself is listed for sale at $1.4 million. 
According to the listing, the entire lot size is 1.98 acres, with the total commercial space just over 20,000 square feet. 
It is not known at this time if there are any buyers with strong interest in the property. 
No closure date was given in the flyer sent out to customers, but it could be shuttered for the last time by the end of 2021. 
The landmark business is yet another to close in recent years. 
Cove Feed & Seed, which had been open for more than 50 years, closed in the summer of 2017 after Elaine Cline, daughter of Frank DiMuccio, made a go of keeping the doors open after her father passed away in December 2015. That business had been a fixture on Business 190, much like Ledger Furniture in downtown Copperas Cove.