The email also said that health benefits will continue until the end of the month.
A banner on Circle’s website only says all stores are closed, but does not mention online operations. The company’s phone number and email address lead directly to voicemail or bounces back.
Half a dozen employees told the Globe they have already begun searching for new jobs.
The Acton-based company has eight stores and a warehouse outlet in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It employs approximately 65 workers in administrative, accounting, and retail roles.
Jonathan Boyle has worked at Circle Furniture for nearly 40 years, climbing up the hierarchy ladder until he finally landed the position of company president two years ago. The closure announcement came as a shock to him.
“They were having some financial difficulties they were trying to resolve and work around, but that’s all I know,” he said. “It’s not a great situation.”
Despite his executive role, Boyle said he was not privy to much of the company’s finances, which were handled mostly by the accounting team and the company’s owners. The decision to shut down operations did not come from him, he said.
A number of employees said the company has overextended itself following a change of ownership in 2022. The new owners, Robert and Paula Richard, opened stores in the Seaport, Portsmouth, N.H., and in May, and it opened a store in Hyannis. Employees who spoke to the Globe said the Hyannis store pushed the company over the edge, generating delivery delays and extended debt.
Circle Furniture has not filed for bankruptcy, as of Tuesday. The company and the Richards did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“The new owners came with the best of intentions,” said Jim Copeland, who manages a furniture manufacturing facility in Vermont. “With each store they opened, we saw an uptick in business.”
Copeland has worked with Circle Furniture since the 1980s. He stopped seeing orders mid-last week, and has only heard about the store closures through employees, not an official company announcement. All of the furniture that was ordered before the closure will be delivered to his other clients, he said.
“They have been a great customer of ours,” he said. “We will miss them.”
For most of its retail life, Circle Furniture was a small business owned by the Tubman family. It had a handful of locations across Massachusetts, and touted itself as a retailer of local, high-end, and sustainable furniture.
Peggy Burns, one of the company’s previous co-owners, left Circle Furniture about two years after the sale, but has kept close relationships with employees since.
“It’s our legacy, and we’re so ashamed of it,” she said. “This was devastating. I’ve reached out to people I know and we’re trying to help in any way we can … Who wants to tell people you don’t have a job a week before Christmas?”
Now retired, Burns continues to follow the furniture retail world. Furniture businesses including Circle flourished during the COVID pandemic, she said. Burns, her husband Richard Tubman, and his brother Harold Tubman, sold the business to the Richards because none of their kids had interest in keeping Circle Furniture in the family, according to Burns.
Recent reports show that the furniture retail industry has shifted, but is still going strong. The US industry revenue in 2025 stands at about $180 billion, according to market research firm Grand View Research, compared to about $172 billion in 2024. While much of the industry has shifted to online sales after the pandemic, showroom-based retailers are still seeing foot traffic.
Yogev Toby can be reached at yogev.toby@globe.com.
