Albany Herald

Brad Stafford, owner of the Badcock Furniture store on Slappey Boulevard in Albany, is relocating the store to North Westover Boulevard near the Albany Mall. The move to the old Haverty’s building will double the store’s floor space to nearly 50,000 square feet.

ALBANY, Ga. — Badcock Furniture is relocating its North Slappey Boulevard store to 827 North Westover Blvd. near the Albany Mall, franchise owner Brad Stafford said Monday.

The Westover Boulevard building previously housed Haverty’s Furniture and, before that, the Suburban Furniture store. Stafford said the move will double Badcock’s effective floor space to nearly 50,000 square feet and position the store in a more upscale area.

According to Stafford, Oct. 1 will be the last day the Slappey store will be open. The new store will open to the public on Oct. 3.

“There’s a big sale going on right now at the old store,” Stafford said. “We hope we don’t have to move much of anything to Westover.”

Stafford said the nearly two-week period preceding the opening of the new store will be “plenty of time” for it to be stocked with new furniture.

Stafford purchased his first Badcock store in Dawson in 1996 after working there as a manager. He also owns Badcock stores in Americus and Columbus. The Albany store is the largest of the group “by far,” he said.

The North Westover store will be managed by Chuck Balkom, who has managed the North Slappey store for the past four years.

“Chuck is the main reason we came into the Albany market four years ago,” Stafford said. “He does a fine job, and we wanted a store for him.”

Stafford said the old OfficeMax building near the mall was seriously considered as a location for the new Badcock store. In the end, it was rejected because the drop ceilings and loading docks at the old Haverty’s store were “better suited to our needs,” he added.

The building that will house Badcock’s new location was purchased from a holding company of SunTrust Bank, Stafford said.