A CLASSY CLOSING 75-YEAR-OLD STORE CALLING IT QUITS.

Byline: Brent Hopkins  Staff Writer

BURBANK - When Empire Furniture opened its doors, there was a strange new chair known as the upholstered recliner on the market.

When Empire closes for good in a few weeks, 75 years after Maurice Beare sold his first chair, recliners are still in fashion, but there's little else that has stayed the same. In a span of nine decades, which have included drastic swings in consumer tastes and a vastly different economic model, the little shop on Magnolia Boulevard has stayed remarkably constant.

There have been two owners, Beare and his granddaughter Jennifer Lithgow. As most furniture dealers began shifting their inventory to cheaper foreign imports, Empire stubbornly sold only American-made goods. If a customer needed a repair at home, the store would send a craftsman to fix it up.

Keeping with that old-school tradition, Lithgow, who took over 17 years ago, is closing down rather than change the way she ran the store. With two young children in school, she elected to walk away rather than sacrifice her professional or personal standards.

``I get home, cook dinner, help with their homework, put the kids to bed, then sit down with the paperwork 'til 1 a.m.,'' she sighed, stretching out on a marked-down sofa. ``The next morning, I start the whole show over again.''

She grew up in the shop, posing like a mannequin in the window as a little kid. After the death of Beare, a South African immigrant who once ran a furniture factory in his native land, Lithgow took it over in her early 20s. But 17 years of 60-hour workweeks took their toll, especially once she had her own family to worry about.

To the customers who bought their first La-Z-Boys there and stocked their living rooms with its plush couches, Empire's departure has stirred up strong emotions. When Lithgow first put up her going-out-of-business signs, longtime shoppers lined up outside, banging on the windows, demanding to know why she was shutting down.

She considered selling, considered hiring extra staff, but nothing satisfied her. The sentimental attachment proved to be too strong, so she decided to get out of the business altogether. The sale ran hotter than she expected, hastening the closing date to mid-January.

``That was the kind of place that Burbank was famous for before all the chains came,'' said Mike Nolan, a Burbank retiree. ``I came back from being overseas in '67 with a limited amount of money. My parents had a nice end table which I managed to break, so I went in there with my limited resources and they were kind enough to help me find one so I was spared the wrath of my father.''

After hearing the sun was setting on Empire, Sharon Wood, a 30-year customer, went over to buy a mattress. Her attachment to the store was so strong, the Glendale resident returned with a new bedroom set and two sofas in tow.

``It's another landmark going away, like so many things,'' Wood said. ``You felt like it was a family in there and you just don't get that anywhere else anymore. It's just so sad.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Jennifer Lithgow, who has run Empire Furniture in Burbank for 17 years, says she is closing the 75-year-old store in a few weeks rather than sacrifice her professional or personal standards.

(2 -- color) After 75 years of doing business in Burbank, Empire Furniture is liquidating its stock and will shut down.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer