Costa Mesa’s H.J. Garrett Furniture store closing after five decades

After more than five decades of home design work and selling fine furnishings, the owners of H.J. Garrett Furniture in Costa Mesa are closing up shop and selling off their inventory.

The family-run business at 2215 Harbor Blvd. began a public liquidation sale Friday.

For third-generation furniture dealer brothers Jim and John Garrett, it’s time to retire. They’ve run the place since the beginning — 1960.

“We were the youngest store in town when we opened, and now we’re the oldest,” said John, 77.

In an interview Thursday, they noted that the industry’s business model has changed since they began. Back then, people might go to H.J. Garrett for everything — from furniture to wallpaper.

H.J. Garrett Furniture, pictured in 1963 during a Harbor Boulevard expansion project, is closing after more than five decades in business. It started in 1960 down the street on Park Avenue.

(Courtesy H.J. GARRETT FURNITURE / Daily Pilot)

Most of their inventory comes from American companies. Now, customers might visit The Home Depot instead for wallpaper and, say, an online retailer like Amazon for lamps.

“It was more of an inclusive thing,” said Jim, 74. “It changed. You lost a lot of those things to work with.”

Still, they’ve earned hometown loyalty. Old customers are pouring back into the store, finding discounts and reconnecting with the Garrett family.

“They congratulate you, shake hands,” John said. “It’s like seeing a lot of old friends.”

H.J. Garrett Furniture in Costa Mesa is closing down. The store’s location at 2215 Harbor Blvd. first opened in June of 1963 by Henry James “H.J.” Garrett.

(KEVIN CHANG / Daily Pilot)

The store is named after the store’s founder, Jim and John’s father, Henry James Garrett, a second-generation furniture dealer who went by H.J.

H.J. had moved his family to California from Michigan after retiring from running his own furniture business. Retirement didn’t work out well for him, and he decided to start another company that, as it would turn out, kept the furniture sales profession in the Garrett family for two more generations.

H.J. Garrett Furniture, which also offered a design service, opened in Costa Mesa in 1960 in a 2,000-square-foot store on Park Avenue, near the present-day Costa Mesa Courtyards shopping center.

H.J. Garrett Furniture, pictured in 1963, is closing its doors after more than five decades in business. “It’s been good to us over the years,” co-owner John Garrett said. “We’ve really enjoyed the business.”

(Courtesy H.J. GARRETT FURNITURE / Daily Pilot)

After a few successful years there, H.J. Garrett moved up the road in 1963 to 2215 Harbor Blvd., which then was a new building that has since been expanded to 14,000 square feet.

“They had just taken the cows away across the street when we opened,” John joked, referencing Costa Mesa’s agricultural roots.

The Garrett family plans to sell or lease their building and pursue business interests unrelated to furniture.

“It’s been good to us over the years,” John said. “We’ve really enjoyed the business.”