House2Home to Put Deliveries on Hold

House2Home Inc., besieged by a sharp drop in business since the Sept. 11 attacks, said it will turn away deliveries of new merchandise for up to three weeks to cut its inventory.

The Irvine-based chain announced last week that sales had fallen 25% to 30% after the attack and said it had hired an investment banking firm to explore “various strategic and financial alternatives.”

Still, the announcement was a surprise, said Brett Hendrickson, an analyst with B. Riley & Co. Hendrickson said he knows of no others that are making an “across the board stoppage like this.”

House2Home shares closed unchanged at 45 cents on the NYSE.