Olender Mattress closing one of three stores

PHOTOGRAPHER: James Schlett

A Schenectady mattress retailer that survived several economic downturns — including the Great Depression — is shedding one of its three outlets to weather the current recession.

Olender Mattress is closing its store at The Crossing shopping center in Clifton Park, where it operated for 15 years.

Richard Olender, president of the retailer, declined to comment on the closing and could not specify when the store will close its doors. An advertisement in the Daily Gazette states the Clifton Park stores is having a “moving sale” and a “need to urgently sell” its floor samples and inventory.

Olender will maintain its stores in Colonie and Schenectady. The retailer was founded in 1902 in Amsterdam and in 1977 it moved to its State Street headquarters in Schenectady. The State Street building sustained damage in December, when strips of metal fell off its facade, presumably at the hand of strong winds.

When interviewed by the Gazette in December 2007 — the start of the recession — the retailer’s president said sales had softened since the housing boom peaked around 2005. But Olender was not overly worried about that trend, saying the retailer had survived worse downturns in the 1920s, 1940s and 1970s.

“People are holding back. This is our 105th year in business, so this is nothing new for us,” Olender said in late 2007.

With greater Capital Region home sales falling 15 percent in 2008, many home furnishing and furniture retailers have struggled to stay afloat. At the Northway Mall in Colonie, A Linens ‘n Things and Thomasville Home Furnishings closed late last year.