A South Carolina furniture store has joined a roster of furniture retailers in South Portland.
Ashley Store and Outlet opened Aug. 27 at 405 Western Ave. The new store is owned by Broad River Retail, which operates nearly 40 Ashley stores under license.
The 44,000-square-foot store is a return to South Portland for the retail brand, which has reestablished itself in Maine after a long absence. An earlier South Portland location, run by a different Ashley licensee, closed in the recession of 2009.
“Bringing Ashley back to Greater Portland in a meaningful way establishes an important flagship store in a brand-new market for Broad River Retail, and the response in South Portland has been incredible,” said Manny Rodrigues, president and COO of Broad River Retail.
Broad River Retail was founded in 2003 and is based in Fort Mill, S.C. Broad River Retail is one of the largest independently owned Ashley licensees, operating 39 retail locations. The privately held company employs more than 900 people. Ashley Furniture Industries, with more than 700 stores, has a manufacturing base in Arcadia, Wis, and corporate offices in Tampa.
Broad River announced plans for the South Portland store back in December 2025.
Expansion mode
Broad River Retail has been growing of late.
The company opened an Ashley store in Statesville, N.C., on Aug. 28, and reopened another store in Hickory, N.C., on Sept. 3. It plans to open an Ashley location in Orangeburg, S.C., on Nov. 20. The South Carolina store will be its 40th location, bringing its total there to 11.
Besides the Carolinas and Maine, Broad River has Ashley stores in Georgia, Idaho and Washington State.
Ashley offers its own Ashley Luxe collection, an Ashley Outlet department and Sleep Shops with mattress brands such as Tempur-Pedic, Stearns & Foster, Sealy, Purple, Nectar, DreamCloud and Ashley Sleep.
Maine’s furniture-store cluster
South Portland offers a range of options for furniture buyers.
Ashley is seeking a place in the market alongside Cabot House, Furniture Superstore, Jordan’s Furniture, Loveac, Pottery Barn and Bernie & Phyl’s.
But Broad River and Ashley are used to finding room in crowded furniture markets: Hickory, N.C., is known for its furniture stores, with more than 100 retailers at the Hickory Furniture Mart.
Broad River hinted that other stores in New England could follow.
“South Portland gives us a strong foundation in northern New England,” Rodrigues said.
