ROCKFORD, IL

- Ello Furniture Manufacturing, which over 56 years grew from a garage operation to a 200,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and 150,000-square-foot warehouse, will see its production machinery and inventory auctioned beginning Jan. 19, 2011.

The sale, being managed by PPL Auction, runs through Jan. 26. (The Ello equipment sale description is available here.) Ello Online Sales Brochure

Ello Furniture Manufacturing closed in October, its operations withered during the previous year to a shadow of their former size. Hit by declining furniture demand, a result of the economy, the housing crash, and the demise of retailers that carried its line, at the end just 40 employees were around for the final layoffs. Ello had moved by that point from volume production to custom orders, and had consolidated and then subleased portions of its plant.

Ello Furniture exploited a niche for contemporary furnishings, "in styles not available from leading U.S. furniture manufacturers," as it's marketing materials claimed. Ello's motto was "Contemporary Furniture of Distinction" combined with "Function plus Spectacular Glamour." It produced bedroom, dining rooms, wall systems, entertainment centers in wood and wood veneers, and in glass and metal cladversions. It also imported Italian-made furnishings in marble. Ello Furniture was also known for large-scale annual furniture inventory-clearance sales. >>