Big Sandy Superstore has opened at 4064 Elida Road in Lima, in the former Tracy’s Appliances building. The Lima News reported that the store is the employee-owned retailer’s 16th in Ohio; Big Sandy has 30 other locations across the Midwest.
The Lima showroom carries about $30 million in furniture, mattresses, and kitchen and laundry appliances, according to The Lima News. The newspaper reported that the nearest Big Sandy locations are in Huber Heights and Marion. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. A Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting is scheduled for noon Friday, Oct. 30.
National furniture-sales backdrop
The Lima opening comes amid a national decline in the category: U.S. Census Bureau data show that not-seasonally-adjusted sales at furniture and home furnishings stores were down 5.5 percent (±2.1 percent) in December 2025 compared with December 2024. That national measure does not indicate how the Lima store will perform.
Opening offers
The Lima News reported that an employee-pricing promotion runs from Friday, Oct. 23, through Tuesday, Oct. 27, offering 6% off appliances and discounts of up to 18% on furniture and mattresses. Customers who buy qualifying items before they are discounted can receive the price difference if the items go on sale again through Black Friday, Nov. 27, the newspaper reported.
Ownership and expansion
Certified EO lists Big Sandy as employee-owned since 2002 under an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The Lima News reported that the company allocates shares to employees using money left over at the end of the year.
Big Sandy began with a store in Ashland, Kentucky, founded by Robert Vanhoose in 1953, according to Furniture Today.
In a 2025 report, Furniture Today described a plan for eight store openings over 12 months: Greenwood, East Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Richmond in Indiana; Fairfield Township, Ohio; Bowling Green and Elizabethtown, Kentucky; and Clarksville, Indiana. The report said Big Sandy expected to reach 34 stores across five states if all eight locations opened.
Furniture Today also reported that Big Sandy had invested in a 100,000-square-foot distribution center in the Indianapolis area to support merchandise availability and deliveries.
