But owners John Jr. and Roger Richards insist one of Utah's oldest furniture companies, Granite Furniture, is off to a fresh start as Granite Galleries.

The Richardses have more than just a new name. The biggest change is that the brothers, three sisters and their father are now the sole owners of a company that once was owned by about 50 shareholders in six related families.

The Richardses say that they have a reasonable amount of debt and a roadmap to remain profitable - a big improvement for a company that just a few years ago was near bankruptcy.

"We think we have a good chance to succeed now," said Roger Richards, 57, seated on a sofa next to John Richards, 59.

Getting a fresh start, however, has come at a steep cost.

Today, Granite Galleries has only two locations - in Sugar House and West Jordan - down from four. It has only 32 employees, down from a peak of more than 400. And it has precious little capital left to update or advertise its Sugar House location to better compete with 800-pound gorilla of furniture retailing in Utah, R.C. Willey.

The Richards brothers say they have no illusions about taking on R.C. Willey. But they do say they have a good chance to carve a profitable niche in moderately priced furniture.

That was the goal back in 1910 when Granite Furniture Co. was founded by a group of Utah businessmen. John's and Roger's grandfather, W.B. Richards, who worked as a contractor on the construction of Granite's original store, bought out the company's partners in the 1920s.

It prospered for decades as Utah's premier furniture retailer. But in recent years, it struggled to compete. The families eventually hired corporate turnaround specialist Jim Taggart when things got so bad they had trouble paying their creditors.

Taggart, who served as interim chief executive during a reorganization, said Granite Furniture had too much family. Family members, many of whom never worked anywhere other than Granite from the time they were old enough to work, dominated top management and the company's seven-member board of directors.

Taggart immediately embarked on a plan to cash out most of the families with a stake in Granite, pay off their debts, pare ownership down to one family and start over.

To get cash, Granite liquidated and sold locations in Orem and Layton. It also hired an aggressive liquidator to handle a sale designed to raise more money. The liquidator bought all of Granite's inventory and conducted liquidation sales in the Layton, West Jordan and Sugar House locations from June to November of last year.

Many small furniture retailers that compete with Granite remain bitter about the way the liquidation was handled. They say they could not compete with the heavy advertising for months and the claims of "going out of business forever." They say the liquidation sale diverted customers eager for a good deal.

"When somebody like Granite says they are going out of business they should just go out of business and let the rest of us survive," said Robert Slater, owner of Linda's Furniture in Salt Lake City, a 17-year veteran of the Salt Lake Valley's competitive furniture retailing industry.

The Richards brothers say the liquidator was overly aggressive and stretched the truth to rake in the customers. All along, they say, they planned to stay in business.

To make matters worse, by staging a liquidation sale, Granite Furniture under city rules forfeited its business license. Salt Lake City initially denied the Richards' request for a new business license, citing the fact that they indicated they were "going out of business," said Orion Goff, building services and business licensing director of Salt Lake City. The city's legal department eventually approved the new license because of the new ownership structure, Goff said.

Ultimately, they say the liquidation sale did not go as well as hoped. But the sale, combined with the sale of real estate, raised enough money to cash out family members, pay off creditors and give Granite a fresh start.

Roger and John Richards said the toughest part of running an ailing family business was acknowledging they were in trouble and needed outside help and parting with assets they had accumulated over the years, such as prime real estate in Layton and Orem.

But John Richards said there is some satisfaction in being able to conquer their debts, keep a core group of employees and start fresh.

They have no radical new ideas to implement - they simply plan to sell moderately priced furniture. With few dollars to spare right now, even a major aesthetic overhaul of their two remaining showrooms will have to wait.

"We know we have an uphill battle ahead of us," Roger Richards said. "But we're committed to continuing on in the furniture business."