ROCHELLE — Hub City Furniture at 429-433 Lincoln Highway in Rochelle will be closing its doors for the final time at the end of this month after 45 years in business as Owner Susan Andracke is retiring.

Andracke and her late husband, Earl, bought a furniture store in Hillcrest in 1979 and started the business before buying its current location downtown and moving everything there in 1984. After being a mainstay in the downtown across decades, a going out of business sale is ongoing and Andracke has sold the building to a new owner. 

“I have met so many people here,” Andracke said. “Some just in passing, and others that have become friends. That will be hard to leave. I will miss them. I've become good friends with the other business owners downtown. I kept doing this for so long and enjoyed it because it was a challenge. I liked seeing all the new styles that came in over the years. I loved trying to put people with stuff. That was fun.”

Andracke has seen the furniture business, the city, and the downtown change over her 45 years in business. A lot of online buying and comparison shopping is seen in the industry now. 

Over the years, Andracke believes that Hub City Furniture and other businesses like it locally have been able to service Rochelle-area customers to keep them from having to leave town for their needs.

“I think with the furniture stores that are in Rochelle, between all of us we give the customers a really good variety of merchandise,” Andracke said. “I've seen people travel to Rockford looking for a special piece of furniture and they come back to Rochelle and it'd be sitting right here. I loved that. With the options we have here in town, I'd say shop Rochelle first. And then if you can't find it, go somewhere else. But I think you'll find it right here in town.”

Andracke recalled running the business during leaner years, namely the late 1970s and early 1980s, when times were tough due to economic issues and inflation. At one point she took another full-time job to make ends meet. 

“To run a business for 45 years, it takes stamina,” Andracke said. “There are days when the last thing you want to do is get up and go shovel the walk. But it has to get done. I did that for a long time, and so did Earl.”

Being a part of Rochelle and its downtown small business community for 45 years, Andracke has seen other businesses come and go. She and Hub City Furniture and other longtime downtown businesses and their owners have become like family, she said. Andracke recalled times in the winter months when it would get dark earlier and Quinn’s Jewelry Owner Marvin Quinn would wait to leave until he saw she had closed up shop and left safely.

“I was born in this town,” Andracke said. “I grew up here. I've lived here all my life outside of going away for school. I've seen changes that are unbelievable. Marvin Quinn and I sometimes reminisce about different things over the years downtown. Other people like to come in and reminisce about things like the Hub Theater or the old bakery across the street. Things have changed.”

Andracke plans to spend her retirement fishing and camping and living somewhere warmer during the winter months. She’s excited for retirement, but said it will “absolutely be hard” to close the doors of Hub City Furniture for good at the end of the month. 

Upon getting into the business in 1979, Andracke never saw herself staying in it for 45 years. She figured she and Earl would do it for about 10-15 years and move on to something else. But they never did. They enjoyed the challenge.

“I’ve enjoyed working here,” Andracke said. “I’ve had good people to help me. A lot of them and customers have become good friends. I'm going to miss them. But that's the way life is. You have to move on. It's been tough working with customers recently, because people are starting to come in to say goodbye. Some of them I may never see again. They come in to say thank you. Everybody has been extremely nice.”