As my wife sometimes tells our kids — and often tells me — we’re going to nip this in the bud. (We start taking her seriously when she says it with actual nippers in her hand.)

Discovery Furniture has announced a major moving and expansion project for its Topeka store, but the move is not affecting its location on South Iowa Street in Lawrence.

There perhaps has been some confusion about that. The company is currently running a “moving sale” that includes its Lawrence location. That, coupled with some advertisements about the larger Topeka store, has caused some people to come under the false impression that the Discovery store in Lawrence is moving to Topeka. I received a phone call about that, and a store manager said she had heard some of that as well.
Jess Bundy, store manager at the Lawrence location, said business has been good at the furniture center that technically houses the Discovery, RoomMakers and Mattress Headquarters furniture businesses in the large building that used to be occupied by Food-4-Less.

The big news for the company, though, is what is going on in Topeka. The company is in the process of leaving its Wanamaker Drive location and moving into the former Macy’s location in the Westridge Mall. The new location represents a large expansion in showroom space and will be marketed as the Kansas Furniture Mall. It will have all three of the furniture business that are located in Lawrence, but it also will have the Marlings furniture business in it as well.

Many of you will remember Marlings furniture was a mainstay in the Lawrence furniture market for decades, before it closed its Lawrence store and focused on the Topeka market several years ago.

Bundy said there aren’t any plans currently to bring the Marlings name and furniture line back to Lawrence, but my understanding is the Discovery folks now control that brand, so who knows what the future may bring.

Bundy said the Lawrence store, however, will be getting a new manager soon, as she transitions over to the larger Topeka operation.