‘Everything must go!’: Iconic Lehigh Valley furniture store set to close after 50-plus years | Eat, Sip, Shop
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – If the new year brought a desire to upgrade your home decor, a longstanding destination for sofas, dining room sets and other furniture is bidding farewell with steep discounts in the Lehigh Valley.
Unclaimed Freight, offering popular brand-name furniture for bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms and offices, is set to close at the end of February at 2260 Industrial Drive in Bethlehem, according to manager Robert Hahn, who’s been with the company for 48 years.
Unclaimed Freight operates at 2260 Industrial Drive in Bethlehem.
A store closing sale kicked off on Jan. 1 and features high markdowns on already discounted items, including furniture and other home décor such as lamps, mirrors, area rugs and artwork.
Signs reading “wall to wall savings,” “everything must go!” and “store closing forever!” are displayed throughout the store.
All sales are final, and store fixtures are also available for purchase, Hahn said.
“We’re very grateful to the Lehigh Valley community and everyone who has supported the business over the years,” Hahn told 69 News. “We’ve loved serving everyone.”
Unclaimed Freight operates at 2260 Industrial Drive in Bethlehem.
Hahn is the nephew of the late Joseph Colabella, Unclaimed Freight’s founder, who established the business in 1971.
Colabella previously operated an Easton home décor shop and warehouse, known as Unclaimed Salvage & Freight, in the late 1960s and also briefly operated a store in Whitehall Township before opening Unclaimed Freight’s flagship store in Bethlehem a few years later, Hahn said.
Over the ensuing decades, Unclaimed Freight’s footprint grew to include more than a dozen other stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Missouri, Hahn said.
The Bethlehem location is the business’ last remaining store, which the current owners are closing as they prepare to retire, Hahn said.
Unclaimed Freight operates at 2260 Industrial Drive in Bethlehem.
Colabella, who passed away at age 91 in 2022, continued to work at Unclaimed Freight through his 80s.
“[Colabella] was hardworking, and his parents were immigrants who came from Italy,” Hahn said.
Unclaimed Freight aims to give customers “what you want, when you want it at a ridiculously low price,” according to a message on the business’ website.
The company offers a huge, constantly changing assortment of furniture and accessories “at prices that can enable everyone to indulge their sense of style and pocket some savings too.”
The business buys brand name closeouts, discontinued lots, factory overruns and bankruptcy liquidations from domestic manufacturers and importers, selling them for up to 70% off of their manufacturer’s retail price.
Unclaimed Freight operates at 2260 Industrial Drive in Bethlehem.
“We buy first quality, brand name furniture, odd lots, closeouts and surpluses for pennies on the dollar and pass the savings onto you,” the online message continues. “We seek out great deals on current styles as well as the old favorites so that we can provide you with highly attractive furniture at the lowest possible prices.”
Unclaimed Freight is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
For more information, call the business at 610-974-8194.
