Formerly known as Lumber Liquidators, LL Flooring, whose store at 8818 W. Broad St. in Henrico County is shown here in 2021, has been losing money this year as high interest rates and low consumer confidence depress interest in home improvement projects.
U.S. Customs has been delaying LL Flooring‘s shipments of vinyl flooring from Vietnam, the Richmond-based company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Commercial Safety Flooring
It said the agency has asked it to supply documentation about some of its shipments after trade officials added aluminum and polyvinyl chloride to the watchlist of items that Vietnamese firms import from China’s Xinjiang region and use in Vietnamese exports to the United States.
Imports from Xinjiang are banned because of concern that Muslim Uyghurs from the region are being forced to work against their will, and federal law requires American importers to show that their items do include material that has been produced by forced labor in Xinjiang.
“We require our vendors to follow our strict guidelines on responsible sourcing, we obtain periodic certifications from them concerning compliance with these standards and we perform audit procedures of their supply chain documentation,” LL Flooring said in the filing.
Henrico County-based flooring retail giant Lumber Liquidators changed its name to LL Flooring. This 2021 photo is from 8818 W. Broad St. in Henrico, one of the company’s stores.
“While we are working with [Customs] to provide requested documentation, we do not know how long their review of the documentation will take,” the company added.
LL Flooring is looking at other products from other countries to mitigate the impact of the Customs delays and of various tariffs imposed on Chinese exports in recent years.
Last year, it reduced the share of imports subject to those import duties from 20% to 14% by finding new suppliers. It has raised some prices to take account of the duties, as well.
LL Flooring, which imports a variety of hardwoods as well as vinyl flooring for its 442 stores, said “continued material and transportation cost headwinds” hit its bottom line last year.
Its sales last year declined 3.6% to $1.11 billion, despite double-digit growth in sales to contractors, as consumer purchases fell.
In 2021, the CMA CGM Marco Polo, the largest container ship to ever come to the East Coast, arrived at the Port of Virginia. The commonwealth has invested in key upgrades.
LL Flooring saw a more than $50 million swing into the red last year, losing $12.1 million, or 42 cents a share, compared to net income of $41.7 million in 2021.
It also told the SEC that buyers of its Chinese-manufactured laminate products redeemed $1.6 million of vouchers issued under a 2018 court settlement that funded $22 million in cash payments and provided $14 million in store-credit vouchers. Buyers of its Morning Star bamboo flooring redeemed $2.0 million of vouchers issued under a 2019 settlement that included $14 million in cash and $16 million in store-credit vouchers.
The 300 block South Lombardy Street after tornado. Storm was June 14, 1951.
Tornado felled trees in front of Commonwealth Club on Franklin St., June 13, 1951.
In March 1956, jazz trumpeter Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong and his All-Stars played a concert at the Mosque, along with Woody Herman and his Third Herd. Ticket prices were $1.50, $2 and $2.50. Four days later, the Mosque was scheduled to host two shows by an emerging star, the day before his self-titled debut studio album was released. His name: Elvis Presley.
In July 1950, heavyweight boxing legend Jack Dempsey came to Richmond as a headline attraction for a different event: He was referee of a wrestling match. He stayed at the Hotel John Marshall, which was certainly more peaceful than City Stadium -- not having lost a punch over the decades, the 55-year-old got involved in the match there and knocked out the tag team partners Dick Lever and Wally Dusek.
Tornado damage from June 14, 1951 storm. Photo taken June 23, 1951. Location is Monroe Park.
South Richmonders had this view of a Dec. 24, 1951, fire on North Side at the F.L. Parsley storage plant on Rady Street. Three fuel oil and kerosene tanks caught fire, sending black smoke across much of the city. More than 100 firefighters were needed to stop the blaze, which threatened a nearby stream, coal yard and other properties. When the owner of neighboring fuel tanks was told that his were saved, he called it "the nicest Christmas present ever."
In January 1957, the University of Richmond's Boatwright Memorial Library created a vivid reflection in Westhampton Lake. Students were in the middle of exam week at the time.
Several stories below the clock itself, four small balconies jut out from the clock tower on Old City Hall in downtown Richmond. In February 1957, building supervisors looked out from the platforms, which once were public observation spots.
NAACP officials Thurgood Marshall (left) and W. Lester Banks made their way to a General Assembly meeting on Feb. 20, 1957. In the years after the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling, Virginia engaged in Massive Resistance to oppose school desegregation.
A view of East Broad Street in downtown Richmond on a cloudy day in October 1954. The distinctive Old City Hall, with its High Victorian Gothic style, is at left, bounded by 10th and 11th streets. The building is a National Historic Landmark.
On March 11, 1952, American poet Robert Frost chatted with students Anne Holmes (left) and Beverly Gilbert at a reception that followed his address and poetry reading at Westhampton College. Two months earlier, he addressed the Woman's Club in Richmond.
In October 1957, Queen Elizabeth II visited Jamestown to mark the 350th anniversary of the nation's first permanent English settlement. The trip, which featured a 21-gun salute upon her arrival at Patrick Henry Airport, included a visit to Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary. The queen returned to Virginia in 2007 for Jamestown's 400th anniversary.
In April 1952, Betsy Marrin and Doris Bolton admired the springtime blooms in the Italian Garden at Maymont Park. In May of that year, during Park and Recreation Week, Maymont opened a nature center in what had been a stone and brick stable.
In March 1957, actor Robert Mitchum stopped in Richmond -- though not for reasons related to his role in the film "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison," which was playing at local theaters. He had visited Virginia weeks earlier to scout for movie locations, and he was returning to the state to interview promising actors with the Barter Theatre in Abingdon.
On April 8, 1952, the Brooklyn Dodgers played an exhibition game in Richmond. In the dugout at Mooers Field Jackie Robinson visits with teammate Don Newcombe - a star pitcher who was on military duty at Camp Pickett.
In April 1951, a couple strolled through the gardens at Shooters Hill in Goochland County. In the 1950s, the historic home was often the site of Tuckahoe Garden Club events; estate owner Mrs. H.C.L. Miller was club president.
In May 1957, patrons enjoyed the roller coaster at the amusement park in Buckroe Beach in Hampton. Buckroe Beach was a popular destination for Richmonders in the first half of the century as railroads offered direct trips to the area, where visitors could rent a cottage for $50 to $75 a week.
In September 1954, the Canadian ship Notting Hill was docked at Richmond’s Deepwater Terminal on the James River. Tobacco, textiles, newsprint, machinery and steel were among many products that came into or exited the terminal on cargo ships.
In October 1981, Melvin “Shot” Walker worked the grill at the White Spot in Charlottesville. The popular diner, located along the Corner in the heart of the University of Virginia, was opened in 1953 by Paul Dunsmore. The building used to house a beauty salon, and a white spot on the floor where a salon chair once sat gave the eatery its name.
In January 1954, shoppers waited for buses in the snow on Broad Street in downtown Richmond. An accompanying article said the storm brought out a “spirit of neighborliness” among passengers as they “gossiped with strangers about the terrible weather.”
In November 1950, Richmond firefighters battled an early morning blaze at Monument Methodist Church, located at Allen and Park avenues. More than 150 firefighters and two-thirds of the city’s firefighting equipment responded to the blaze, which caused extensive damage. Four firemen were injured, mainly from ice that formed on ladders and sidewalks in the freezing cold.
In September 1951, the area of Hull Street between 12th and 13 streets in South Richmond was dug up for utility work and street rebuilding.
The Dec. 6, 1953, edition of The Times-Dispatch included a photo spread on the Southern Biscuit Co., whose products – under the Famous Foods of Virginia brand – established the company as one of America's largest producers of cookies and crackers. Here, baked cookies moved along a conveyor. The Richmond factory near Scott’s Addition now houses the Cookie Factory Lofts apartment complex.
In May 1954, James River Garden Club members visited the Branch House on Monument Avenue in Richmond to make last-minute arrangements before the weekend’s flower show. As part of event, the Antiquarian Society of Richmond also prepared an exhibit of 18th-century furniture in the library of the house. Proceeds helped restore local gardens
In April 1956, members of the Richmond Virginians engaged in a pre-practice bull session in their locker room. The International League baseball team held spring training in Haines City, Fla., before returning to their local base of Parker Field.
In August 1951, June Maile showed youngsters from the Belle Bryan Day Nursery how to play “London Bridge is Falling Down” during the nursery’s annual outing at Byrd Park.
In spring 1950, work was scheduled to begin to widen this south end of the North Boulevard railroad overpass. The work was expected to cost about $165,000 and take approximately seven months.
In June 1950, these young ladies cooled off during a heatwave and enjoyed a boat ride on Fountain Lake at Byrd Park in Richmond. From left are Margaret Jones, Betty Evans and Anita Hagopian.
This September 1951 image shows the Bridge at Falling Creek. The granite arch span, most of which can still be seen today, was built in the 1820s – at a cost of just over $2,000. The bridge was retired from service in the early 1930s after a new span began carrying southbound U.S. 1/301 traffic over Falling Creek in Chesterfield County. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the 1990s.
This October 1951 image shows Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, with its new attached building at right. The church was organized in 1924 and several years later built its first building on West 41st Street in Richmond. In 1942, it started using an old house at 4401 Forest Hill Ave. for all meetings outside regular services. By 1946, the church received a permit to construct a new building on the site of the Church House.
This July 1950 image shows a crumbling Richmond-Ashland Electric Line viaduct, covered in vines, near Moore Street in Richmond. The structures, which remained after the electric trolley system folded in the late 1930s, had become a nuisance, with chunks of concrete falling off of them at times. It took more than 15 years after this image was taken until the last of the structures was removed.
In September 1954, floats in the National Tobacco Festival parade completed their promenade around City Stadium before the football game between the University of Richmond and Hampden-Sydney College. The festival ran in Richmond from 1949 to 1984 and was a top event in the city during its run. A predecessor festival was held in South Boston before World War II.
This June 1950 image shows the former Westwood Circle in Richmond, a traffic circle at the intersection of North Boulevard, Hermitage Road and Westwood Avenue. In November 1961, a $150,000 project removed the circle, added islands and traffic signals, and diverted some traffic around the busy intersection. City safety official John Hanna called the intersection the “most complicated we have had to redesign and signalize in the past 14 years.”
This April 1955 image shows men dipping for herring in Falling Creek in Chesterfield County. Herring would arrive in rivers in the spring to spawn, and dipping was a popular activity that allowed men to socialize while stocking up on fish that could be salted and eaten through the year.
In December 1953, the new whirlaway, a merry-go-round type of gadget turned by the foot power of dozens of students, was popular at Dumbarton Elementary School in Henrico County. The attraction was part of a new set of playground equipment purchased with $750 donated by the Lakeside Lions Club. Watching the children (from left) were H.F. Taylor, Lions Club president; Joseph Rotella, school principal; and F.M. Armbrecht, chairman of the PTA recreation committee.
This June 1952 image shows one of “Dr. Duval’s pills,” part of a trio of 30-inch granite Turkish cannonballs, in its new location at John Marshall High School at Eighth and Marshall streets in Richmond. After standing for many years on a pedestal in front of Grays’ Armory at Seventh and Marshall, this one was destined to join its two mates at the city Works Department trash heap at the old fairgrounds, where those two had lain missing since World War II until being rediscovered in January 1952. This one was instead saved with a move out of the way of downtown traffic.
This March 1952 image shows a wagon, believed to have been Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's during the Civil War, as it was retired to the Army’s Richmond Quartermaster Depot at Bellwood. The wagon was among numerous items being transferred from Cameron Station in Alexandria; it can still be seen at the Army Quartermaster Museum at Fort Lee.
In November 1952, Armistice Day ceremonies were held at the old John Marshall High School in Richmond. Today known as Veterans Day, the 1952 events marked the 34th anniversary of the end of World War I. At John Marshall, the school’s band and color guard took part in the service, and wreaths were placed on two plaques bearing names of former students who gave their lives in the two world wars.
In June 1950, gleeful children left Ginter Park School in Richmond as they were dismissed for the summer months – though they did need to return a few days later for their report cards.
In September 1950, there were still working cart and wagon horses in Richmond, in addition to police horses that patrolled the streets. That month, city officials pondered whether furnishing water to this old horse trough – on North Second Street near Bates Street – and two others was still justified. The cost of supplying water to all three was about $500 per year.
In March 1951, reigning horse of the year Hill Prince came home to The Meadow, near Doswell in Caroline County, after suffering a leg fracture during training in California. Trainer J.H. “Casey” Hayes delivered a pat to the Thoroughbred’s nose. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. Christopher T. Chenery, Hill Prince did not return to racing until fall 1951 and only raced one more year after before being retired.
This June 1964 image shows the newly renovated Park Avenue Methodist Church. The building at Park and Allen avenues in Richmond housed Monument Methodist Church before a fire in 1950 caused extensive damage. The following year, that congregation was part of a merger that formed Reveille United Methodist. The Byrd Park Methodist congregation, later renamed to Park Avenue, moved into the structure in 1952. The building is now occupied by Community Church of God in Christ.
In December 1954, actor Paul Douglas was in Richmond to star in a stage production of “The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,” and he renewed acquaintances – and shared family photographs – with local actress and singer Patsy Garrett, a friend from their days in radio. Douglas may be most known for the film “Angels in the Outfield”; Garrett was known for her roles in the “Benji” films and as the “Purina Cat Chow Lady” in TV commercials.
In January 1952, Virginia Union University basketball teammates (from left) Andrew Rodez, Herman Howard and Ricky Johnson rested during a practice before an upcoming game against North Carolina College. The Panthers were on an eight-game winning streak, but they lost 76-73 in overtime to NCC.
In July 1952, the nation's first 24-hour peacetime air raid alert system, called Operation Skywatch, began operation. Air Force members and volunteers staffing the Richmond filter station began plotting sightings of planes as they were called in.
In November 1953, University of Richmond basketball coach Les Hooker was surrounded by four returning members from the previous season’s team, which won the Big Six title in Hooker’s first season and earned him coach of the year honors. Pictured (left to right) are Ken Daniels, Warren Mills, Hooker, Ed Harrison and Walt Lysaght.
In October 1956, members of the Richmond Square Dance Federation danced in Bon Air. According to an accompanying article, square dancing was enjoying a revival at the time. The local federation, assisted by the city parks department and state Chamber of Commerce, planned to host a square dancing festival the next month with groups from across Virginia.
In April 1950, firemen W.M. Alley and J.B. Winston mounted Richmond’s oldest fire engine, Old 798. Though long out of use, the engine was brought out for special occasions and parades. When Old 798 was still active, it was pulled by two horses that responded to the fire bell with excitement, a veteran fire chief said.
In October 1952, University of Richmond cross country coach Fred Hardy trained his runners – team captain Bill Jordan set the pace – ahead of a meet against Virginia Military Institute in Lexington.
In January 1957, Dot Perkins led a dance class in “the hut” at the Powhatan Hill playground in Richmond. The playground received the Quonset hut, a semicircular structure made out of corrugated metal, in 1947 after city officials authorized using $15,000 to erect it. It quickly became a center of extracurricular activities for area children.
In September 1951, a boy fished at the dam of Lakeside Lake in Henrico County. Lewis Ginter built the dam in the 1890s to connect Lakeside Park to the Lakeside Wheel Club. Today, the lake is in on the grounds of Jefferson Lakeside Country Club.
In July 1950, a curb boy at Arnette’s Ice Cream Co., served Beverly Page French a banana split. The ice cream shop, located on Willard Road in Henrico County, was a popular hangout for local teens.
In October 1954, a group of costumed children celebrated Halloween at the William Fox playground in Richmond.
In June 1953, James R. Osterbind posed for a photo during his workday at Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond. Osterbind was one of several members of his family who worked at Tredegar over the course of four generations. Tredegar opened in 1837, was a major manufacturing center for the Confederacy during the Civil War and continued as a production facility through most of the 1950s.
In January 1953, Richmond city workers painted lane lines on Cowardin Avenue using a new power-driven machine. Previously, it took two men to do the process - one to hold a piece of rope along the line and another to apply paint.
In May 1955, Richmond fireman W.L. Clary of Engine Co. 1 welcomed some friends on the firetruck: Smokie Jr. and Back Tap, a pair of Dalmatians.
In October 1954, traffic stacked up at Fifth and Franklin streets in downtown Richmond on a busy shopping day.
In December 1951, Mrs. Herbert Flax showed her daughter, Susan April, how the light candles on the menorah in celebration of Hanukkah at Temple Beth Israel in Richmond. Flax was chairwoman of Women’s Club gift shop.
In March 1957, a boy and girl walked through Chesterfield County farmland with their tools, ready to help with planting. Blossoms on the nearby plum tree were signs of spring.
In July 1954, Kitty Liles performed with her band. Liles had played the drums for years, starting when she was a student at Varina High School in the 1940s. In 1954, Liles was using money from her gigs around Richmond to pay for her pursuit of a social work degree at Richmond Professional Institute.
This September 1953 image shows the canal locks in downtown Richmond between 14th and Pear streets. After their installation and later refurbishment in the mid-19th century, the locks increased boat traffic and allowed for easier transport of goods to and from the city.
In June 1951, square dance caller Richard Chase taught playground directors some steps ahead o f a dance scheduled for the Byrd Park tennis courts in Richmond as part of Park and Recreation Week. The program was organized by the city and sponsored by Thalhimers.
In August 1954, members of the Richmond Civic Ballet rehearsed for an upcoming performance. The open-membership volunteer group, which held roughly a dozen performances annually at local events, was organized almost four years earlier by local former professional dancers Betty Carper Grigg and John Hurdle.
In October 1954, students crowded into the new Douglas S. Freeman High School in Henrico County. The school, which cost about $1.1 million, opened the previous month and had roughly 500 high school and 500 elementary students.
In August 1953, members of the Monacan Junior Woman’s Club sought volunteers for the upcoming blood drive at Tuckahoe Elementary School in Henrico County. While Mrs. Allan J. Carter called prospects, Mrs. William F. Thornton worked at the typewriter.
In January 1950, Bobby Seal (left), 15, and Marvin “Kayo” Williams, 14, played billiards on the new table at the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Boys Club, which was on Church Hill in Richmond.
In October 1957, about 100 firefighters needed four hours to control a blaze in the 700 block of East Main Street in downtown Richmond. The fire caused $100,000 in damage and displaced Nathan’s tailor shop and the DeJarnette & Paul insurance agency.
In March 1952, Mrs. V.C. Wiltshire, 85, prepared for spring planting at her home on Patterson Avenue in Richmond.
In October 1951, Mrs. R.L. Mattox showed off her unique mailbox at her home on state Route 35 in Prince George County. The mailbox post was made using an old log cabin chain and required an hour’s worth of welding. Mattox and her husband were inspired by a design they saw in a magazine.
In September 1950, ground was broken for the South Richmond Health Center at 14th and Bainbridge streets. Members of the Richmond public health community and South Richmond Community Nursing Service participated in the ceremony. The clinic, which opened in January 1952, was staffed by volunteer nurses.
In July 1953, tennis players (from left) Cliff Miller, Al Dickinson and Bob Figg Sr. discussed the Country Club of Virginia’s annual tennis competition, which began the day before. Only Dickinson survived the first day of the event.
In May 1953, shoppers crowded the streets of downtown for Richmond Day, a promotion that began the year before. Like Black Friday, shoppers were lured to stores with deals such as $1 televisions, 2-for-1 car deals and $1 dresses. Merchants reported strong sales.
In August 1954, Melvin Doggett (left) and Jeff Martin sought relief from the summer heat … by getting even hotter. The men used the “hot boxes” at the Richmond YMCA, which could be set to 115 degrees and could leave the body cleansed and refreshed.
This December 1952 image shows East Broad Street in downtown Richmond at night.
In September 1950, Sherry Gilman placed a letter in a barrel-turned-mailbox on Honaker Avenue in Richmond. The barrel was serving as a temporary mailbox for the newly developed residential area in the West End.
In June 1952, motorcyclists raced in the 10-Mile National Motorcycle Championship at the Atlantic Rural Exposition grounds in Henrico County. More than 4,000 spectators saw Bobby Hill of Columbus, Ohio, the nation’s top racer, ride bike No. 1 to victory in the 20-lap championship race.
In December 1957, firefighters battled at blaze at L.R. Brown & Co., a furniture store on Hull Street in South Richmond. The warehouse blaze destroyed a lot of pieces intended for Christmas gifts.
In October 1951, workers constructed a section of Forest Hill Avenue in South Richmond. The segment sits between Westover Hills Boulevard and Prince Arthur Road.
In July 1951, two women enjoyed the white sand beach of Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
In July 1951, Alonzo Moore, 74, walked down a street in Cape Charles on Virginia’s Eastern Shore and blew his horn, alerting locals to his sale of the fresh catch of the day.
In February 1953, Richmond Department of Utilities workers used a 65-foot hook-and-ladder fire truck to install new lights on Broad Street after attempts to secure other ladder facilities from private companies had failed.
In June 1951, the summer heat sent crowds to Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield County for a swim. Earlier that month, the state’s nine parks welcomed more than 77,000 visitors during their unofficial opening week for the season.
In July 1956, Warren Collazzo and Pat Benedict of the Eastern Parkway Skating Club in Brooklyn, N.Y., practiced a routine they would use in an international skating competition that was underway at the Arena in Richmond. The multipurpose venue at Boulevard and Hermitage Road hosted sporting events, concerts, shows and exhibitions for more than 40 years before being torn down in the late 1990s to make way for Sports Backers Stadium.
In May 1950, Clifford Burgess (from left), Harlean Bibb, Charles King and Shirley Kingsley, who attended Summer Hill School in South Richmond, practiced a square dance called “Duck for the Oyster.”
In June 1950, Barbara Kilday (from left), Becky Branch and Jill Arnold set up a net for tennis. The 14-year-olds were attending summer school in the Richmond area.
In February 1951, Roman West pulled the cord of a steam whistle at T&E Laundry on Marshall Street in Richmond. The whistle was one of nine that was being used in a citywide test of the audibility of air raid signals.
In November 1950, farmer Ray Welch of Northumberland County used his homemade portable corn elevator. The device scooped grain from ground level and transferred it up for storage, and the wheels allowed it to be moved from place to place. “Everybody who farms has to make every kind of gadget he can for himself,” Welch said.
In June 1950, a school group followed a nature trail at Forest Hill Park in Richmond and explored a wildflower preserve and bird sanctuary.
In May 1955, a tugboat from New York City left Richmond’s Upper Terminal with three steel barges in tow. The barges were made at Richmond Steel Co. for businesses in New York.
In April 1955, students at Ridge School in Henrico County enjoyed their new merry-go-round. It was presented to the school by the PTA, which had collected donations for playground equipment.
Anti-Static Conductive Vinyl Floor In May 1956, Ann Huxley adjusted the blade height on her lawnmower before cutting the grass at her home on Three Chopt Road in Henrico County.