The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • A7

10-YR T-NOTE 3.93% CRUDE OIL $71.33 GOLD $954.00 By Jen Aronoff The housing and retail down- turn caught up Wednesday with the N.C. parent company of Boyles Distinctive Furniture as it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Conover-based Hendricks Furniture Group and sister com- pany Classic Moving and Storage plan to shed debts and continue operating the five Boyles stores in the Carolinas, including loca- tions in Pineville and Hickory. Another Boyles near Northlake Mall closed in March. Losses related to failed stores in Florida prompted Wednes- filing, spokesman Matt Fe- rebee said.

However, he said, the company had been working for more than a year to adapt to eco- nomic difficulty and has financ- ing agreements in place with Corp. and major manufac- turers to continue in business. The housing downturn sent furniture sales sliding well before the recession took hold, but broader economic woes have ex- acerbated the situation: Com- pared with 2008, total consump- tion of furniture and bedding was down 11 percent and furniture store sales down 14.2 percent in April, the most recent month available, according to data from furniture consultants Mann, Ar- mistead Epperson. A range of furniture stores have closed or filed for bankruptcy as a result. Hendricks had long owned Norris Furniture, which had four locations in Florida, and operated Parent company of Boyles in Chapter 11 Carolinas furniture stores will continue operating as company tries to shed failed Florida stores debt.

SEE BOYLES, 8A By Adam Bell and Mark Washburn To ensure that he and his wife could still watch their fa- vorite TV shows, Jim Lilley tried to hook up his TV con- verter box a couple months ago well before switchover from analog sig- nals to fully digital program- ming. But the 85-year-old Mooresville man said the set- up was confusing. the age we are, not inclined to deal with all this technical Lilley said. Across the 22-county Charlotte market, most peo- ple with older TVs are pre- pared for the change to all- digital TV signals, which pro- vide better pictures and sound, while freeing up more frequencies for emergency service responders and new telecommunications serv- ices. But an estimated 20,324 homes, or 1.8 percent of TV homes, have no sets ready and will lose their TV signals, according to Nielsen Co.

fig- ures released Wednesday. Nationally, Nielsen esti- mates that 2.8 million homes, or 2.5 percent of the coun- households, are not rea- dy for the conversion, down from 5.8 million homes in February. Without converter boxes, homes with TVs that use an- tennas to pick up signals will be unable to watch TV after the switch. People with new- TV signals are set to make the switch to digital on Friday, but thousands of homes in the Charlotte market still ready. ANALOG SIGNS OFF JEFF WILLHELM Jim and Betty Lilley, like many others, needed help getting their converter box hooked up.

Their assistance came from the South Iredell Senior Center, which is using federal grants to help seniors be ready for the digital conversion. MORE INSIDE Answers to common questions, 8A When will local stations switch to all-digital broadcasting? 8A SEE DIGITAL, 8A The Charlotte Observer charlotteobserver.com Thursday, June 11, 2009 7A Business charlotteobserver.com/business DOW 8,739.02 NASDAQ 1,853.08 500 939.15 Barbara Barrett McClatchy Newspapers WASHINGTON Congressio- nal investigators say they have seen internal docu- ments that prove the Federal Reserve threatened to force the ouster of Bank of America leaders if its chief executive, Ken Lewis, follow through with plans to buy Merrill Lynch Co. The documents, outlined in a Republican congressio- nal memo obtained by McClatchy Newspapers, will be released publicly today on Capitol Hill. Lewis is expect- ed to testify today before the House Committee on Over- sight and Government Re- form. The memo said that Rich- mond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker wrote in a Dec.

20 e- mail that Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke intended to it even more clear that if they play that card and they need assistance, management is referring to a threat by Bank of America to break off its deal with Merrill. Ber- nanke indicated he saw the threat as the memo said. That was a placed to the head of Bank of America to go through with the merg- the Republican memo said. officials crossed the line by applying inappropriate pressure on a private institution to go through with a business Also among the docu- ments is an e-mail from Ber- nanke, in which he calls Lew- threat to withdraw from the Merrill Lynch deal a gaining do not see it as a very likely scenario so that we can explain to (Bank of America) with some confidence why we think it would be a foolish move and why the regulators will not condone read Memo: Fed leaned hard on BofA to buy Merrill SEE BOFA, 8A By Stella M. Hopkins Charlotte-area home sales weakened last month, marking two straight years of double- digit losses.

Prices also posted another double-digit decline. The 1,912 houses, townhous- es and condos sold last month was down 31.2 percent com- pared with May 2008, based on figures released Wednesday for transactions through the Carolina Multiple Listing Serv- ices. The double-digit sales losses started in June 2007. when the national hous- ing downturn arrived in Char- lotte, about two years later than some markets. The Charlotte-area market peaked in 2006, when nearly 43,400 houses sold.

This year, total MLS sales could fall be- low 20,000. Pending sales, which are signed contracts that closed, were down 26 percent from a year ago an in- dicator that weak sales will continue. drop also was sharper than that in April, when sales broke a six-month string of de- clines exceeding 30 percent. Home sales in Charlotte area down sharply Graphic: DAVID PUCKETT Research: STELLA HOPKINS Sources: Carolina Multiple Listing Services, Peidmont Regional Association of Realtors I A A I A A A I $182,325 $211,012 $169,464 $210,233 $267,671 No change $122,719 $158,559 $239,386 Sales, prices down from 2008 Closings Map key Price Price change The Charlotte-area housing market continued struggling last month amid a deep national downturn. Here are the percentage changes for sales and prices compared with a year ago and average sales price.

The numbers two straight years of double-digit losses; prices also decline. SEE HOME SALES, 8A How does the head of a utili- ty end up on a comedy show? Next week, Duke Energy hon- cho Jim Rogers will guest on Comedy Cen- Col- bert Duke spokes- man Tom Wil- liams said he pitched Rogers as a guest while commu- nications team was of some differ- ent types of me- dia that may be Rogers, one of 50 most powerful people in the world, was on recently. The boss is a big fan of Col- bert and the give and when talking about ener- gy, climate change and related topics, Williams said. Rogers go into the 5- to 7-minute interview with an agenda funnyman Stephen Colbert that out in a matter of Williams said but instead will be ready to take a lighter tack with nor- mally serious issues. be taped at 7 p.m.

Tues- day in New York, he said, and air at 11:30 p.m. BofA to be focus on PBS Also on Tuesday, Bank of America Corp. will get another dose of the national spotlight when the PBS documentary program turns its attention to the Charlotte bank and its ongoing troubles. The show, titled the fea- tures interviews with Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis and ousted Merrill CEO John Thain, with a fo- cus on the rocky Merrill merger and the govern- increas- ing role in the banking system. is more than a story about just one man or one producer Michael Kirk says in the docu- publicity material.

is the story of the most important change in the rela- tionship between government and private business in a gener- For a preview, go to www.pbs.org/frontline/ breakingthebank. Big help in the Kitchen A fundraiser last week for Jim upcoming not-for- profit restaurant Kitch- en attracted noteworthy names, including Panthers head coach John Fox, CMS Su- perintendent Peter Gorman, Judge Bill Belk and Carolinas HealthCare chief executive Michael Tarwater. Panthers including Matt Moore, Jason Baker and Ryan Kalil, put on aprons to help serve tables at the event, which raised more than $125,000. The mis- sion: to create new jobs for the previously unemployable (troubled youths and rehab pa- tients, for example) and estab- lish feeding centers. The public restaurant will serve up local comfort foods at a medium- level price and is set to open this fall uptown (Noble has it down to two possible loca- tions).

The Insider THE CHARLOTTE BUSINESS SCOOP TV gig will be just for fun Colbert Rogers Lewis Thain By Jefferson George and Rick Rothacker Gov. Bev Perdue will be in Charlotte this morn- ing for a economic development an- the head of the Charlotte Chamber said Wednesday. Chamber President Bob Morgan said that he, Perdue and local elected officials will gather at 9:30 a.m. on the fourth floor of 5855 Executive Center Drive. Morgan declined to say more, but the address is the same as the Charlotte office of the Neighbor- hood Assistance Corp.

of America. Based in Boston, NACA is a national affordable lending program that focuses on low- and moder- ate-income families and properties. It offers loans with no down payments, closings costs or fees to customers. The leader, Bruce Marks, is a self-de- scribed known for holding protests against banks that the group deems to have poor lending records in minority and poor communities. Charlotte-based Bank of America has partnered with NACA since 1995 and in 2004 committed $6 billion to its lending program.

Perdue to be in Charlotte today with economic news.