Industry West appears to be in a state of distress. The furniture brand stopped posting to social media this spring, and has turned off public comments on its Instagram account. Meanwhile, a Reddit thread dating back to April catalogs a litany of customer complaints, ranging from never-delivered orders to missing refunds. Many commenters write that Industry West has ghosted them.

“Has anyone been able to get in contact with them? I ordered 6 chairs and haven’t received a response since July 10 and received my items last week and they were the wrong color,” one complaint reads. “I’ve been unable to contact to replace/return and curious if anyone has a contact? 0/10 recommend buying from them.”

Behind the scenes, industry chatter also points to difficulties. According to two sources with knowledge of the matter, Industry West has had problems paying its vendors and suppliers in recent months. Meanwhile, a lawsuit brought in March by a Florida landlord accuses the Jacksonville-based company of failing to pay more than $245,000 in rent on a logistics warehouse. Court documents show that Industry West never formally replied to the suit, and a judge issued a default judgment against the business in July.

Co-founder and CEO Jordan England declined a request for comment, and it’s not clear what the cause of Industry West’s troubles are. However, many of the public signs of distress began in April, roughly the same time as the announcement of sweeping global tariffs and the rapid escalation of a trade war with China. Like many direct-to-consumer players, Industry West was known to import from Asian sources, leading to speculation that tariffs played some role in the company’s apparent issues.

Industry West was founded in 2011 by England alongside his wife, Anne. The couple had no prior experience in the furniture business, but managed to grow the brand considerably by riding the e-commerce wave of the 2010s and offering design-forward product at a reasonable price point. In a 2018 appearance on The Business of Home Podcast, the duo talked about focusing on profitability and not taking venture money—something of a novelty among e-commerce startups at the time.

The company’s first big customer base was restaurant and hotel owners. Over time, it tapped more deeply into a wider audience, including residential designers. In 2019, Industry West opened up a retail outpost in Manhattan, though it closed the location last year.

At press time, its website offered a 50 percent off sale on in-stock items alongside a cryptic message: “We’re stepping back to refresh and rethink. Until then, enjoy deep discounts on our current collection.”