News July 15, 2025
Supplier Howard Miller Announces Closure
The Michigan supplier of awards, clocks and other home goods cited variables like tariffs and rising interest rates as reasons for ceasing operations next year.
Key Takeaways
• The Zeeland, MI-based supplier of clocks and furniture announced it will shut down operations, remaining open into 2026 to sell off remaining inventory.
• Rising housing costs, inflation, tariffs and supply chain challenges made continued operations unsustainable, according to CEO Howard J. “Buzz” Miller.
• Despite efforts to sell the company, no buyer was secured. The company is still open to acquisition offers as it winds down.
Howard Miller (asi/61943), a supplier of awards and decorative clocks, announced last week that it would close after nearly 100 years in business.
The Zeeland, MI-based supplier announced in a press release that it would remain open into 2026 as it sells off its remaining inventory.
“We are incredibly disappointed to have reached this point in our journey,” Howard J. “Buzz” Miller, president and CEO of Howard Miller and grandson of the company’s founder, said in a press release. “For nearly a century, we have manufactured clocks, custom cabinets and other furniture designed to enhance the lives of our customers at home. We’ve been blessed with an incredible workforce of skilled craftspeople and professionals who enable our company to grow and prosper for decades.”
Miller said that the company’s closure is due to “market influences beyond our control,” including rising costs in the housing market and tariffs, compounding with variables like inflation and rising interest rates.
“Our business has been directly impacted by tariffs that have increased the cost of essential components unavailable domestically and driven specialty suppliers out of business, making it unsustainable for us to continue our operations,” Miller continued. “We are deeply grateful to our talented team, our committed distributors and our loyal customers who have supported us throughout the years. We will complete orders currently in process with the intent of winding down manufacturing operations and then remaining open and available into next year as the finished goods of clocks and furniture are sold through the company’s various distribution channels.”
Miller had been shopping the company around to prospective buyers but was unable to find one. According to the company, he would still entertain offers from interested parties. As it stands now, though, the company will end its run after 100 years.