Several Rothman stores will become Art Van Furniture locations
The president of the Rothman Furniture chain has signed a franchise agreement that will allow for several of the stores to become Art Van Furniture locations after the Rothman chain closes.
The franchise agreement between Jay Steinback, president and CEO of the St. Louis-based Rothman Furniture & Mattress, was announced Wednesday by Kim Yost, president and CEO of Art Van Furniture, and Steinback.
The new franchise partnership will add seven stores to Art Van Furniture’s growing roster, further expanding its footprint into Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri.
“We are bringing together two of our industry’s most successful furniture families in an unprecedented partnership,” said Yost. “Together we can provide our customers tremendous synergy and an even deeper commitment to our communities.”
Steinback (shown), a third-generation owner of the 90-year-old family-owned and operated Rothman Furniture & Mattress, said, “Our partnership with Art Van Furniture allows our family’s 90-year-old legacy of providing quality furniture and service to live on in the St. Louis community.” Rothman Furniture & Mattress says it has offered quality home furnishings in the greater St. Louis area since 1927 and employs more than 240 team members.
The locations included in the franchise agreement are in Affton, Bridgeton, Richmond Heights, and O’Fallon, Mo., as well as the store in O’Fallon, Ill.
The Rothman’s location in Alton is not part of the agreement. The fate of that location is still to be determined.
The agreement includes the conversion of the Magnolia Home Gallery by Rothman in Richmond Heights, Mo., which will become a 4,500 square-foot Art Van Design Studio with interior design services.
Metro St. Louis customers will benefit from Art Van Furniture’s dominant buying power, warehousing and delivery capabilities, Steinback said. Art Van Furniture carries popular name brands such as La-Z-Boy, Magnolia Home by Joanna Gaines, and Cindy Crawford Home. The new stores will also include Art Van PureSleep featuring well-known brands in the sleep industry, Sealy, Beautyrest, Stearns & Foster, Tempur-Pedic, Serta, iComfort, Sleep to Live, King Koil, Reverie and PURETECH.
Rothman Furniture & Mattress is currently liquidating its entire inventory during the store closings. Steinback has offered “the vast majority” of Rothman Furniture & Mattress associates positions with Art Van Furniture of St. Louis. Grand opening celebrations are slated for first quarter 2018.
Art Van Furniture calls itself the Midwest’s largest furniture retailer. The company operates more than 120 stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa, including freestanding Art Van PureSleep mattress stores, Art Van Flooring stores, and Scott Shuptrine Interiors, the interior design division of Art Van Furniture, as well as a full-service e-commerce website.
Founded in 1959, the company is headquartered in Warren, Mich.
For more information, visit artvan.com.
