Levin to open its 1st furniture, mattress outlet in Ohio
Stocked with $3 million of furnishings from recently closed Levin stores, Levin Furniture Co. said Wednesday it will open its first furniture and mattress outlet in Niles, Ohio, on July 23.
The 65,000-square-foot outlet on Holland Road in the former Gander Mountain store at Eastwood Mall, will be the 19th location. It joins nine Levin furniture and nine mattress stores that have opened since July 3. Ten of those stores are in the Pittsburgh region, and nine are in the Cleveland and Ohio Valley markets. Most recently, a mattress store opened July 11 in Butler.
Levin Furniture has rehired 450 former employees who lost their jobs in March when the previous owner, Art Van Furniture LLC of Michigan, filed for bankruptcy. The company said it anticipates hiring more employees.
Levin Furniture Co. Chairman Robert Levin had purchased his family-owned stores after Art Van filed for bankruptcy. Levin had sold the furniture chain to a Boston private equity firm in November 2017, then tried to repurchase the chain in March when he heard it was going out of business. That deal fell apart when Art Van filed for bankruptcy and the stores were closed as a result of the covid-19 shutdowns of nonessential businesses.
In repurchasing 32 Levin and Wolf furniture stores in a $25.7 million deal in bankruptcy court, Levin has joined with two brothers, co-CEOs Matt and John Schultz, in operating the business.
Levin had hoped to open as many of the original stores as possible, but leases could not be secured on all of the former sites. The company also is looking to open more stores, said Bob Butter, a company spokesman.
As it has reopened stores, Levin Furniture has pledged to take care of all Levin customers, especially those who made furniture selections and deposits with the previous owner that were unfulfilled. Levin had set up a $10 million fund to satisfy the claims of about 1,000 customers.
Customers who made deposits with Art Van and did not receive a refund from their credit card or finance company have been identified. They will receive a letter and resolution form in the mail or through email detailing the next steps.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
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