Raymour & Flanigan creeps closer to New York City

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Sep 10, 2004 by Kropf, Annemarie

SYRACUSE - Raymour & Flanigan is steadily moving closer to the metro New York City area. In the next few months, the company will open showrooms in New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York - but that's just the beginning.

"Now is the time for us to push toward this dynamic furniture market," says Neil Goldberg, president and CEO of Raymour & Flanigan. "With our presence already established in the Philadelphia area, as far south as Poughkeepsie in New York State, and in south-central Connecticut, we've been pressing closer and closer to the New York City Metro [region]. The Middletown, N.Y., Lawrenceville, N.J., and Brookfield, Conn., stores are just the start of our plan to become a leader in this lucrative region."

That "plan" includes possible additional locations in northern and central New Jersey, in Rockland and Westchester counties and on Long Island in New York, in Fairfield County in Connecticut, and others. These new locations all hinge on the bankruptcy proceedings of a competitor, Lancaster, Pa.-based Breuners Home Furnishings Corp. (BHFC).

BHFC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 14 and plans to liquidate all 47 stores, including its 17 Good's Furniture stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, and 20 Huffman Koos stores in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. All of these are leased buildings, according to the Aug. 4 issue of Furniture Today. "Some of those [locations] we are actively looking at" says Brian Burmeister, manager of public relations at Raymour & Flanigan. "It really depends on the market."

In 1947, the Goldberg family opened its first location in downtown Syracuse. In 1990, the company had five stores. Today, it has 53. Headquartered in Liverpool, the company currently employs 2,600 associates.

Raymour & Flanigan generated sales of an estimated $462.9 million in furniture, bedding, and accessories last year and expects to do about $550 million this year, according to the Aug. 16 issue of Furniture Today.

Burmeister says that the company already has a market presence in New York City since its Poughkeepsie store delivers goods to clients there. "But now we can get even closer," Burmeister notes. "It's a launching pad."

The 70,000-square-foot, newly constructed Connecticut store will open in November. That same month, the 57,000-square-foot New Jersey location will open in K-Mart's former spot. In early 2005, the Middletown, N.Y. store - originally built as a Shop-Rite but never used - will become a 62,000-square-foot Raymour & Flanigan site. Burmeister says that on average, 20 to 40 new employees are added to each new store.

Burmeister is confident the company will do well in these new locations.

"It'll be competitive but lucrative," predicts Burmeister. "We're up for the challenge."