Eighteen former Art Van Furniture locations across Michigan will soon reopen under new ownership, a new name and a refreshed approach to selling furniture online and in stores.
Loves Furniture plans to begin opening the locations by late summer, and could ultimately hire about 1,000 store associates, many of them likely former Art Van employees, Loves Furniture CEO Matt Damiani, 39, said in an interview last week.
Customers will find a large selection of furniture in the stores, including beds and mattresses, and a range of price points "that appeal to every budget," he said. They also will see a website designed to make "pre-shopping" easier, and to set up appointments with in-store staff.
“We’re investing millions in revamping those store locations," Damiani said. "When customers walk into the store, they are going to know it’s a different experience — that it’s a Loves Furniture store."
The awkward timing of Loves' debut — in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic — could even be a good thing.
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Business consultant Alex Calderone of Birmingham-based Calderone Advisory Group noted how people have spent a lot of time hanging out and working at home since the pandemic hit.
“My gut tells me that initially, the Loves Furniture stores will perform extremely well out of the gate," Calderone said. “I tell you that because there are a lot of cooped up consumers who are spending a lot of time in their houses these days, and they are eager to refurbish their homes — be it for home offices or just furniture that needs to be refreshed."
Loves Furniture was born from a May deal in U.S. Bankruptcy Court that followed the surprise bankruptcy liquidation and abrupt closure in March of Art Van Furniture, the Warren-based company that was once the Midwest's top furniture and mattress retailer.
A Texas-based private equity firm called US Assets Inc. initially purchased 17 former Art Van leased store locations in Michigan, plus 10 other Art Van and Levin and Wolf locations in five other states. That $6.9 million deal recently grew to include an 18th Michigan store — the former Art Van flagship in Canton.
The Texas firm then created the Loves Furniture company and brand to operate the stores.
"We are on the verge of being able to announce a handful of others, both across the state of Michigan and some of the rest of the Midwest," Damiani said of the new company's store count. "So we are actively growing that footprint."
Loves has yet to announce opening dates, although the Michigan stores will likely open in quick succession rather than all at once, he said.
The Loves name
The Loves Furniture name derives from that of Jeff Love, founder and CEO of US Assets.
It is the first furniture business in US Asset's portfolio. Some of the others include the Penguin Point chicken and burger chain in Indiana, an Arizona dog grooming and boarding business, a chain of urgent care centers and a dirt biking and off-roading park in Texas.
The firm has no relation to the quirky chain of Love's gas stations.
Damiani, who grew up in Troy and received his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University, previously worked at Art Van for about two years as an e-commerce executive, and before that as a supply chain director for Staples.
"This is a really meaningful thing to bring a new brand to the market here," he said.
New merchandise
Loves Furniture will launch with a new inventory of furniture merchandise.
Some of the future Loves stores took part in the recent Art Van Furniture last-chance liquidation sale, which had been delayed by the pandemic. That "total inventory blowout" was put on by American Signature, the parent company of Value City Furniture and American Signature Furniture.
Damiani said the Loves Furniture shopping experience will be different from that of other furniture retailers, and the website will take orders and also guide people to visit a store and speak with the in-store staff before purchasing.
“We’re trying to offer a more customer-centric experience," he said. “What we’ve tried to do is remove everything that consumers hated about old traditional furniture shopping, like high-pressure sales or unclear pricing."
He declined to give Loves' anticipated breakdown of Internet sales to in-store sales, but said the industry in general is seeing growth in online sales even as most sales still happen in stores.
"But 85% of customers, as just a rough benchmark, are going online and browsing before they come into the store anyway," Damiani said. “So for us, it’s less important where your transaction happens and more about this interconnected journey.”
Loves Furniture has started hiring sales associates and expects to bring on about 1,000. Job positions are posted on the company's website.
"We have a good mix of former Art Van associates, new associates and diversity from the area and across different industries," he said. "They’re going to help bring the brand to life."
Art Van Furniture was known for decades for its community philanthropy and sponsored Detroit's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The company's founder, the late Art Van Elslander, saved the parade from being canceled 30 years ago by writing a $200,000 check.
Some of that philanthropy stopped after the Van Elsander family sold the business in March 2017 to the Boston-based private-equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners in a $612.5 million deal, although the furniture company continued to sponsor the annual parade.
Damiani said Loves Furniture also intends to support local organizations, although it is not yet ready to announce specific initiatives or whether it will have a role in the parade.
"Our goal is to be around for a long time, and we believe that there is a responsibility to give back to your community," he said.
Loves Furniture stores will open in the following cities:
- Ann Arbor
- Battle Creek
- Bay City
- Burton
- Canton
- Howell
- Livonia
- Muskegon
- Petoskey
- Port Huron
- Portage
- Royal Oak
- Saginaw
- Shelby Township
- Taylor
- Warren (8 Mile)
- Waterford Township
- Westland
Contact JC Reindl at 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @jcreindl. Read more on business and sign up for our business newsletter.
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18 Michigan Art Van stores about to be reborn as Loves Furniture - Detroit Free Press
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