Rooms To Go and the non-profit National Furniture Bank Association will hold an event Saturday to celebrate the grand opening of the New Orleans Furniture Bank.

Saturday morning, Rooms To Go will deliver a houseful of new furniture to a Veronica Smith, a single mother of four, whose home in Kenner, La., was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

At 4 p.m., Cindy Crawford will make an appearance for a celebration of the new furniture bank at the Rooms To Go store in the New Orleans suburb of Metairie. Also in attendance will be executives from Rooms To Go, the National Furniture Bank Association, the New Orleans Furniture Bank, and Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans. Read more »

Nothing feels better than running your hands across finely finished furniture: tables, writing desks, chairs, chests, beds, a bar or display cabinets.

Jack Lyons, of Leatherwood Furniture Co., makes them all.

From the raw material to highly polished hardwoods, Lyons custom-builds furniture to his clients’ requests.

“I’ll tackle about any project,” reports Lyons, whose name is on handmade furniture and decorative metal works throughout Montana and elsewhere. Read more »

WINSLOW – Fortin’s TV & Appliance plans to both consolidate and expand by spring in a new facility on the corner of U.S. Route 201 and the Carter Memorial Bridge approach, offering customers twice the showroom space of its two current stores combined.

Customers also will find a much greater selection of electronics, furniture and home furnishings to choose from, co-owner Mike Fortin said.

“We will definitely double or triple our furniture showroom and increase our appliance showroom and our electronics and bedding as well,” Fortin said.

Fortin, who owns and runs the business with his brother, Reggie, said the building now under construction will boast 24,000 square feet of floor space and be connected to the company’s existing 12,000-square-foot warehouse. He declined to disclose the cost of the building. Read more »

Northern Mattress and Furniture Galleries, which opened for business 56 years ago, has announced its plans to close its stores in Fairfield, Augusta, Bangor and Brunswick by the end of the year.

The business employs about 30 full-time workers. Company President Peter Redman said Northern Mattress has struggled for two years. He said that’s an industry-wide situation.

The company has already closed its stores in South Portland and Auburn.

FAIRFIELD, Maine — Northern Mattress and Furniture Galleries, which opened for business 56 years ago, plans to close its stores in Fairfield, Augusta, Bangor and Brunswick by the end of the year. The business employs about 30 full-time workers. Company President Peter Redman said Northern Mattress has struggled for two years. He says that’s an industrywide situation. The company has already closed its stores in South Portland and Auburn.

Northern Mattress & Furniture Galleries, a Maine retailer for more than half a century, will close its four remaining stores, most likely by year’s end.

“We announced it two days ago (to our employees),” Northern Mattress president Peter S. Redman said. “What we said is we are definitely closing, and we’ll give anybody any time they need to seek other employment or assist them in any way we can.”

He said the four stores employ about 30 mostly full-time workers. Redman’s announcement comes about four months after Northern Mattress closed its stores in South Portland and Auburn. The remaining outlets are in Fairfield, Augusta, Bangor and Brunswick.

Northern Mattress also has partnership with Ashley Furniture Homestead in South Portland in which it runs a store that carries the Ashley Furniture Homstead name. That store is under contract to be sold, according to Redman. Read more »

For the last couple decades, little dots of Rome’s business history have been quietly disappearing from Broad Street.

The latest on the list, Adams Furniture, is set to close by the end of July, leaving the street with fewer than five furniture retailers. Twenty years ago, there were 10 furniture stores on the street, plus several more on other downtown roads.

“There was a time when this was furniture row down here, and there were a lot of family-owned operations,” Adams said, noting that large chain stores now make it harder for the small stores to compete. “We’ve been able to stay a little longer than some of the folks, and that’s just because of the loyalty of the customer base.”

His reason for closing now, he said, has more to do with turning 65 than the competition. Read more »