Art Van Furniture

Art Van Furniture Inc.
Company typePrivate
IndustryFurniture retail
FoundedEastpointe, Michigan 1959; 65 years ago (1959) (Art Van)
FounderArchie "Art" Van Elslander
DefunctMarch 5, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-03-05)
FateChapter 11 bankruptcy; Liquidation
HeadquartersWarren, Michigan, U.S.
ProductsFurniture
Number of employees
3,700
Websitewww.artvan.com Edit this on Wikidata

Art Van Furniture Inc. was an American furniture retail store chain, with stores across the Midwestern United States. Founded in 1959, the company was headquartered in Warren, Michigan, and claimed to be the largest furniture retailer in the Midwest at its peak.[1] In 2020, the company filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its stores.[2]

History

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Art Van Furniture store, Ann Arbor, MI, 2010

Archie "Art" Van Elslander founded Art Van in 1959, opening his first store in a 4,000 square-foot space at 10 Mile Road and Gratiot Avenue in East Detroit.[3] He expanded to three stores in that same year, and a fourth store opened in 1960. His first employee was not hired until this time.[4] Art Vans Furniture, as it was then known, opened with mostly modern and Danish-style furniture.[5]

By 1963, Van Elslander owned seven stores and had taken on some partners, including his brother, Bob Van Elslander, Don Fox and Bob McEachin.[6] The following year, three of those stores were sold off, however Van Elslander expanded the chain in the 1970s and in 1973 the company purchased its headquarters in Warren, Michigan. Around that time, the company had fifteen stores in its chain. In the late 1970s, the company opened several warehouses and a corporate training department. In 1977, the company opened stores outside of the Detroit area, in Flint and Lansing, Michigan.[7]

In 1980, the company issued its first credit card, and in 1985 the company opened clearance centers attached to many of their stores, offering overstocked merchandise at a discount.

Acquisitions & expansion beyond Michigan

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In 2009, Art Van introduced PureSleep, a brand of in-store departments and standalone stores offering mattresses. A year later in 2010, the company acquired Brewbaker's Furniture, and converted its two stores in northern Michigan into Art Van locations.[8]

Art Van acquired Howell, Michigan-based Mattress World in 2011, converting many of that chain's locations to PureSleep stores.[9]

Art Van expanded outside Michigan for the first time in July 2013, with a new store in Orland Park, Illinois.[10] Later that year, the chain also entered Ohio, opening a store near Toledo in September.[11]

The company expanded into Iowa in 2016, with franchised stores in Cedar Falls and Coralville.[12]

In March 2017, Art Van was acquired by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL) for $617 million (~$754 million in 2023).[13] Later that year, the company acquired Pennsylvania-based chains Levin Furniture and Wolf Furniture.[14][15]

Art Van expanded into Missouri in 2018, with four franchised stores in the St. Louis area. These were former locations of Rothman's Furniture, a local chain that went out of business in early 2017.[16]

The chain opened its flagship store in Canton, Michigan on February 1, 2018.[17]

Bankruptcy

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On March 5, 2020, Art Van announced the closure of all of its company-owned stores, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy four days later.[18][19] During the liquidation sale, a store in Warren, Michigan dealt with massive, unruly crowds, and was ordered by police to close early.[20] The timing of the company's bankruptcy meant liquidation sales were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the case was converted to Chapter 7 bankruptcy by April.[21][22]

Levin Furniture's stores were reacquired by former owner Robert Levin during bankruptcy proceedings, and were reopened under his ownership later in 2020.[23] After the closure, THL initially reneged on its promise of severance pay, which led to former employees taking action and lobbying THL investors to force the company to create a 'Hardship Fund' for former employees.[24]

Loves Furniture & Mattresses

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Loves Furniture & Mattresses
Company typePrivate
IndustryFurniture retail
FoundedMay 2020; 4 years ago (2020-05)
DefunctJuly 27, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-07-27)
FateChapter 11 bankruptcy
HeadquartersWarren, Michigan, U.S.
Number of locations
27 (2020)
ProductsFurniture
Websitewww.artvan.com Edit this on Wikidata

In May 2020, 24 Art Van stores and three Wolf stores were acquired by Texas-based private equity firm U.S. Assets, and reopened later that year under the name Loves Furniture & Mattresses, named after U.S. Assets founder and CEO Jim Love.[13]

In December 2020, Loves announced the closure of 13 locations,[25] and sold three Pennsylvania stores to Levin Furniture.[26] By January 2021, Loves had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and announced that all of its stores would close permanently.[27] The last Loves stores closed on July 27, 2021.

Most former Art Van and Loves locations are now occupied by other furniture retailers. Gardner-White, the chain's largest competitor in Metro Detroit, acquired Art Van's former headquarters, plus the flagship store in Canton.[28][29] Many others became Value City Furniture stores, allowing that chain to expand their presence in the Detroit area.

Stores

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At its peak, the company operated 141 stores located in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Missouri and a full service e-commerce website.[30] The company also had franchised stores located in the Midwest.[31] In all, the company had nearly 200 stores.[32] Art Van also produced a mail catalog of its furniture offerings.[33]

Vacant Art Van PureSleep store, Warren, MI, 2021

PureSleep

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PureSleep was a brand used for the mattress departments in Art Van stores, as well as standalone small-format mattress stores. The first PureSleep store opened in Canton, Michigan in July 2009, and by 2020, there were 60 PureSleep stores, plus a PureSleep department in every full-line Art Van location.[34][35]

As part of Art Van's bankruptcy filing, all remaining standalone PureSleep locations closed permanently on March 16, 2020.[35]

Scott Shuptrine

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Scott Shuptrine was a small chain of high-end furniture stores located primarily in Metro Detroit, acquired by the Van Elslander family in 1986.[36] The chain had two stores in Metro Detroit, and a third in Petoskey, when it was shut down by Art Van in October 2002.[36]

The brand was brought back in 2010 as Scott Shuptrine Interiors, a store-within-a-store in select Art Van locations.[37][38] The company also opened one standalone Scott Shuptrine Interiors store, in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, in 2015.[39] All of these closed in 2020.

Paul's TV

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Art Van partnered with California-based electronics retailer Paul's TV in 2010 to open store-within-a-store locations in select Art Van stores. Eighteen locations were opened, however all were closed down by 2015.[40]

Marketing

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In 2015, the company paid out $2.5 million (~$3.14 million in 2023) dollars in free furniture to 3000 customers after a promotion that gave away the purchases of customers if it snowed three inches each in the cities of Toledo, Fort Wayne, and Chicago.[41][42] In 2016, Art Van replaced its regional Super Bowl advertisements in the Detroit and Grand Rapids areas with a thank you message for donors of water to Flint, Michigan, which the company had solicited through its charitable programs.[43][44]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Contact Us." Art Van. Retrieved on November 7, 2013. "Art Van Furniture 6500 14 Mile Road Warren, MI 48092"
  2. ^ Art Van closing its stores CNN, 5 March 2020
  3. ^ "Art Van Elslander Reflects on His Chicago Favorites". Michigan Avenue Magazine. May 18, 2016.
  4. ^ Janet Holt-Johnstone (July 9, 2014). "Retail Success Story: Art Van Furniture". Furniture World Magazine.
  5. ^ Noah Barnes (February 26, 2016). "Art Van Furniture in the Midwest". Ocean Post.
  6. ^ John Presta (April 27, 2013). "Governor Quinn announces retailer 'Art Van Furniture' expands into Chicago area". Chicago City Hall Examiner
  7. ^ Janet Holt-Johnstone (July 9, 2014). "Retail Success Story: Art Van Furniture". Furniture World Magazine.
  8. ^ "Brewbaker's sold to Art Van". Presque Isle County Advance. 2010-08-05. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  9. ^ "Art Van Furniture acquires Mattress World in Michigan retail deal". AnnArbor.com. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  10. ^ Art Van Furniture (19 July 2013). "Art Van Furniture Debuts First Chicagoland Store in Orland Park, Illinois". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  11. ^ "Big turnout for Art Van opening". The Blade. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  12. ^ "Art Van Furniture Celebrates Expansion Into Iowa With First Two Franchises In The State". Furniture World Magazine. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  13. ^ a b King, R. J. (2020-05-12). "Loves Furniture Acquires and Will Reopen 17 Art Van Furniture Stores in Michigan, Part of 27-store Deal for $6.7M". DBusiness Magazine. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  14. ^ Art Van Furniture. "Art Van Furniture Acquires Levin and Wolf Furniture". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  15. ^ Dakota, Michael (5 March 2020). "Former Levin Furniture owner buying back his business to rescue 1,200 jobs, keep stores open". WOIO. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  16. ^ Art Van Furniture. "Art Van Furniture Announces Franchise Partnership with St. Louis Retail Owner, Jay Steinback, of Rothman Furniture & Mattress". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  17. ^ Clem, Darrell. "Art Van party marks opening of 'stunning' new store". Observer and Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  18. ^ Reindl, JC (2020-03-05). "Art Van Furniture to close its stores, begin liquidation sales". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  19. ^ Reindl, J. C. "Art Van Furniture files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, could still face liquidation". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  20. ^ "Police order Art Van Furniture store to close early". WDIV. 2020-03-07. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  21. ^ Rahal, Sarah. "Art Van closes stores, lays off nearly all employees due to COVID-19". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  22. ^ Krebs, Rose. "COVID-19 Crisis Leads Art Van Furniture To Convert To Ch. 7". www.law360.com. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  23. ^ "Levin Furniture is Back and Reopening Stores". Pittsburgh Magazine. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  24. ^ "Bankruptcy Claimed Their Jobs, and Now They're Out for Payback". Bloomberg.com. 2021-02-10. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  25. ^ Williams, Candice. "Loves Furniture will close 13 stores, including 10 in Michigan". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  26. ^ Napsha, Joe (2020-12-08). "Levin to buy back 5 stores from Michigan firm, rebuild furniture chain". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  27. ^ Reindl, J. C. "Loves Furniture files for bankruptcy, may seek new owner for remaining stores". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2021-06-26.
  28. ^ Reindl, J. C. "Gardner White to move its headquarters into former Art Van Furniture building". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  29. ^ Veselenak, David (2021-08-07). "Gardner-White moves into storefront formerly occupied by Art Van in Canton". Observer and Eccentric Newspapers and Hometown Weeklies. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  30. ^ "Art Van Furniture opens new location on Coliseum Boulevard". Wane. February 8, 2014.
  31. ^ Sherri Welch (July 12, 2015). "Art Van Furniture says $1 billion in sales within reach". Crains Detroit.
  32. ^ "Modern Designs Usher in Classic, Dapper Style to Art Van Furniture's 2016 Spring Style Catalog". Chicago Tribune. April 13, 2016.
  33. ^ "Art Van Spring Catalog and Free Furniture Frenzy". Fox 2. April 16, 2016.
  34. ^ "Art Van opens third PureSleep store in Michigan". Furniture Today. 2011-03-03. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  35. ^ a b "All Pure Sleep store locations to close, inventory moving into remaining Art Van stores". WXYZ. 2020-03-15. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  36. ^ a b "High-end Shuptrine will fold". Furniture Today. 2002-10-07. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  37. ^ Shandra Martinez | smartinez@mlive. com (2010-09-18). "Art Van relaunches high-end furniture division". mlive. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  38. ^ "Art Van Furniture Store Directory". Art Van Furniture. Archived from the original on 2020-03-29.
  39. ^ Kraus, Laurel (2020-03-19). "Scott Shuptrine to leave Village amid Art Van closure - Grosse Pointe News". Grosse Pointe News. Archived from the original on 2022-03-01. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  40. ^ Reindl, J. C. "Art Van pulls plug on Paul's TV". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  41. ^ Lauren Abdel-Razzaq (February 3, 2015). "Art Van bets against snow, buyers win big". Detroit News.
  42. ^ "ART VAN FURNITURE 'LET IT SNOW' WINNERS TO BE REFUNDED MILLIONS IN PURCHASES". ABC 7. March 22, 2015.
  43. ^ Bill Shea (February 5, 2016). "Art Van replaces regional Super Bowl TV ads with thanks for Flint water donors". Crain's Detroit.
  44. ^ "Modern Furniture Store". Tuesday, 16 March 2021
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