With the impending closure of Rothman Furniture & Mattress, St. Louis is losing one furniture chain but gaining another. Rothman President and CEO Jay Steinback announced November 1 that he has signed a franchise agreement with Michigan-based Art Van Furniture.
After liquidating Rothman’s remaining inventory, which Steinback expects to wrap up in the next few weeks, five of the current stores will be converted into Art Van locations. The stores in Affton; Bridgeton; O’Fallon, Missouri; and O’Fallon, Illinois, will undergo million-dollar renovations before reopening in early 2018, while the Magnolia Home Gallery by Rothman (1516 S. Hanley) will be converted into an Art Van Design Studio with interior design services.
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The Rothman stores in Shrewsbury and Alton, Illinois, will not be converted into Art Van stores.
“Rothman was having trouble reaching the younger demographics. It was your grandparents’ furniture store,” Steinback says, noting that the new partnership is a way to “convert a 90-year-old brand into something new and fresh and give it new legs in the future.”
Steinback will continue as the president and CEO of Art Van of St. Louis, and he says he is actively looking for possible new locations.
“We’ll have full access to certain brands that I wasn’t able to carry before,” he says of the new venture. Customers will be able to see the latest styles and trends in magazines and then find them at their local Art Van. “It’s something St. Louis hasn’t had before.”
Nearly all of Rothman’s 230 employees were offered positions with Art Van, Steinback notes. “The only downfall that I had was losing the Rothman name, which was so important to me and my family. But the company, the employees, and St. Louis are much more important than my ego.”
