Massachusetts-based big box furniture retailer Jordan's Furniture recently opened its second Connecticut store, at the Westfarms Mall in Farmington. The new store, in space formerly occupied by a Lord & Taylor department store that closed in 2020, will employ 50 people and is the company's ninth overall retail location.
Jordan's will have a furniture and mattress showroom of over 120,000 square feet and include a restaurant as well as a 5,000-square-foot entertainment attraction, which is a common feature in the retailer's stores. The Jordan's store in New Haven, for example, has a ropes course and zip lines in its entertainment area as well as a $2 million water and light show choreographed to music.
Heather Copelas, a spokeswoman for Jordan's, did not have details, but told CTInsider.com the entertainment attraction at the Westfarms store "will be a good one."
Jordan's is owned by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet's Nebraska-based conglomerate that bought the chain from brothers Barry and Eliot Tatelman in October 1999. Barry Tatelman left the company at the end of 2006, but his brother Eliot remains with Jordan's as its president and chief executive officer.
Burt Flickinger, managing director of the New York City-based consulting firm Strategic Resource Group, said what sets Jordan's apart from any of its furniture retailing rivals is that "it is well capitalized" because it is part of Berkshire Hathaway, CTInsider.com reports.
"Some furniture stores have slowed their growth, but not Jordan's," Flickinger said. "The assortment of the merchandise at Jordan's is unique enough and the quality of the furniture us considerably better than many of its rivals. That's important because the demand for quality furniture and bedding has increased in that part of the country."