HICKORY, N.C. -- An investment group backed by Gene Rosenberg, has formed a joint venture with the owners of the Boyles Furniture name, creating a new company to open multiple mid-priced to high-end Boyles Furniture & Rugs stores.
Rosenberg is co-founder of sales and liquidation specialist Planned Furniture Promotions and Top 100 company Bob's Discount Furniture.
According to a release, the investment group, spearheaded by Planned Furniture Promotions' Senior Vice President Mark Bannon, formed the venture with Alex and Chad Hendricks, who owned the name of Boyles, a former Top 100 company
The new Boyles Brand Holdings, with offices in Hickory, N.C., and Connecticut, "plans to leverage the nationally known Boyles brand to create a powerful retail presence in the mid to high-end furniture sector," the company said, rebuilding a segment of the industry hit hard during the recession
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the new investment team, including the Hendricks, now owns Boyles - including the 30,000-square-foot Boyles store that opened in Merinos Home Furnishings showroom in Mooresville, N.C. earlier this year.
The new company said it "has begun executing plans to open multiple Boyles Furniture & Rugs stores. In addition, the group plans other initiatives including offering a complete turn-key retail solution to current or prospective retailers throughout the country."
Bannon said the deal had just come together and he could not disclose expected locations or other details about the stores, except to say the average size will be between 20,000 and 40,000 square feet and that one showroom will be open within two months and another by earlier 2013.
"For quite some time our executive team has been interested in opening a nationwide chain of mid-high end stores to fill the void left in this highly fractured market," Rosenberg said. "After meeting with the Hendricks brothers, it was immediately clear that the Boyles brand was the perfect vehicle to realize our team's vision."
Bannon said PFP was "extremely impressed with the history, integrity and strength of the Boyles brand."
"Our wherewithal and resources combined with the passion, knowledge and experience of all the partners creates a powerful collective, that will fuel the robust growth of the Boyles brand," he added.
The Hendricks brothers, sons of longtime Boyles owner Larry Hendricks, acquired the high-end brand following the retailer's bankruptcy, emergence and eventual shutdown in early 2011. They have been looking for the right opportunity to expand the name on a national level, the company said.
"This partnership is a positive step forward for not only our company but our industry as a whole," Alex Hendrick said.
"The economic recession that has adversely and disproportionally affected the furniture business is showing promising signs of recovery," he said, adding that in addition to growing the brand, the partnership "will provide a positive impact on the distribution of the many great vendor brands that Boyles has been synonymous with over the past 50 years."
Bannon said it is too early to name suppliers for the new stores, noting that the company is in the process of talking to vendors at the High Point Market.
Chad Hendricks called the announcement "the beginning of a very exciting growth period for our brand."
"Stay tuned," he added. "We will be rolling out several exciting initiatives over the coming months."
The owners of the new Boyles Brand Holdings in addition to Bannon and the Hendricks, are Gene Rosenberg, Paul Cohen, Burt Homonoff, Rob Rosenberg, Tom Liddell, Roy Hester and Jerry Cohen.
