Massachusetts-based big box furniture retailer Jordan’s Furniture will open its second Connecticut store in December at the Westfarms mall, a company spokeswoman said this week.
The store will open in the space formerly occupied by Lord &Taylor, which closed its Westfarms store at the end of 2020. 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.
For example, the New Haven store 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, declined to say what the entertainment attraction at the Westfarms store would be, “but it will be a good one.”
The new store will employ 50 people, according to Copelas.
Jordan’s announced its plans to open a second Connecticut store in December 2022. The company opened its first Connecticut store at 40 Sargent Drive in December 2015.
The Westfarms store will be Jordan’s ninth location.
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.
“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.”
