Bay plans Ashley stores
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 13, 2005
Homewood, Ill. — The owners of Bay Furniture here have formed a new company to open 10 Ashley Furniture HomeStores in the greater Chicago area over the next five years.
The first and largest of four planned this year is expected to open in April — a 67,000 square feet unit in Vernon Hills, Ill.
Also planned this year are stores in Arlington Heights, Ill., in June or July, in Schererville, Ind., in late August, and in Algonquin, Ill., probably in October, said Larry Slovy, co-owner of Bay and the new company, Slovy Enterprises LLC.
There are plans for more in Chicagoland and northern Indiana, but a timeframe for openings beyond this year hasn't been established, and Slovy wouldn't identify prospective locations.
Both Bay and the new Slovy Enterprises are owned and operated by Larry Slovy, his brother Rick and their father, Barry, Larry Slovy said. Despite the common ownership, the Ashley stores will be operated as a separate business.
"It's a fresher way of doing business," said Larry Slovy. "Rick and I felt Ashley was on such a growth curve, and such a successful company. We wanted to grow, and (the Ashley venture) allowed us a tool to grow our business in the industry at a faster pace than we were doing with Bay."
The Slovys plan to continue building the Bay business, too. This year, Bay plans a 15,000- to 20,000-square-foot expansion at its Merrillville, Ind., showroom that could more than double the size of the store. There are no plans at this time for any new Bay stores, Slovy said.
Slovy didn't have 2004 sales figures available for Bay, but said business last year was fairly flat compared with 2003, when Bay did an estimated $65.6 million. This year is off to a strong start for Bay, he said. He would not project sales for the new Ashley stores.
Slovy said Ashley probably ranks among Bay's top five vendors, though he wouldn't disclose its annual sales with Ashley.
The first Ashley stores opening this year aren't in the immediate trading area of the Slovy's Bay stores, he said, so the family hasn't decided how much of the Ashley assortment Bay will continue to carry as more Ashley stores open.
Ashley Chairman Ron Wanek said the company is proud to be part of the Slovys' growth.
"They've been super people to do business with and they understand the furniture business," he said.
Asked if the deal will impact Ashley's distribution in Chicago, where several retailers carry the line, Wanek said he didn't expect many changes. He said Ashley "is a big line, and there are a lot of opportunities ... for people to do business with us."
Bay's owners are just the latest Top 100 store operators to jump on the Ashley program. Last year, Furniture Outlets USA of Sioux Falls, S.D. said it planned to expand its Ashley store presence with units in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market. Also, City Furniture opened the first of 13 to 14 Ashley Furniture HomeStores it expects to have in Florida by 2007.
Ashley has 158 stores in its network with plans to open about 35 more this year. Wanek would not disclose 2004 sales for the stores.
The Ashley store network ended 2003 with 121 stores and an estimated $600 million in sales, up 71.4% from 2002, making it the fastest-growing chain on Furniture/Today's Top 100.
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