Paul Quinns back in business
Opens FrontRoom Furnishings
Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, November 7, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Quinn family and Ken Paul, former owners of Sofa Express, are back in the furniture business.
Towny Quinn, the founder of Sofa Express, and his sons Jerry, Dan and Mike Quinn have teamed with Paul to open the more than 45,000-square-foot FrontRoom Furnishings on South Hamilton Road here. They plan to open a second 30,000-square-foot store in the area in the spring.
FrontRoom specializes in living room furniture and carries such lines as Lane, Flexsteel, Hickory Hill, Rowe, England and Berkline. It says it is the exclusive retailer in the area for Hickory Hill’s Jaclyn Smith line.
“We saw a need for a higher quality living room furnishings store that offers exceptional attention to customer service,” said Dan Quinn.
Paul said the store will focus on “superior value, not just a low price,”
He would not disclose the investment in the new venture or sales projections.
The first store is in a former Glicks Furniture location, while the second is being built from the ground up on Polaris Parkway.
FrontRoom offers full decorating services, including in-home consultations. The store has a designer workshop, an art gallery, an area rug studio and displays of paint colors and floor covering samples from local retailers. It offers same-day delivery on more than 100 furniture groups, as well as custom order options with guaranteed delivery dates.
FrontRoom is served by a 60,000-square-foot distribution center in west Columbus.
The Quinn family founded what would become Groveport, Ohio-based Sofa Express in 1959 when Towny Quinn opened Westgate Furniture here. Westgate evolved into The Living Room, a living room specialty store, in 1984 and eventually into Sofa Express.
Paul joined the Quinns in 1981 and later became an owner and president of the Top 100 company, which grew to 18 stores doing an estimated $91.1 million in furniture, bedding and accessories sales in 2001.
In October 2002, Sofa Express was sold to a Klaussner, which is in the process of converting the now 65-store chain into full-line stores called Sofa Express & More.
Paul stayed on as president until August of 2004, and since then has taken some time for rest, relaxation and motorcycle riding. But he has spent most of this year making plans with the Quinns for FrontRoom Furnishings.
“When I left Sofa Express, I had the opportunity to do anything I wanted,” Paul said. “The more I thought about getting back in the furniture business, the happier I was. I approached my former partners and they were excited about it too, so we went forward with it.
“It’s kind of nice — to be at a crossroads in your career and elect to do the same thing is affirmation you’re doing something you really like.”
Several other former Sofa Express employees who left after Paul’s departure are back on board with the Quinns and Paul at FrontRoom. They include Kim Baltzer, sales manager; Sharon Gervais, merchandise manager; Julie Burdette, store planner and accessories buyer; and Gayle Schultz, who handles administration and training.
Paul said there are no plans to make the store another Top 100 player. The goal, he said, is to open “two great stores, give … great service … and see where that leads us.
“If we don’t get any bigger, than we’ll be happy, and if we do, we’ll talk about that when the time comes.”
-
Paul, Quinns jump back into retail
Nov 27, 2005
Featured Company
-
Brandwise Inc.
Brandwise serves a model - not just an industry - by integrating, automating, and optimizing the entire sales channel, from wholesale Suppliers to their Reps and the Retailers they service. In short, our software helps Reps and Suppliers sell more and create... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
