Art Van Furniture's first Chicago-area store to be in Orland Park

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 7, 2013

ORLAND PARK, Ill. — Art Van Furniture confirmed a local report today that the Top 100 company's first Chicago market store will open here this summer, one of as many as to six planned for the new market this year.

The 46,000-square-foot store will be on South LaGrange Road in a former Dominick's Finer Foods space and will employ 60 to 80 people, confirmed Diane Charles, Art Van director of corporate communications.

According to a report by the Chicago Tribune's Southtown Star, Charles said the Southwest Chicago suburb of Orland Park was a logical choice because of its concentration of retail stores and demographics that fit well with the retailer's consumer base.

She confirmed that the store will be the first of four to six planned for the market this year.

The Warren, Mich., retail furniture giant is venturing out of its home state with its full-line stores for the first time this year, with both the Chicago expansion and plans for a 90,000-square-foot Toledo, Ohio, store this summer in a former theater complex.