RoomPlace Kickstarts Indianapolis Expansion
The furniture retailer acquired a long-vacant building that it plans to transform into a showroom and warehouse.
By Adriana Pop, Senior Associate Editor
Indianapolis–Furniture retailer The RoomPlace has acquired the long-vacant Levitz Furniture building on East Washington Street in Indianapolis, with plans to convert the property into a showroom and warehouse.
(from left to right) Councillor LaKeisha Jackson, District 14; Paul Adams, CEO of The RoomPlace; David Eskanazi; Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett; Valerie Berman ; Councillor David Ray, District 19; and Sidney Eskanazi.
Located on an 11-acre site at 8301 E. Washington St., the upcoming 160,000-square-foot facility will serve as the company’s primary distribution center for the Indianapolis market and will house the sixth RoomPlace showroom in the area. The new development will also become the corporate headquarters of RoomPlace’s rent-to-own division, EasyHome. Upon completion in late fall 2016, the facility will provide more than 100 new job opportunities.
The building, which has been vacant for 20 years, is owned by Sandor, one of the largest privately held shopping center developers in the nation. Sidney Eskenazi, the company’s founder & CEO, brokered the deal with Lombard, Ill.-based RoomPlace as part of a larger partnership between the two companies. The project is expected to serve as a catalyst for the renewal of the city’s East Side corridor.
“I am pleased that The RoomPlace recognizes the opportunity for growth in Indianapolis and has renewed their commitment to this community. For years, the east side of Indianapolis has suffered from stagnation and a lack of well-paying job opportunities,” stated Mayor Joe Hogsett. “Today’s announcement represents a turning point in the redevelopment of the National Road corridor and I look forward to continued investment and growth by businesses like The RoomPlace in the coming years.”
RoomPlace currently has 23 stores overall, including five in the Indianapolis area. The retailer began operating in 1912 and was known as Harlem Furniture for decades. According to the Indianapolis Business Journal, Levitz was the largest independent furniture retailer in the country in the mid-1990s, but grew too fast to keep up with its debt load and liquidated its assets in 2008. The East Washington Street store in Indianapolis closed in 1999 after more than 20 years in operation.
Image courtesy of The RoomPlace
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