JORDAN'S FURNITURE

'Jordan's Furniture' is a prominent furniture retailer in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, with locations in Reading, Avon, and Natick, Massachusetts and Nashua, New Hampshire.

Contents

History

The Nashua, New Hampshire Store

The Avon Store

The Natick Store

The Reading Store

Other Information

References

External links

History

It was started by Samuel Tatelman in 1918 in Waltham, Massachusetts. Samuel sold furniture out of the back of a truck until 1926. In the late 1930s, his son Edward joins the business. In 1973, Barry and Eliot Tatelman took over the business from their father Edward. They stopped advertising on the back page of the Waltham paper and start on radio. In 1983, Barry and Eliot built the Nashua, New Hampshire location, and it was extremely successful. In 1987, they opened the Avon, Massachusetts location, creating the largest traffic jam on Route 24. Barry and Eliot had to go on the radio to beg people not to come. Customers stood in line for hours waiting for their turn to go into the showroom. On Mother's Day in 1992, the Motion Odyssey Movie (MOM) opened in the Avon store, after 5 years of planning and $2.5 million investment. Over 1 million people experienced MOM, raising more than $300,000 for non-profit organizations. On April 17, 1998, Barry and Eliot opened the biggest Jordan's Furniture to date with 120,000 sq. ft. of beautiful showroom and a Mardi Gras/Bourbon Street theme, the Natick, Massachusetts location introduces Jordan's to the MetroWest area. In October 1999, the Tatelman brothers sold the company to investment firm Berkshire Hathaway. The sale was intended to increase the financial backing of Jordan's Furniture for future growth. To celebrate, each employee received a financial gift of 50 cents for every hour ever worked at Jordan's. Operationally, nothing changed. Barry and Eliot remained at the helm, still starring in all radio/tv commercials and as integral parts of the company. On Thursday, August 22nd of 2002, the IMAX 3D Theater at Jordan's Furniture in Natick opened its doors to the public. This new venue offered a new level of "shoppertainment" in Jordan's Furniture history. The Waltham store closed in 2004 the day the new Reading, Massachusetts store opened, which was the largest of Jordan's locations. It includes a complete showroom, warehouse, and 3D IMAX movie theater. In addition, Jordan's opened a 750,000 sq. ft. Warehouse/Office complex in Taunton, Massachusetts. In 2005, the warehouse underneath the Avon store was converted into the Colossal Clearance Center, containing over 60,000 square feet of clearance merchandise.

The Nashua, New Hampshire Store

Popular for its free cookies and coffee, and by nature of this particular store being located on the New Hampshire state Border: Meaning no sales tax --unlike its counterparts in Massachusetts.

The Avon Store

Customer service includes windshield washing in the summer, umbrellas in the rain, and a free hot dog with furniture pickup. Known especially for its Motion Odyssey Movie (MOM) ride which opened in 1992 and contains 48-seats with a 4-story movie screen. All proceeds from the theater go to charity. Finally, the recently opened Colossal Clearance Center in the basement offers 60,000 sq. ft. of marked down items.

The Natick Store

Has a Mardi Gras theme, with the central area being called Bourbon Street. It is complete with 3-story facades to fully immerse you in a New Orleans experience. At the end of Bourbon Street, there is an hourly 9-minute animatronics show that features robotic that play famous singers such as Elvis, The Supremes, The Village People, and Louis Armstrong. The store contains a Kelly's Roast Beef restaurant, a Bose high fidelity audio store, as well as the 'Streetcar Named Dessert' which offers many treats whose profits all go to charity. There is also a 272 seat Jordan's IMAX theater that is run in conjunction with Comcast.

The Reading Store

Has a Jelly Belly theme, with the central area being called Beantown. Everything the visitor sees is practically made out of jelly-beans, including Fenway's Green Monster, The Sweet House, Beantown's Big Dig, and The Lenny Zakim Bridge. There is also the only indoor Trapeze School in the country. The store also contains a Fuddruckers Restaurant, a Liquid Fireworks show, a 500-seat Comcast IMAX 3D Theater, and a branch of Richardson's Ice Cream.

Other Information

The Tatelman brothers still represent the public face of the company and have become pop culture icons throughout New England due to their commercials spoofing major national or international advertising campaigns. The origins of the name of the company are uncertain, and the brothers have speculated that their grandfather chose the name out of a hat.
Jordan Marsh, a prominent Boston department store, sued Jordan's Furniture for trademark infringement and as part of the settlement Jordan's Furniture was required to add the note in their commercials "Not to be confused with Jordan Marsh."
Barry Tatelman left Jordan's Furniture in December 2006, according to the ''Boston Globe'',

to pursue other interests such as helping to produce a Broadway show "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels", starring actor John Lithgow. . . . Besides Broadway, Barry Tatelman will dabble in Hollywood; he is a principal of a new film company called "Filmshop" and he is working on a TV series, according to a Jordan's press release.

References

Barry Tatelman leaves Jordan's Furniture

External links

★ Jordan's Furniture website

★ Berkshire Hathaway website