Levin to reopen some Western Pennsylvania stores Friday
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Levin Furniture stores in Hempfield, Monroeville, Wexford, Curry Hollow and 13 other locations around Pittsburgh and Cleveland will reopen at 11 a.m. Friday with former owner Robert Levin at the helm.
Levin sold his family’s chain of stores in 2017 to Art Van Furniture but later structured a $25.7 million deal to purchase the contents of 32 Levin and Wolf Furniture stores out of bankruptcy. He will serve as chairman with co-CEOs brothers Matt Schultz and John Schultz.
“This has been an exciting time for us as we drove to reacquire Levin Furniture and (Levin) Mattress stores for many good reasons,” Levin said. “Our customers and associates can once again have access to the quality and commitment of a family-owned business that offers a great place to furnish homes and to work.
“We are excited to bring back a century of high standards and caring for the communities we serve. I couldn’t be more pleased to come out of retirement and to collaborate with two brothers — Matt Schultz and John Schultz — who also grew up in a high-integrity family furniture business.”
In addition to the furniture stores, the company will reopen Levin Mattress stores in Cranberry, Washington, Mt. Lebanon, Robinson and Shadyside, as well as five furniture and three mattress stores in the Cleveland area.
Store hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays (10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 4) and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
In March, Levin, 63, of Squirrel Hill announced he had inked a deal to repurchase the business his grandfather founded 100 years ago in Mt. Pleasant.
That deal collapsed when Art Van sought protection in bankruptcy court in the midst of the pandemic shutdown and abruptly shuttered all of the stores from Michigan to Pennsylvania. That left former associates unemployed and without health insurance.
Levin, who said he initially came out of retirement to try to save the jobs of 1,200 former Levin and Wolf’s Furniture employees, said he was deeply disappointed.
He vowed to continue his campaign to acquire his former family business and set up a fund to provide former Levin employees with $1,575 each to compensate for the loss of health insurance.
Signs at the shuttered Hempfield store and elsewhere have advertised openings for associates for several weeks.
Levin said 375 former associates have been hired at the stores reopening Friday and more will be hired for open positions.
Additional job openings for Levin can be found at www.LevinJobs.com.
Although Levin was successful in his bid to reacquire the brand, the original Levin’s store in Mt. Pleasant was acquired by another bidder from Texas.
As part of his deal to reacquire the stores, Robert Levin pledged to take care of all Levin customers who made furniture selections and deposits with the previous owner that were unfulfilled.
He said customers who made deposits with the previous owner and did not receive a refund from their credit card or finance company have been identified and will soon receive a letter and resolution form via mail or email detailing the next steps.