Levin Furniture sold to Michigan-based Art Van

Almost a century after opening as a hardware and furniture store in downtown Mt. Pleasant, the family-owned Levin Furniture Co. now is part of a Michigan-based chain.

Sam Levin opened the business in 1920 and accepted chickens and eggs from customers as payment during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Robert Levin, the founder's grandson, made the decision to sell the business to Art Van Furniture LLC of Warren, Mich., which will keep the Levin name on the company's 33 stores in Pennsylvania and Ohio and retain its 925 employees, Levin said.

Neither Levin nor Art Van disclosed the sale price of the privately held company.

“It was a good fit. It was great timing,” Levin said as he sat in his office filled with photos of family and Pittsburgh sports celebrities, particularly Pirates stars. “I knew them (Art Van) very well, and they were interested in expanding and were able to make a lot of good commitments to people. In essence, nothing will really change, and the stores will be signed to long-term leases.”

Art Van's commitment to the Levin brand includes establishing its eastern division headquarters at Levin's corporate offices and warehouse in Fitz Henry, South Huntingdon. The facility will be the headquarters for the Levin division of Art Van, Levin said. The Fitz Henry facility will be expanded, which will add jobs at the site, Levin said.

“It gave me a feeling that I was putting this ship in safe waters and sending it on with the existing management team and continuing the business. They are keeping every commitment we have with the community organizations,” said Levin, who will leave full-time employment by the end of the year and will serve as a consultant for the new ownership.

The fact that Levin Furniture will continue with its two stores in Mt. Pleasant, rather than move to another location, was “fantastic,” Mt. Pleasant Mayor Jerry Lucia said.

“Those were the anchor stores (for Levin), and we were hoping they would stay. It's a draw for our business district. The Levin store has a lot of Mt. Pleasant-area employees, and they have provided good-paying jobs,” Lucia said.

Diane Charles, a spokeswoman for Art Van, said they wanted to retain the stores and the employees, as well as the Levin brand.

“There's value in keeping the name. We're not changing anything,” Charles said.

Levin, 61, who is the voice and face of the company in its advertisements, said his intention to sell was rooted in his consideration of a succession plan in the family business as he approached retirement age. No member of the Levin family was interested in continuing to run the company, he said.

“I was thinking what would happen down the years ... if the company would be broken up and sold,” said Levin, who took over the business in 1992 after his brother, Howard, died of a heart attack.

For Art Van, the Levin acquisition gives it the opportunity to expand into the Western Pennsylvania market, Charles said. Art Van has stores in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa and Missouri.

“The timing was right and the opportunity was there,” Charles said.

In acquiring Levin, Art Van is getting a company that had sales of $220 million in 2017 and is the top furniture retailer in Western Pennsylvania and Northeast Ohio and one of the largest in the nation, Levin said.

Art Van Furniture, like Levin, had been a family-owned operation. It was started by Art Van Elslander in Detroit in 1959.

Thomas H. Lee Partners, a Boston private equity firm, acquired the furniture retailer in February. Thomas H. Lee said it has invested about $16 billion of equity capital since 1974 in more than 100 companies.

Thomas H. Lee Partners, which started in 1974, has acquired mainly companies in consumer goods, health care, media and financial services. Those include Snapple, Dunkin' Donuts and Safelite Glass. Art Van was its first venture into retail furniture and mattresses sales.

A spokesman for Thomas H. Lee in Boston could not be reached for comment.

When the Thomas H. Lee Partners-Art Van deal was announced, so too were plans that the company intended to open new stores in Chicago, Indianapolis, Columbus, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Art Van on Monday also announced that it has acquired Altoona-based Wolf Furniture, which has 18 showrooms in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.

By acquiring Levin and Wolf, Art Van said it will become a Top 10 national furniture retailer. Its 176 stores, spread across nine states, are expected to have $1.3 billion in annual sales. After adding 1,900 Levin and Wolf employees, Art Van will have a total of 5,500 associates, the company said.

Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-5252 or jnapsha@tribweb.com.