Bob's Discount Furniture's National HQ Opens In Manchester

MANCHESTER, CT — Bob's Discount Furniture on Monday officially opened its sprawling new 103,000-square-foot national headquarters with the declaration that Manchester was always locked in on the radar in the company's plan to expand nationwide.

Bob Kaufman, the co-founder and company figurehead made that quite clear when he took the podium at the opening ceremony. Fronted by a 2-foot-statue of himself, the frontman was glad there was no middle-of-the-night moving van involved in the transition to go national.

"We are thrilled to have been able top keep our current headquarters in a town that has been very supportive to us over the years," Kaufman said.

The competition was a Boston suburb, but Manchester Mayor Jay Moran said the employees will fall in love with the "Manchester family." State Sen. Steve Cassano took the opportunity to praise Bob's for doing the opposite of what General Electric did when it's executive suites were moved to Massachusetts.

He also praised state and local officials for getting together with Bob's officials to finalize a deal in 11 hours.

Bob's already has 163 workers locally.

State officials offered a $7 million low-interest loan, a $1.7 million grant to train employees, and up to $11 million in tax credits. Under the seven-year local tax break, Bob's will pay no real estate taxes on the new building for three years, starting this month. In the fourth year, the company is to pay 10 percent of the taxes, and the bill will rise to 30 percent by the seventh year. After that, Bob's would pay 100 percent of its real estate taxes.

Bob's also presented a check for $65,000 to Save the Children at the ceremony, part of what Director of Public Relations and Outreach Cathy Poulin called "part of 365 days of giving."

The Bob's Discount Furniture empire consists of 89 stores in New England, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

The next move, Kaufman said, is to expand to the West Coast.

The headquarters are located behind the existing showroom and TV facility in Manchester.

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel