The rapidly expanding Bob's Discount Furniture chain of retail stores will have a fresh corporate home in Connecticut.
Bob's brass, along with Gov. Dannel Malloy, and Manchester town officials announced the deal to keep Bob's in Connecticut Tuesday morning.
The chain will receive a $7 million low interest to help build a new headquarters off of the Tolland Turnpike. The company will also be eligible for more than a million in funds for workforce training, and $11 million in tax credits.
“They really are quite remarkable and a company we were going to keep in Connecticut" said Gov. Malloy at the event.
The headquarters will employ 326 people, and 125 new positions will be created.
"We’re keeping one of the best known brands in the northeast based here in CT. I think that’s a pretty good day.”
Bob Kaufman, one of the founders of the company, and the current spokesman who's well known for his beard and yellow shirt, said the commitment is an exciting one for the Newington-founded brand.
“I was born in Hartford. I went to UConn. I’m just thrilled that we’re all staying in Connecticut.”
Bob's Discount Furniture was founded 25 years ago and has expanded to 12 states with 69 stores and over the President's Day weekend opened several locations in the Chicago-area.
The retailer is the 14th largest furniture store in the country and growing, opening an average of 10-12 stores annually in recent years.
Kaufman said the company, which Bain Capital of Boston owns a majority stake of, had considered the neighbor to the North until Connecticut stepped up with an offer.
“There was a real jeopardy of leaving the state and the fact that the governor’s office and the economic development team, and the town of Manchester just stepped up to the plate.”
The lease on the new building is expected to be 30 years and construction could begin soon.
Kaufman says that shows how Bob's really wants to be a part of Connecticut's economic future.
"This makes it permanent."
