For years, after helping to pioneer the warehouse furniture sales concept, the late Sam Levitz kept the Tucson market to himself while others in his family built a nationwide chain of Levitz Furniture Warehouses. That distinction will go away some time in March as a result of an announcement last week that a bankruptcy judge has approved the liquidation and closing of the national chain’s 76 stores.
The Levitz family started in the furniture business in 1910 in Lebanon, Pa. After Sam Levitz moved to Tucson in the 1940s, he opened the first direct-to-customer furniture warehouse in 1953, a concept the family’s business adapted and rolled out nationwide in the 1960s.
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Included in the shuttering of the national chain are four Arizona stores: in Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe.
As a separate business entity, the three Tucson-area Sam Levitz stores – 3430 E. 36th St., 3750 W. Orange Grove Road and 100 N. Pantano Road – were never part of the national chain and are not affected by the closings.
Comments
Shelby Wood wrote on Apr 28, 2008 2:55 PM:
Jerry Yock wrote on Feb 3, 2008 4:05 PM:
I would have to say the worst encounter was a love seat from the Pantano store. The third time that it was sat upon, during a party, it completely collapsed! I made sure that everyone knew where it came from. The rest of the party was filled with various horror stories about this company. I had to return it to the "main store" over 25 minutes away from our home, and the return took over 180 minutes, I ended up just throwing it into their loading dock.
No amount of saving is worth the headache, and embarrassment of this poorly run business. I hope this saves at least one person. "