American Home Opens in Upstate N.Y.

August 10, 2010  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on August 11, 2010

American Home has opened a pilot store in Vestal, N.Y., for what owners hope will be a furniture store franchise network, WBGH reported Tuesday.

A grand opening is set for this weekend at the 15,000-square-foot location, a former Ethan Allen furniture store.

American Home will offer living room, dining room, and bedroom furniture, as well as mattresses, accessories, photography, area rugs and domestics. Brands include Broyhill, Kincaid, Surya, and Serta. American Home also offers a full array of custom window-treatment options through the window treatment division of PKB Design.

"While other retailers have pulled back, we are actually investing in a new store and hiring people," said Michael Rouhana, CEO of American Home, in the report. "The new store will help us meet consumers' demands for a wide range of home furnishing products. Our community is ready for another source. They've been forced to go to the same one or two main players for decades."

American Home also has pledged to put a portion of the proceeds from every sale into a donation fund for the disabled veterans.

"These men and woman deserve so much more than what they are getting and when they're hurt or left homeless, someone needs to step up and help out," Rouhana said. "That's what we intend to do from now on. My father and mother left war-torn Lebanon in pursuit of the American Dream. If it were not for this country and the men and woman protecting it, my family and I would not have had the opportunity to be where we are today."

American Home President Jay Fanara noted the store is opening as a pilot operation for a franchise.

"We intend on perfecting the model in Vestal, and then opening stores along the east-coast and ultimately throughout the country," he said. "Our regional and national expansion plans include a goal of having 50 American Home locations opened during the course of the next 60 months. Our intention is to be known as much for our contributions to the communities we open in, as we are for the quality products and services we'll offer. It's extremely important to Michael and I that we share our success with those that are less fortunate."