Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
New England Retailer Celebrates 40 Years in Business This Year
March 9,
2023 by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry 
Bernie & Phyl's Furniture, the largest privately owned furniture retailer in New England, is celebrating 40 years in business this year.
The family-run retailer based in Norton, Massachusetts, owns and operates nine stores across New England including Braintree, Hyannis, Raynham, Saugus, Westboro and Natick, Massachusetts, Nashua, and Newington, New Hampshire and South Portland, Maine.
In 1983, Bernie and Phyl Rubin opened their first (very small) sleeper sofa store in Quincy, Mass. A year later, Bernie & Phyl closed that store and moved to a larger building in Weymouth, Mass. to open a full-line furniture store.
From there, the business grew, and they continued to open stores in Massachusetts, until purchasing their largest store at the time, a 42,000-square-foot building in Westboro, Mass. in 1997.
"When my parents were in their forties, they had a vision and a dream of operating a successful furniture store," said Larry Rubin, president, and CEO and Bernie and Phyl's son. "Through hard work and dedication, they were able to do that, and their success has lasted decades."
Today, the business has become a household name and is famous for its TV ad jingle, "Quality, Comfort and Price…That's Nice!" It is one of the region's largest furniture retailers with more than 480,000 square feet of showrooms and more than 400 employees.
Bernie and Phyl's sons Robert and Larry Rubin joined the business along with their daughter Michelle Pepe, and three of Bernie & Phyl's 10 grandchildren, making it a family business success story run by three generations.
"We have such a strong family bond, and our goal has always been to keep our parent's legacy alive," said Robert Rubin, President of Merchandising and Marketing. "We will continue the hard work for the next 40 years and know our dad would be proud."
Bernie and Phyl gave to many charities throughout the years, including the Boys & Girls Club, the Home for Little Wanderers and organizations fighting to find a cure for multiple sclerosis. Bernie and Phyl were married for 62 years until Bernie's death in 2020.