Ashley Furniture HomeStore reaches 500-store milestone

Ashley Furniture HomeStores celebrated its 500th store with a grand opening here Feb. 21.

The Dufresne Spencer Group is the owner and operator of the store, which is the company's 28th Ashley Furniture HomeStore location in nine states. The new store shares a warehouse with the company's store in Tyler, Texas.

 Officials of the Dufresne Spencer Group and Ashley gather for the grand opening of the 500th Ashley Furniture HomeStore in Longview, Texas.

"The expansion into the Longview area is a testament to the growth and success of the people of this community," said Chad Spencer, president of the Dufresne Spencer Group.

Officials of the Dufresne Spencer Group and Ashley gather for the grand opening of the 500th Ashley Furniture HomeStore in Longview.

He added that the retailer supports the community through initiatives such as the A Hope to Dream program, which offers new beds to children by donating a portion of mattress sales to the effort. The company is donating 50 beds in Tyler this month and said it hopes to continue the program in Longview as well.

"Chad and Jim Spencer and the Dufresne Spencer Group have demonstrated an innate understanding of the furniture industry and a commitment to excellence. It is fitting that their store represents this major milestone for the Ashley Furniture HomeStore brand," said Ashley President and CEO Todd Wanek.

Ashley said it reached the 500-store milestone with continued growth throughout the 17-year history of Ashley Furniture HomeStores, with sales exceeding $3 billion in sales in 2013, as it has added store locations in the U.S. and abroad.

Plans include an additional 50 HomeStore openings this year. The Longview store is the 48th HomeStore in the state of Texas. The Ashley Furniture HomeStores network of licensed and company-owned stores has been the number one selling U.S. furniture store brand since 2006.

"When the first HomeStore opened in 1997 (in Anchorage, Alaska), we were confident that this business model would be capable of providing complete home furniture solutions that would meet or exceed consumer expectations in price, delivery and service," said Wanek. "It is with a tenacity to never stop innovating that our teams - from the local level to our corporate headquarters - have propelled our growth throughout the last two decades, and with the latest improvements to our operations and customer fulfillment systems, I'm confident that this trend will continue into the future."

From: Furniture Today