About Raymour and Flanigan

In 2009, Raymour & Flanigan Furniture® will operate over 80 retail showrooms, eight clearance centers, 17 customer care centers and two distribution centers serving customers in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Raymour and Flanigan is the 10th largest and 3rd fastest growing U.S. conventional furniture retailer as ranked by Furniture Today inMay 2008 and the largest in the Northeast, currently employing more than 4,000 associates.

History of Raymour and Flanigan

The Early Years: Raymour's Furniture Company

Family owned and operated, Raymour's Furniture Company—the predecessor of Raymour and Flanigan Furniture—was established by brothers Bernard and Arnold Goldberg in 1947 with a single, modest store in downtown Syracuse NY.

Current CEO and President Neil Goldberg joined the family business in 1972. Soon after the company implemented a fully-accessorized furniture showroom concept at low take-home or delivered prices. This innovation coupled with Raymour's aggressive credit program paved the foundation for future growth.

By the late 1970s Steven and Michael Goldberg joined the company. Additional showrooms opened in the eastern and western suburbs of Syracuse plus the first move outside the immediate Syracuse area to Oswego NY.

In 1986, with continued growth on the horizon beyond Central New York, the company built a 200,000 sq. ft. office and distribution center in Liverpool NY. 

A New Era: Raymour and Flanigan

The 1990s ushered in a period of virtually non-stop growth and expansion for Raymour's beginning with the purchase of 14 Flanigan Furniture locations in Western NY to become the largest furniture retailer in New York State.

The 1990s also saw our expansion into New England, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Our acquisition of Furniture Unlimited stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey gave Raymour and Flanigan Furniture a foothold in the Philadelphia market and in New Jersey.

Explosive Growth Continues into New Millennium

Raymour and Flanigan entered the new millennium on the strong momentum of the previous decade's success with expansion to neighboring states in New England, Delaware, Philadelphia and aggressively targeted growth in the New York City Metropolitan market. Over 50 stores were opened from 2000 to 2006 in six Northeastern states. We expanded our main Liverpool distribution center to 600,000 sq. ft., launched our consumer website and received significant industry recognition for our accomplishments.

2007 marked the Company’s 60th year with significant changes in our growth and ability to enhance our customers’ experience.

Phenomenal expansion in 2008

Raymour and Flanigan experienced unprecedented growth from January to December 2008 opening 12 showrooms total and two clearance centers. A new customer care center served our expansion in New Jersey and metropolitan New York.  As part of the 2008 showroom growth, we acquired Levitz Furniture leases and opened 10 stores from March-October 2008 in the greater New York City area increasing service to customers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, Staten Island and Jersey City.

The Phillipsburg NJ and Garden City NY stores opened in 2008 with significant environmental efficiencies as the first ENERGY STAR rated showrooms.  Buildings that earn the ENERGY STAR prevent greenhouse gas emissions by meeting strict energy efficiency guidelines set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

At the Field Support Center, we added a 40,000 sq. ft. studio at the main campus that affords us full production for furniture photography and TV commercial production.

Eco-Friendly Practices

Employing green practices is part of our mission to take care of our communities and support our customers’ concerns to be environmentally responsible.

The Recycling Center opened and began full production in June 2007 with a 41,000 sq. ft. facility on our main campus to handle the paper, cardboard, plastic and Styrofoam packaging and mixed office paper from our stores and service centers. The recycled materials are used by other manufacturers to create new consumer products.  Since 2007, over 30 million pounds of waste have been recycled that would otherwise have gone to Northeast landfills.

The Company earned an EPA Green Power Partnership with green power purchases for our New York stores. The green power purchase takes the form of Green-e certified renewal energy credits (RECs), generated at wind facilities across the US, and results in the avoidance of over 800 tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year.

Raymour and Flanigan increased environmental practices substantially since 2007, which are still evolving. We are actively engaged in voluntary reduction of our energy consumption in our showrooms and facilities, and partner with vendors who share our philosophy of reducing our carbon footprint.

Enhancing the Customer's Experience

Our unwavering dedication in providing the most satisfying buying experience is the foundation of our success.  Raymour and Flanigan sets industry standards with our extensive quality home furnishings lines, knowledgeable sales professionals, three-day delivery, financing programs and platinum warranties to exceed customer expectations.

Design Advice Program

Inspired by customers’ requests for design advice, Raymour and Flanigan implemented a new program in 2009 to provide expert design advice in an exclusive partnership with design expert and TV personality Kristan Cunningham. This comprehensive program enhances the customer shopping experience, making it less stressful, while working to increase customers’ confidence in their ability to put together a room that reflects their individual style.

Kristan provides expert design advice on creating your personal style, trends, mixing and matching styles and how to turn your vision into a comfortable, affordable home.  Kristan’s design suggestions are available at Raymour and Flanigan’s 80+ showrooms in style guide brochures, direct mail pieces, in consumer magazines’ multipage inserts and online at RaymourFlanigan.com. Future plans to provide valuable design suggestions for customers include webinars (online seminars) and columns on RaymourFlanigan.com, design books and other customer reference materials.

Inventory, Technology and Products

Customers told us they wanted furniture delivered more quickly, so we developed our product supply chain to deliver furniture in three days or less with a significant investment of capital, facilities and people to ensure product is available for customers.

We are continually adding merchandise to our inventory so our showrooms are the preferred choice for customers’ home furnishings solutions. Our state-of-the-art distribution system with 18 facilities allows us to be closer to the market with product to help us achieve our commitment to our three-day delivery guarantee.
Our e-Commerce and online shopping capabilities have expanded since the site’s original launch to include online interactive catalogs, enhanced search and navigation features, expanded product information and content, dynamic imagery, an advanced online interactive room planner and online customer product reviews. These unbiased reviews let customers see what others are saying about our furniture to help build confidence in their purchases.

Our quality product line includes top manufacturers like Bellanest, Berkline, Bernhardt, Broyhill, Cindy Crawford Home, Clayton Marcus, H. M. Richards, Hooker, La-Z-Boy, Legacy, Natuzzi, Sealy, Stanley, Stearns & Foster®, Tempur-Pedic®, Universal and Vaughan-Bassett.

Valuing Customers

We place the highest value on serving customers. Raymour and Flanigan takes many steps to ensure the very best in customer care from the sales associates' professionalism to a wide variety of programs to meet every customer’s need including custom-fit financing and our after-sale care.

Customers want to deal with someone who knows what he/she is selling. Raymour and Flanigan places a strong emphasis on education and training to support our people and serve customers. Our sales associates receive hundreds of hours of training in their first year, and then ongoing training as we add product lines.

Our Customer Care Group has dedicated associates to serve customers in each showroom, customer care center and at our field support center. Our proprietary Platinum Protection warranty protects customers’ investments with a five-year program that extends beyond the manufacturer’s warranty to repair and replace products.

Valuing Associates

Our success is attributed to the hard work and dedication of our more than 4,000 associates who have worked diligently and have contributed enormously to our growth.

Raymour and Flanigan is a family-owned business that believes in treating our people well. As a result, we have many long-time associates celebrating multi-year anniversaries.

Part-time and full-time associates can take advantage of health, dental, short-term disability benefits and retirement plans. Hundreds of associates per year complete our Leadership Development Institute’s education and training programs, and many have been promoted extensively from within the company.

Taking Care of the Communities Where We Serve, Work And Live

Our community efforts focus on helping organizations that provide research, prevention and treatment of diseases affecting women and children.  We have remained a family-owned business since 1947 so it’s especially important to involve our work family in our efforts to serve. Our associates and their family members often volunteer for these causes.

Raymour and Flanigan designates television and radio airtime, in-kind materials and financial support for our charitable partners throughout Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Here are a few of the major charities we have supported:

An Exciting Forecast What Does The Future Hold For Raymour and Flanigan?

We continue our commitment of building the preeminent retail furniture brand in the Northeast and beyond. The concepts of excellent customer care, good value and convenient credit programs that began in the 1940s are the principles we still adhere to.

We source quality home furnishings to help customers achieve their dreams of home. We offer design consulting to help customers feel confident in their style and selections. Taking steps to reduce our carbon footprint and serving as good stewards of our environment are high priorities. We will continue to give back to our communities through charitable giving.

Plans for further expansion into the New England, Philadelphia and New York City Metropolitan markets are currently underway, and the company looks toward the future with the same confidence and optimism that has helped it become the largest furniture retailer in the Northeast and 10th largest in the United States.

 
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