Fast-growing Bob’s Discount Furniture to open in north Wilmington

A fast-growing furniture retailer, well known to former Connecticut residents, is opening a store in the Brandywine Town Center in north Wilmington.

Bob’s Discount Furniture is also adding stores in King of Prussia and Cherry Hill, N.J. Opening of the store is slated for Feb. 13.

The Town Center store is in an atrium at the center that is beginning to fill up long-vacant space. It was built after a bruising battle with nearby residents and did not lure the upscale retailers that had been targeted. Its anchors include a Regal Cinema, Target, Lowes and Bed Bath and Beyond.

The store is located in a hotbed for furniture sales that draws shoppers from Pennsylvania, which, unlike Delaware, has a sales tax.

The 45,000-square-foot Delaware store at 5200 Brandywine Parkway will be managed by Lisa Libretti, former manager of Bob’s Carle Place, N.Y., store.

With the three new locations, Bob’s has opened seven stores in the past 12 months, including two in the Washington, D.C., area last February, and two in the New York City area in May.

Bob’s Discount Furniture now has 50 stores in 11 states (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia).

“We’re thrilled to extend our operations into the Philadelphia area,” said Bob Kaufman, Bob’s president emeritus and co-founder. “We’re proud to be 50-stores strong with the addition of these three locations near the City of Brotherly Love – with no gimmicks and the same low prices every day.”

Kaufman, who founded the chain in Connecticut, will attend the Wilmington store’s ribbon cutting. Kaufman became well known serving as the face of the company in heavy television advertising in that state.  Bob’s has been running a modest number of TV spots locally before opening.

Bob’s will make donations in the community to mark the store’s opening through the company and Bob’s Outreach program, which supports schools and non-profit groups in the communities where it operates.

One of the recipients will be the East Side Charter School, which will receive a $5,000 donation recommended by Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams.

The following Wilmington-area schools also will receive $2,350 checks:

 Brandywine High School,  Forwood Elementary Schooll, P.S. duPont Middle School, 
Carrcroft Elementary School, Alexis I. duPont High School.

Bob’s has donated money to hundreds of schools over the past 20 years through programs and contests like the annual Celebrate the Arts contest, which awarded nine winning schools a total of $45,000 last year to support their visual, creative and performing arts programs. Previous recipients have used the donations to buy new art and classroom supplies, fund student activity groups and go on field trips.

Bob’s has grown into the 16^th largest furniture chain. Lead investor is Bain Capital, which also has a stake in SevOne, a Wilmington-area technology company.