Family-owned for decades, Furniture Galleries closing
PENN TWP — After spanning three generations and more than 60 years in business, Furniture Galleries will close its doors following a liquidation sale beginning Jan. 18.
The family-owned business sells home furnishings at 465 Pittsburgh Road.
“We have had really great fortune to have such great customers,” owner and president Jody Offstein said. “The last three years have been our best.”
Furniture Galleries is in its third generation of management by the Offstein family. The business was started by Jody’s grandparents, Albert and Bernice Offstein.
“Long term, we just didn’t know who would take on the responsibility of this,” Offstein said. “Our employees are so fantastic, and with a tight job market, I thought now would be a good time where, if we did close the doors, they would have no problem finding a job.”
Offstein explained the business will go through a liquidation sale over the coming months, with larger-than-normal discounts.
“We went and bought all kinds of inventory,” Offstein said. “It's going to be an amazing sale, and we are really excited about it. I think it’s going to take us 60 to 90 days to sell everything. We are then going to deliver or have people pick stuff up, so we’re prepared to stay until the end of the year. If I had to guess, it would take until about August.”
Offstein said although he is retiring from Furniture Galleries, he is not going to step away from his other business ventures.
He also manages ProSource, which has locations in Savannah, Ga.; Charleston, S.C.; Richmond, Va.; Nashville, Tenn.; and Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C.
ProSource is a flooring and cabinet distributor that sells to trade professionals, contractors and remodelers.
“We’re not leaving, we’re not moving,” he said.” We are staying in the community.”
Offstein has been running Furniture Galleries and his ProSource locations from the furniture store’s building. He said he manages about 100 employees overall.
Furniture Galleries has 24 employees, Offstein said. About half of them will stay with him through the ProSource locations, but others will go in another direction.
“Someone is going to get a heck of a person to work for them,” Offstein said.
Albert Offstein and his wife, Bernice, established Furniture Galleries on Main Street in downtown Butler in 1961.
In the late 1960s, Albert purchased the property where the store stands today.
“We have 60,000 square feet here,” Jody Offstein said. “It’s filled to the gills. We have probably 200 sofas on our floor with 50 bedrooms and 30 dining rooms. It’s a lot.”
When Offstein’s grandparents retired in 1970, his parents, Allen and Patti Offstein, took over the business.
“My father was the organizational guy and the customer-friendly guy,” Offstein said. “My grandfather was a great promoter, and my father was a great promoter, as well. Over the three generations, for the most part, everyone took on a similar role from generation to generation. That’s what maybe sustained the business for all these years.”
Jody Offstein's wife, Jennifer, also is heavily involved with Furniture Galleries and ProSource, with a focus on human resources and design.
“She had a lot of private customers that would ask her to come out, look at their space and give them suggestions,” he said. “My grandmother and mother were also exceptional designers.”
The Offsteins have two daughters, Olivia and Maura, who have been helping out during the past two summers.
Offstein said there’s nothing like working in a family business.
“My grandparents and parents worked together, and the four of them worked side by side. When my grandparents retired, my wife and I came into the business,” he said. “From seeing them work so hard, you learn a good work ethic. When our employees get to see how hard an Offstein works, they know that we care a lot about the business.”
Following the liquidation sale, Offstein said his parents will decide what happens to the Route 8 facility.
Offstein explained he has been thankful throughout the years for not just great customers who were willing to spend their hard-earned money at his business, but the employees that helped keep it running to make his life easier.
“The most important thing that has sustained us for three generations is the high quality of employees that we had,” Offstein said. “It’s such a team effort here. If you have one person on the team that’s not rowing in the same direction, it just doesn’t work. We have been blessed with such amazing people.
“It doesn’t feel like a job, it feels like a fun activity.”
