Jennifer Furniture (formerly Jennifer Convertibles) is an American

retail company Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, ...

, based in

Great Neck, New York Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among th ...

. The company is owned by John Garg and the

Namdar Realty Group Namdar Realty Group is an American shopping mall investment company based in Great Neck, New York. They primarily purchase dead mall, dying or dead shopping malls with partner Mason Asset Management. Namdar and Mason are both family owned, and as ...

History and operations

The company was founded in 1975 in Woodbury, New York. On July 19, 2010, the company announced that it had filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

as a consequence of "substantial losses". According to ''

Furniture Today ''Furniture Today'' is a weekly American magazine about the furniture industry. It is part of the Gannett media holding company. History and profile ''Furniture Today'' was started in 1976. In March 2010 it was acquired by Sandow Media from Re ...

'' magazine, the company was number 48 among furniture retailers with around US$114 million in sales for its fiscal year ending August 29, 2009. It subsequently emerged from Chapter 11 under the control of its major supplier, the Haining Mengnu Group. In 2020 "Jennifer Furniture" brand along with the company assets was purchased by JenniferOpCo. Presently the company 6 stores and its online channel is owned and operated by JenniferOpCo. John Garg, CEO of Jennifer OPCO LLC, is teaming up with another retailer to reintroduce Klaussner Home Furnishings in the retail market after its temporary shutdown in 2023. Further, he is establishing a wholesale division in early 2025. As a part of testing, the CEO said that he wanted to test how Klaussner products are welcomed by his customers at Jennifer Furniture stores. Since it has taken a positive outlook, Klaussner products will be added to Jennifer Furniture stores in the Northeast, followed by a full retail launch scheduled for November. He also underscored his plan to reestablish Klaussner as a key player in the furniture industry. As for the second innings, this brand's products are lined with prices ranging from $1,699.99 to $5,999.00.

Stores

As of July 20, 2010, the company operated 142 namesake stores and 12 Jennifer Leather stores across the U.S. It also owned 154 Ashley Furniture HomeStores and licensed five others. As of April 30, 2013, 65 company-owned stores operated under the Jennifer Convertibles and Jennifer Leather names and six stores operated under the Ashley Furniture HomeStores name. Jennifer Convertibles stores specialize in the retail sale of complete lines of sofa beds, as well as sofas and companion pieces, such as loveseats, chairs and recliners, bedrooms and dining rooms. The company is a dealer of Sealy sofa beds in the United States. Jennifer Leather stores specialize in the retail sale of leather living room furniture. During the fiscal year ended August 26, 2006, the company closed three stores, of which one was located in

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

, and two were located in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

. The year prior, the company closed 20 stores across the country, including locations in Missouri, Kansas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, California, Massachusetts, Indiana, Florida, Michigan, and New York. Upon its emergence from bankruptcy in February 2011, the company had 64 Jennifer Convertibles stores and eight Jennifer Leather stores, as well as six licensed Ashley Furniture HomeStores in the greater New York City area.

2020 sale

Jennifer Furniture was purchased by John Garg and the

in June 2020 from Morris Holdings Ltd. They operate it under the name Jennifer Opco LLC and have six stores as of March 2021.

Criticism

On July 29, 2004,

New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008 after a prostitution scandal. A member of the Democratic Party, he was also ...

announced a consent order and judgment that would significantly reform the company's sales practices and provide restitution to consumers. The judgment permanently enjoined the company from engaging in deceptive, fraudulent or illegal business practices, and requires the company to make substantial reforms to its sales practices and customer service operations. The judgment also requires the company to make restitution to consumers for its failure to replace or repair defective goods. In addition, the company agreed to pay $275,000 in penalties, and $2,000 in costs. The company received a grade "F" from the

Better Business Bureau The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is an American private, 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization founded in 1912. BBB's self-described mission is to focus on advancing marketplace trust, consisting of 92 independently incorporated local BBB organizati ...

each year from 2006 through 2009 and a grade "A" in 2013. Across the U.S. the company has had complaints for deceptive sales practices, delivery problems, not honoring its warranties and

bait-and-switch Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud used in retail sales but also employed in other contexts. First, the merchant "baits" the customer by advertising a product or service at a low price; then when the customer goes to purchase the item, they disco ...

techniques. Customer complaints were regularly ignored and lawsuits frequently followed.

Bankruptcy

On July 18, 2010, Jennifer Convertibles filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. At the time of the filing Mr. Rami Abada was the president of the company and Harley Greenfield was the CEO. The company listed their assets valued at about $26 million, with debts estimated to be about $46.4 million. The large and unsecured creditors included Haining Mengnu;

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

, with a $1.4 million claim, Klaussner, and former manufacturer Stratford/Caye. Upon emergence from Chapter 11 in February 2011 the Chinese supplier and creditor Haining Mengnu Group received about 90% of the company's new stock. The new management team included CEO Gebing (Morris) Zou, while Mr. Abada continued as president. At the time of the re-organization Jennifer had 64 stores selling sleeper-sofas, eight Jennifer Leather stores and six licensed Ashley Furniture HomeStores in the New York City area.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Official website

1975 establishments in New York (state) Great Neck Peninsula Companies based in Nassau County, New York Retail companies established in 1975 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 Furniture retailers of the United States