Pilgrim Furniture City is coming to town, replacing the VF Outlet Marketplace at the west end of the Plaza at Burr Corners.
North Carolina-based VF Corp. Inc. is thinking about changing its multi-brand outlet concept stores and is leaving Manchester, according to Seble Tareke-Williams, vice president of Burr Corners’ owner, Emmes Asset Management Co. of New York.
The VF Outlet opened in 2004 in the building formerly occupied by an Ames Department Store, at 1131 Tolland Turnpike. The Ames chain went out of business in 2002.
At the east end of the plaza, a Planet Fitness gym is set to occupy about a third of the former Waldbaum’s Food Mart supermarket at 1135 Tolland Turnpike. That building has been vacant since the supermarket closed in 1999, Tareke-Williams said, adding the Planet Fitness is scheduled to open by the first of the year.
Pilgrim Furniture plans to open its 72,000-square-foot furniture store by June 2010, and will employ about 30 workers, according to company spokeswoman Nancy Ottino.
“Our in-house store planner, Vince Alberino, has the new store on the boards,” Ottino said of the store, which will be the company’s third, joining the headquarters store in Southington and a store in Milford. The Milford store is largely powered by solar panels on its roof, a feature that won’t be repeated in Manchester, she said.
Ottino said that the Manchester store will have its own design, also distinct from the main store in Southington, which has a New England village façade along the walls, a café, and a carousel.
Pilgrim chose the Manchester site for its third store because of its easy access to Massachusetts customers from Interstate 91, and its location just down the street from Manchester’s Buckland Hills mall, she said.
“It also gives us the opportunity to maximize our advertising dollar,” Ottino added, with the store anchoring the market east of Hartford, as the flagship store in Southington anchors the market west of Hartford.
In a statement, Michael Albert, owner and president of Pilgrim Furniture City, said the expansion is a sign that Pilgrim’s business model is working despite the rigors of the recession.
“These are challenging times, but Pilgrim Furniture City’s business is good,” Albert said. He credited “the formula of good customer service and competitive pricing” for the company’s success.
“Employment is stable, and we are feeling healthy, strong, and optimistic,” he said.
The company has about 125 employees now, split between the Southington and Milford stores, according to Ottino.
Michael Albert’s father, Jay Albert, started the company in 1961, according to a company history on Pilgrim’s Web site.
