The Room Store

The Room Store Inc.

File:Room Store.jpg A former Room Store location (now closed).
Company type	Private
Founded	1992 (1992)
Founder	Gary Levitz (1938–1999)
Defunct	November 26, 2012 (RoomStore, Inc.) July 11, 2016 (The RoomStores of Phoenix, LLC)
Fate	Asset liquidation
Headquarters	RoomStore, Inc.: Austin, Texas, U.S. The RoomStores of Phoenix, LLC: Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Products	Furniture
Website	roomstore.com arizonaroomstore.com

The Room Store (often presented as RoomStore) was a furniture retail chain serving the eastern and southern regions of the United States from 1992 until 2012. Owned by RoomStore, Inc., the company focused on selling complete room furniture sets rather than single pieces. For instance, a dining table might be offered together with matching chairs and related accessories as a bundled package instead of individually. The Room Store was recognized among the top 25 furniture retailers nationwide.Template:Fix/category Additionally, a similarly named chain, operating under The RoomStores of Phoenix, LLC, ran stores in Arizona between 1993 and 2016.

History

Established in Texas in 1992 by Gary Levitz, the grandson of Levitz Furniture’s founder, The Room Store initially launched with four outlets in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. In 1999, Gary Levitz tragically died in an aviation accident.

At that time, The Room Store was part of Heilig-Meyers, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2000 while operating over fifty locations across the country. By 2005, The Room Store—then the sole remaining segment of Heilig-Meyers—secured $35 million to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings.

On December 12, 2011, RoomStore, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; by April 2012, it announced plans to shut down all Texas-based RoomStore locations.

Subsequently, on June 29, 2012, RoomStore, Inc. declared it would close all stores across the eastern and southern U.S., effective August 2, with full closures completed by November 26, 2012.

Meanwhile, the twelve Arizona stores branded as RoomStore and owned by The RoomStores of Phoenix, LLC were initially unaffected by this bankruptcy. However, on December 18, 2015, that entity also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Beginning January 2016, liquidation sales commenced at all twelve locations; these stores permanently ceased operations following completion of sales on July 11, 2016. The ongoing repercussions from the 2008 housing market crash and intensified competition among furniture retailers within Phoenix were cited as contributing factors to this outcome.

On August 28, 2017, Oak Point Partners—a private investment firm—acquired any remaining known and unknown assets not previously administered from the RoomStore, Inc. Bankruptcy Estate.