Art Van has it’s biggest sale.
One of Michigan’s iconic retail chains is being sold. Art Van Furniture is being sold to a private equity firm.
Art Van Elslander, chairman and founder of Warren-based Art Van Furniture Inc., is selling the 58-year-old retail chain to Boston-based private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners.
Terms of the deal were not released, but analysis of comparable deals by Furniture Today puts the value of the sale in the range of $500 million.
Art Van, based in Warren, is Michigan’s largest furniture retailers, and one of the biggest in the country.
Art Van is named for Art VanElselander, the founder of the company, who opened his first store at 10 Mile and Gratiot in 1959.
According to the company,
Mr. Van Elslander was the sole employee of the store. In 1973, Art Van Furniture moved its headquarters from 12 Mile and Van Dyke Road to the 14 Mile location in Warren, where it is still located today.
The company operates 47 Art Van Furniture Stores and 54 PureSleep Mattress Stores in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The company says the top managemnt team will remain intact, and the company name will remain as Art Van.