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Levin Furniture moving into local market

Levin Furniture is set to open its second and third Youngstown-area locations after acquiring three Goldsteins Furniture stores in May.

The Boardman location opened on Labor Day, while the Hermitage store will open today and the Niles location is expected to open in late October or early November. The stores have remained operational during the Levin rebranding.

Diane Charles, vice president of corporate communications for Levin, said the company has been well-received in its new communities.

“We’re really pleased with the results,” said Charles. She noted that due to the company’s size, it has a lot of buying power and can bring many brands to the market.

“We are able to get better prices and pass them on to consumers,” Charles added. “This is really a win-win for Youngstown.”

Charles said the Youngstown market made sense because the company has good brand awareness in Cleveland and Pittsburgh, with Youngstown located in between them.

The company said its new Hermitage store will employ 22 people, including some who worked at Goldsteins. The Niles location will employ 24 associates, although the company could not say how many employees are holdovers from Goldsteins. Charles said the company has worked to keep as many former Goldsteins associates as possible.

Charles said the company’s philosophy has been to better utilize building space to make more room for products. The company is leasing its three Youngstown-area facilities.

Goldsteins announced in May that its stores would be rebranded. Steve Goldstone, president and CEO of Goldsteins Furniture, said market conditions played a big role in his decision to sell, saying Goldsteins could not expand to markets like Pittsburgh, Cleveland or Erie, Pa. The company had served the Valley for more than a century.

Levin Furniture, founded in 1920, has 40 showrooms in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio. The company is owned by Art Van Furniture, LLC, based in Warren, Mich.

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