Steinhafels opens first Illinois store in Vernon Hills
BY JOHN ROSZKOWSKI jroszkowski@pioneerlocal.com August 30, 2011 9:08PM
Terry Simmons of Libertyville gives a bed at Steinhafels furniture store the test during its grand opening. The 101,000-square-foot furniture store is Steinhafels first in Illinois.| Michelle LaVigne~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: November 4, 2011 9:10AM
Vernon Hills resident Beth Loretto has purchased furniture from the Steinhafels furniture store in Kenosha, Wis., in the past so was glad to hear that the company was opening a new superstore in Vernon Hills.
“I think it will be a nice addition to the other stores, drawing people to Vernon Hills looking for furniture,” she said.
Steinhafels officially opened its 101,000-square-foot superstore at 569 N. Milwaukee Ave. to the public on Saturday, Aug. 27. Steinhafels is Wisconsin’s largest furniture and mattress retailer, boosting about $100 million in annual sales, and the Vernon Hills store is the company’s first location in Illinois.
Company president Gary Steinhafel predicts the store could generate as much as $25 million in annual sales in its first year.
“I think initially when we open most of our customers will be local but we hope to become a destination store and pull regionally,” he said.
The company will initially hire about 100 employees at the Vernon Hills store, most of whom have already been hired, and could eventually add more employees depending on the store’s success, he said.
Steinhafel said the customers he has talked to so far seem impressed by the wide selection of furniture and layout of the store. He said the company completely renovated the building, adding windows and skylights to bring in natural light as well as other design features to help create a home-like environment.
Prior to the grand opening on Saturday, the company held an event for suppliers, employees and village officials last Thursday and then held an open house for local business people and community members on Friday.
Sandy Shireman of Lake Zurich and Janet Bacher of Long Grove visited the store for the first time during last week’s open house.
“From what we’ve seen so far, it’s an absolutely fabulous store,” said Shireman. “It’s arranged beautifully and it looks like very good quality furniture.”
Bacher liked the wide selection and variety of pricing of the furniture, including a large clearance section with discounted furniture items.
Libertyville resident and business owner Bob Goodman, who also attended the open house, said he was initially impressed by the size of store and selection of furniture.
“It’s an attractive set up. It looks like it’s nicely laid out with an enormous quantity of furniture,” he said.
Goodman said Steinhafels challenge will be to attract new customers during a difficult time in the economy for the furniture industry. “I know they’ve chosen to open at a challenging time because there’s a lot of furniture stores that have closed,” he said.
Vernon Hills trustee Jim Schultz, who visited the store along with Mayor Roger Byrne and other trustees during a pre-opening event last Thursday, said he was impressed by store’s appearance and hopes it will generate significant sales tax revenue for the village.
“I’m truly hoping it generates a lot of revenue for the village. They feel very confident it will do well in this market,” he said.
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