Duane Hicks
Leon’s Furniture will open its doors here this fall, with Mark Howarth of Howarth’s Home Centre revealing this morning that he’s a new franchisee of the national furniture store chain.
Howarth said he had been looking to expand the furniture side of the family business.
Seeing that his contract with The Source was coming up, Howarth opted instead to sign with Leon’s Furniture—one of Canada’s largest retailers selling a wide range of merchandise including furniture, major appliances, and home electronics.
Howarth said Leon’s Furniture will bring customers a greater selection of furniture, appliances, and TVs than Howarth’s has right now.
And thanks to the company’s big buying power, be able to provide great deals, he added.
Howarth’s Home Centre has closed its doors today and tomorrow to get everything ready to re-open on Thursday at 10 a.m. for a close-out sale that probably will run for about the next two weeks.
“Like our advertisement says, we do pretty much want to clear the building,” Howarth remarked.
“There will be a few things left over, assumedly, but we are going to price everything aggressively to clear it all.”
After the liquidation sale, the store then will be closed for a couple of weeks for renovations and staff training on Leon’s Furniture new computer system.
Howarth said the plan is to have a soft opening around mid-September, then a grand opening in mid-October.
Howarth said he’s “very excited” about being a Leon’s Furniture franchisee.
“Be even more excited when the doors get opened,” he enthused.
The A. Leon Company was founded in 1909 by Ablan Leon, at which time it was a general merchandise store in Welland, Ont.
The company continues to be run by the Leon family and “maintains the standards of service, integrity, and dedication established by Ablan Leon over 100 years ago,” according to its website.
