Well-known furniture maker opening its first regional showroom near Lehigh Valley Mall

A growing specialty furniture manufacturer plans to soon open its first regional showroom in Whitehall Township.

Connecticut-based Lovesac announced the new location on its website locator map. It plans to open sometime this spring at 1936 MacArthur Road in space next to a Sleep Number store — directly across from Whitehall Mall and the Lehigh Valley Mall, said chain spokesman Nate Zubal. The space totals 2,000 square feet, according to a listing on LoopNet.

There are showrooms in 43 states nationally and at least six sites statewide. The next closest locations to the Lehigh Valley are in Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County; at King of Prussia Mall; and at Bridgewater Commons Mall in Bridgewater, Somerset County.

The floor plan in Whitehall will be a slightly larger showroom than the company’s current standard, Zubal told lehighvalleylive.com. He also expected Shawn Nelson, the company’s CEO and founder, to host a segment called “Founder’s Hour” during the store’s grand opening.

“Spring should be a lot of fun,” Zubal said.

The Whitehall location also could create some jobs. Currently, there is an online listing for at least a showroom manager position for the Whitehall site.

Stamford-Connecticut based Lovesac was founded in 1998. The retailer specializes in a patented modular furniture system called “Sactionals.” Sactionals combine both multiple “seats” and “sides,” as well as custom-fit covers and accessories that allow patrons to configure different styles of seating.

Sactionals can fit most spaces, no matter the size or layout, because patrons can add, subtract and arrange pieces in an infinite number of ways. There are more than 250 available fabric options and more than 150 available covers that are machine washable, according to the company’s website.

A key feature patrons can add to a Sactional is Dolby Digital surround sound with speakers embedded into the actual couch. The company says its system provides a closeness to sound not typically achieved with wall-mounted or wall-installed speakers. The surround sound Sactionals will be on display at the Whitehall location, Zubal said.

Lovesac’s other popular seller are “Sacs,” similar to beanbags and filled with Durafoam, a recycled foam remnant. There are six different sizes and hundreds of covers a patron can choose from, the website states.

The company also is committed to a high standard of sustainability with a “Design for Life” philosophy.

Products are designed to be timeless, the company says, thus reducing the amount of furniture waste being added to landfills annually. Additionally, this year alone, Lovesac plans to repurpose more than 35 million plastic water bottles.

Despite temporarily having to shut down its showrooms at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Lovesac continues to drive double-digit percentage revenue growth.

Net sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2022, which ended Oct. 31, 2021, grew by about 56% to about $117 million. This is compared with about $75 million in the third quarter of the prior year.

The company attributes the growth to higher volume, due to having in-stock product when many competitors did not, and lower promotional discounting. This includes an increase of 53% in comparable showroom sales related to a strong Labor Day campaign with lower discounting and the addition of 28 new showrooms over the course of the year.

Lovesac’s overall gross profit increased about $17 million or t 42% to come in at about $59 million for the quarter, compared with about $41 million in the third quarter of 2021.

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Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at [email protected].