Weird how COVID destroyed them. Went from possibly expanding to going out of business in 2-3 years

Personally having lived next to it for 6 years now, their parking lots has always had the same level of traffic. (besides a few months in 2020). However the amount of Rotmans delivery trucks has grown.. I have a feeling that they'll be turning into a online retailer only and "close" their show room floor.

I guess we'll see. Love to see what happens to the property though if they do completely close. Really hope it doesn't stay commerical but it probably will. This area is already busy enough.

Yes, it's for real this time.

I lived in Worcester for 2 years, but I don't recall ever hearing about them. Seems like is had a reputation though. Kinda funny.

Covid didn’t destroy them. They’ve been on the brink of going out of business for 25 years.

People order couches online now. EVERYTHING fits in boxes these days including mattresses etc...

And y'all wonder why the FedEx/Amazon/UPS drivers and workers are cranky.

No one wonders that though, everyone knows that job sucks.

What ever happened with all the renovations they were talking about? Did they even actually change anything?

Not gunna lie: I am very, very excited for them to fucking disappear. Let's just hope it gets replaced with something cool.

I'm guessing more luxury apartments.

This has a bunch about why the CEO says he's done, their finances post-covid, etc. He's 83, and his kids all pursued other things is part of it. He was positioning to sell it, but seems like he didn't find a buyer.

https://thisweekinworcester.com/rotmans-going-out-business-sale-friday/

Two reputations really. Either really great or the most terrible place. Seems to depend on which sales person you wind up with, but little to no middle ground.

Ah I see. I was thinking that it had a bad one based on what ppl have been posting on here. Interesting.

I had terrible experiences there. Had friends who said it was one of the best shopping experiences and they went back a few times for more pieces.

Probably found out the Reno cost would be way to high. I went in to Rotmans for the first time in years like 15 plus years but it looked exactly the same

Probably. I read somewhere that they changed suppliers and it was probably an excuse to liquidate stock, I just didn't know if they actually renovated. Those old buildings can be a nightmare to maintain, never mind doing any substantial work on them.

Bingo. Sadly.

I just went in there for the first time today. The merchandise was more expensive than Ikea and of a lower quality, with the sole exception of the mattresses.

Yeah I just checked it out today and woof. The merchandise was trash garbage and hideous and way too expensive for what it is.

The $32,000 chandelier made me actually laugh out loud.

I'm glad I went, though. Checked out a few mattresses that I'll doubtlessly find cheaper online.

I buy most things online, but I'll never buy a couch or bed online. Those are expensive items and you need to feel them to make sure you get the right one. Not a good thing to order online if you realize you need to return it later.

It's a super cool building... So much potential for something awesome other than a furniture store.

Place and employees suck anyways

Indeed. I just bought a couch and I'm so glad that I went to store to actually sit on them before buying. Some of them looked great and were inexpensive, but were as comfortable as a sack of potatoes. Can't test that with an online purchase.

This time we mean business!

I'm surprised nobody has sued them for lying about going out of business. The little I recall from my college classes is that this practice is illegal and stores have been sued over it.

My party castle for starters

I live right next to it too! And it’s true, the building is crazy! I just fear they would do something boring with it if it was bought by someone who just used it as like a storage warehouse or something

I actually went and I’m not sure I got a deal. Lol. The older people kept saying how upset they were. They didn’t need financing like I did lol

Some people are crazy about it saying it will last a lifetime. I think that’s when things were made back in the day. They had a desk on sale for 600 lol

Ah yes, I remember this happening in the 90s.

It’s true. Rotmans went out of about 23 times in the last 10 years. It’s great marketing. Like when a music artist retires and then does a comeback tour.

didn’t they just do a huge 6 month renovation?

Articles like this are good for context. It's funny to see people on Reddit (and in real life) laughing at this guy for going out of business because they didn't like a salesperson or a couch was expensive thinking he can't pay his bills and they've mismanaged themselves into oblivion. Meanwhile in the article he just nonchalantly throws out "yeah we're doing $30 million a year and I don't feel like doing this really because I've got other stuff going on that's less stressful." And for people that didn't notice the renovation, it's because it was to their warehouse to increase in stock furniture supply

Boring would be better than tearing it down....

But I think like a super intense escape room/laser tag/arcade thing...

Something to make Dave and busters look like a chucky cheese.

lol so not even worth it with the sale huh?

There was some decent stuff but again, too expensive. Chintzy construction, cheap materials, etc.

You’re very right. But also THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!!!

Their ads said it was their showroom, they were on ever street corner in eastern MA. Just Google Rotmans remodel 2021, all the articles say showroom. Not to mention their building is falling apart, not sure why that was neglected in the "remodel". And they're a publicly traded company now, have been since 2019. No way those board members are just going to let a "30mil a year" company just dissolve because a retiree got tired of running the business. They'll either turn into a e-commerce company or rebrand. Or in true Rotmans fashion, suddenly not be closing anymore.

Just to note I've never been inside or bought anything from them. However I have lived almost directly next to it for the better part of 6 years and have seen the shooty sales tactics they use first hand.

"Vystar, a publicly traded company, acquired a majority interest in the company in 2019. Steven Rotman is CEO of Vystar. He previously said that Rotmans ended 2021 at around $30 million in sales, two to three million less than prior to the pandemic. ". From the article that was posted. He's not a retiree, he's the majority shareholder of vystar, which owns rotmans. You are exactly what my first comment was referring to, somebody that looks at the parking lot once a week and thinks they know what's going on over there. Vystar s financials are public and you can see the 30 million on their annual financial statement. It's a holding company he created to sell air purifiers, latex mattresses, condoms and to operate rotmans. This article also pretty clearly says they turned showroom into warehouse with the renovation to have more things in stock at the time of purchase to ship faster

For the record, I think rotmans sucks, but they've been stacking cash for the better part of 100 years. If they are closing, it's probably because they feel like it.

Retiree was a joke because he should be retired not running a company.