Robert Levin Buys Back His Furniture Company To Save 1,200 Jobs
MONROEVILLE (KDKA) - With champagne bottles popping and great applause, Robert Levin greeted employees at the Levin Furniture store in Monroeville on Thursday morning.
Two years after retiring and selling Levin Furniture, Levin told employees he has rescued his one-time family business from going out of business.
"Last night at 8 o'clock I was able to make a deal to extract our wonderful company and to continue on," Levin told employees.
His motivation -- saving over 1,200 jobs.
"All of our employees in Pennsylvania and Ohio are going to be retained, and we are moving forward," said Levin.
"It's overwhelming," Ray Willis of the Northside told KDKA money editor Jon Delano.
"We went from being that we weren't sure we would be here. There were rumors and people said, 'He'll buy us back.' It was really just speculation, so we never in a million years thought he would," added Willis.
Employees like Willis were clearly ecstatic.
"I couldn't believe it. I was totally shocked," said Doug Dautovich of Plum.
"I liken this to Mario Lemieux saving the franchise. He's our 'Le Magnifique,'" said Ken Medved of White Oak.
Obviously this announcement was great news for the employees at Levin Furniture, but Robert Levin says it's also good news for customers.
"We have a little backup on some inventory issues, so it may take a while to get our trucks rolling and furniture and mattresses delivered, but, rest assured, any commitment that we've made to our customers will be fulfilled," promised Levin.
And it wouldn't be Levin's without this declaration from the new (and once old) owner to great laughter:
"We're going to have an incredible sale very soon."
This year, 2020, will mark the 100th anniversary of this company.
