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Levitz Kids galleries to expand

Staff -- Kids Today, 5/24/2005 12:00:00 AM

WOODBURY, N.Y. — Levitz Home Furnishings Inc. will shut down its 10 Seaman's Kids stores as part of its consolidation to one Levitz brand, but it's not throwing the baby out with the bath water.

The Top 100 company said that while it is consolidating and moving away from Seaman's brand stores, its Levitz stores will undergo changes, including expansion of Levitz Kids departments that rival the size of the Seaman's Kids stores.

When the transition is completed, the Kids galleries will be 6,000 to 8,000 square feet, or 25% to 50% larger than they are currently, depending on the store size, said Mark Scott, LHFI president and acting CEO. That's at least the size of the Seaman's Kids stores, which ranged from 3,000 to 8,000 square feet, he said.

"The productivity of the (Seaman's Kids) stores was no greater than the Levitz Kids galleries," Scott said. "We feel we can do just as much business under the Levitz umbrella."

LHFI announced on May 3 that it has secured $40 million in additional capital to accelerate growth plans and improve its business, which faced a liquidity crunch and interrupted shipments from some vendors earlier this year.

It also said it would close its 47-store Seaman's business in the Northeast, including the Kids units. About 25 stores will be converted to Levitz — expanding that brand's market coverage in the Northeast. The rest will either close or, in cases where LHFI has Levitz and Seaman's stores near to each other, the company may end up moving the Levitz store to the Seaman's location.

The company also is shutting down its two Minneapolis-area Levitz stores.
Scott said the goal is to complete the transition by Labor Day. By then, Levitz will operate in 10 states with 55 stores on the West Coast and 60 in the Northeast. It also plans to open four to five more stores by the end of this fiscal year — two in California, and one each in Summerlin, Nev., and Staten Island, N.Y.

Scott said LHFI is planning to make Levitz Kids "an intensification business for us," by the coming boost in square footage dedicated to youth bedroom.

He said Seaman's and Levitz primarily used the same resources for their youth programs and that he doesn't expect the shift away from Seaman's and toward an expanded Levitz Kids format to lead to any major changes in vendors.

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