MANCHESTER, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bob’s Discount Furniture today announced it will contribute a total of $27,000 to 16 New York City schools and two youth-focused charities to celebrate the May 23 grand opening of its newest discount furniture stores in Brooklyn and the Bronx. The new stores – the fourth and fifth New York City Bob’s locations – reflect the company’s continued commitment to serving NYC residents, and are expected to add more than 130 jobs to the local economy.
Christian Toerres will manage Bob’s new 25,114-square-foot Brooklyn store at 2520 Flatbush Ave. John Grimaldi will manage the company’s new 29,430-square-foot Co-op City store in the Bronx at 2146 Bartow Ave., in the Bay Plaza Shopping Center.
Grand opening celebrations for both stores will start at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday, May 23, with local dignitaries on hand and complimentary refreshments served from the stores’ cafes. Company President and co-founder Bob Kaufman will attend the Brooklyn store ribbon cutting. Cathy Poulin, the company’s public relations director, will participate in the ribbon cutting at the Bronx store.
Children’s entertainment will include balloons and face painting, as well as a sing-a-long, book giveaway and book signing with “Heavenly Skies & Lullabies” author Dr. Kathy Reilly Fallon. Reilly Fallon will be at the Brooklyn store from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and at the Bronx store from 2 to 4 p.m. on May 23.
Grand opening festivities will extend through the weekend at both new store locations. On May 24, former New York Mets player Ron Darling will be at the Brooklyn store from 12 to 1 p.m. Former New York Giants players George Martin, Carl Banks, O.J. Anderson, Joe Morris, Jim Burt and Bart Oates will appear at the Brooklyn store on May 25 from 1 to 3 p.m. and at the Bronx store on May 26 from 1 to 3 p.m. Additionally, the New York Islanders’ Ice Girls and team mascot, Sparky, will appear at the Brooklyn store on May 27 from 12 to 2 p.m. For more information about grand opening events, visit www.mybobs.com. (Player appearances are subject to change.)
“We’re thrilled to be expanding our presence in the New York City area,” said Kaufman. “We’ve been embraced by every community that we’ve entered here, and we’re looking forward to introducing Brooklyn and Co-op City to our great values on quality furniture – with no gimmicks and the same low prices everyday.”
The company already operates three other New York City locations, in Queens and Manhattan. With the two new locations, Bob’s Discount Furniture now has 47 stores in nine states (Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia).
To show its commitment to the new stores’ communities, Bob’s Outreach program will present checks totaling $27,000 to 16 local schools and two youth-focused charities during the grand openings. These funds are made possible by customer donations to collection jars located in the cafes found in every Bob’s store, which offer free refreshments (including gourmet coffee and cookies) to all Bob’s shoppers.
Two schools selected by their respective borough presidents, Brooklyn’s PS 277 – Gerritsen Beach Elementary School and the Bronx’s PS 153 – The Helen Keller School, will each receive $5,000 checks to support their education and arts programs. In addition, Bob’s Random Acts of Kindness Program will present a $1,500 check to the East New York Urban Youth Corps at the Brooklyn store opening, and another to the Berkshire Farm Center & Services for Youth at the Bronx store opening.
Bob’s Outreach will also present $1,000 checks to each of the following Brooklyn schools:
- MS 51 – William Alexander Middle School
- PS 3 – The Bedford Village Elementary School
- Brooklyn Technical High School
- PS 372 – The Children’s School
- IS 318 – Eugenio Maria De Hostos Intermediate School
- PS 56 – Lewis H. Latimer Elementary School
- West Brooklyn Community High School
The following Bronx schools will receive $1,000 checks:
- Christopher Columbus High School
- Frederick Douglass Academy V. Middle School
- PS 103 – Hector Fontanez Elementary School
- Fannie Lou Hamer Middle School
- PS 132 – Garret A. Morgan Elementary School
- Harry S. Truman High School
- Harriet Tubman Charter School
Every month as part of its Outreach program, Bob’s Discount Furniture randomly selects seven schools in the communities near its stores and makes a donation of $1,000 to each one. This month, the company is doubling its usual contributions by providing funds for school education and arts programs in both Brooklyn and the Bronx. Bob’s has donated money to hundreds of schools over the past 20 years. Previous recipients have used the donations for such things as purchasing new art and classroom supplies, funding student activity groups and going on field trips.
About Bob’s Discount Furniture
Bob’s Discount Furniture provides quality furniture at everyday low prices, along with a unique and enjoyable shopping experience featuring cafes in each store with free gourmet coffee, ice cream, cookies and candy. Since 1991, Bob’s has built strong customer loyalty by offering the highest-value home furnishings at the lowest possible prices. With 47 stores located throughout New England, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and Virginia, the Manchester, Conn.-based company has become the 15th-largest U.S. furniture chain. Bob’s is committed to supporting communities where its stores are located through a variety of charitable giving efforts. Bob’s Discount Furniture Charitable Foundation has anchored the company’s philanthropic work for more than 15 years. In addition, the Bob’s Outreach program was created as a separate entity to help schools and children’s-related charities. Every year the company donates more than $100,000 to schools and more than $1.5 million to charities through these programs. To find out more about Bob’s Discount Furniture, visit www.mybobs.com. For more information on Bob’s charitable programs, visit http://bobscares.org, and follow us on Twitter at @MyBobs_Tweets and @MyBobs_Charity and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mybobs.