discount furniture industry furniture retail founded 1991 founder bob kaufman and gene rosenberg 1 headquarters manchester connecticut u.s. number of locations 76 stores october 2016 2 area served mid atlantic midwest northeast 2 key people edmond ted j. english executive chairman michael skirvin president & coo 2 3 products furniture bedding mattresses revenue us 1.1 billion 2016 4 owner bain capital 5 6 7 8 number of employees 2 500 2011 9 website www.mybobs.com bob s discount furniture is a privately owned regional chain of furniture stores in the northeast mid atlantic & midwest united states . 10 bob s discount furniture started in connecticut and its corporate headquarters are in manchester ct. the company has stores located in maine new hampshire massachusetts connecticut rhode island new york new jersey maryland virginia pennsylvania delaware and illinois . bob s discount furniture is continuing to expand in 2016 . five stores in the chicagoland area opened on february 11 in aurora burbank orland park skokie & villa park . 11 on september 1 two new locations will open in hagerstown md & wharton nj . 10 the company was founded in 1991 with its first store in newington connecticut . 1 bob s discount furniture is based in manchester connecticut and is ranked 14th among u.s. furniture stores . 12 in addition to being known for its distinctive advertisements the company is also known for offering amenities at many of its stores which may include an in store cafe with complimentary refreshments . many of the stores have a back room where people can get items that are considered imperfect ; this area is called the outlet . bob s is also a main sponsor for several professional sports teams such as the washington redskins new england patriots pittsburgh steelers new york giants and more . chandler jones of the patriots and rashad jennings of the giants have been featured in commercials having sofa sets named after them . 2 13 14 15 contents 1 history 2 advertising 3 community involvement 3.1 caf collections for a cause 3.2 high school heroes & blood drives 3.3 bob s golf outing 3.4 celebrate the arts 4 vendors 5 references 6 external links history edit in 1976 future company co founder bob kaufman was injured in a motorcycle accident . he discovered the benefits of a waterbed for recuperation . 1 16 the experience inspired kaufman to become involved with waterbed sales and during the 1980s he rented space in 24 new england stores for selling waterbeds . 1 16 by 1990 waterbed sales had dwindled and kaufman partnered with gene rosenberg owner of wholesale furniture where kaufman had rented space for waterbed sales . at this point rosenberg acquired a building in newington connecticut previously owned by a furniture company that had become bankrupt . 1 16 in 1991 the newington connecticut location became the first bob s discount furniture store . 1 9 the company was initially co owned by rosenberg two thirds and kaufman one third . 1 as time progressed the company expanded to additional locations often acquiring buildings that had been vacated by tenants bankrupted during the recession . 1 by 1997 the company operated a dozen stores in connecticut and two in western massachusetts . 1 the company s ability to grow during its early years in spite of unfavorable economic conditions has been partially attributed to the extensive use of commercials . 1 9 in early 2005 the investment firm saunders karp & megrue acquired 70 percent ownership of bob s discount furniture ; subsequently saunders karp & megrue was acquired by apax partners worldwide in march 2005 . 6 7 8 9 in november 2006 ted english former president and ceo of tjx companies became the ceo of bob s discount furniture replacing stan adelstein who became chairman . 3 15 17 adelstein retired in april 2013 with english taking over as chairman . 18 by this point bob s discount furniture had recently expanded into rhode island new jersey and new york . ted has led bob s into its expansion further south into maryland and virginia . 15 in q1 of 2014 bob s discount furniture was acquired by bain capital with the current management team continuing to own a significant stake in the company . 19 bob s discount furniture store in pennsylvania advertising edit bob s discount furniture is widely recognized for its idiosyncratic advertising . bob kaufman has been characterized as something of a celebrity in the northeast thanks to his quirky television commercials . 3 as of 1997 the company broadcast roughly 500 commercials a week in connecticut on network and cable television stations . 1 more recently the commercials have become common during broadcasts of boston red sox and new york mets games . 20 the commercials usually feature company president bob kaufman typically wearing jeans and a golf shirt or turtleneck and have also included bob s discount furniture employees . cathy poulin the company s director of public relations is the female face of the company . cathy has been publicly criticized however for her contrasting style of dress . cathy appears in commercials and at events both with and without bob . 3 9 21 22 spanish bob william newton appears in bob s discount furniture commercials on spanish stations such as telemundo . 23 clay bob makes frequent appearances in the company s commercials often providing seasonal advertisements . the commercials have been characterized as amateurish 22 unconventional 14 and wacky 14 and viewer reaction to the commercials is mixed with some disliking the advertisements . 1 the advertisements often feature catchphrases including gotcha untouchable lickety split delivery it s a no brainer and most famous in bob s early years come on down . 1 22 community involvement edit bob s discount furniture has received attention for its community involvement . the company has been recognized by the american red cross for its blood drives and financial contributions to the organization . 24 25 it has also been involved in food drives and charity walks and conducts a celebrate the arts contest to provide grants to regional schools . 26 27 28 bob s commercial sidekick cathy poulin director of outreach and public relations drives a random acts of kindness van to places in need in the communities served by the stores . 7 in december 2008 bob s discount furniture donated a household full of furniture to the family in voluntown connecticut receiving an abc extreme home makeover . in march 2011 the intensive care unit waiting rooms at the rhode island hospital received 25 000 worth of furniture donated by the company . in april 2012 it donated 45 000 in gift cards to the make a wish foundation to aid in fundraising efforts . in response to the devastation to new york and new jersey caused by hurricane sandy in october 2012 bob s discount furniture and its employees have provided relief assistance in the following ways provided trucks to transport food clothing and other relief supplies collected in new milford ct by employee peter sorrentino s sister tracey . mr. sorrentino bob s director of delivery operations coordinated volunteer drivers and bob s 26 foot box trucks to bring the donations to new york city donated 464 pillows to the evacuated nursing home patients who were temporarily sheltered at new york city s brooklyn technical high school donated 1400 turkeys for thanksgiving with employees from all 43 stores donating an additional 1 200 turkeys or more . the turkey donations were split between island harvest long island s largest hunger relief organization and the community food bank of new jersey serves 20 of nj s 21 counties caf collections for a cause edit at each bob s discount furniture caf a statue of bob collects thousands of dollars from its customers for a different non profit charity each quarter . in 2015 2016 bob s collected and presented 100 % of these donations to four charities autism speaks april 2015 to june 2015 100 000 29 save the children july 2015 to september 2015 60 000 30 pajama program october 2015 to december 2015 31 special olympics january 2016 to march 2016 60 000 32 starting with the 2014 caf collections for autism speaks bob s began matching all customer donations dollar for dollar 33 presenting all of these proceeds to the respective charities along with customer donations . all second quarter donations in 2016 will be given to autism speaks . 34 high school heroes & blood drives edit since 1996 bob kaufman has been supporting the american red cross in new england by hosting blood drives in store locations . 35 over the years bob s has also sponsored blood drives in partnership with sports teams like the new england patriots 36 and the new york giants . 37 this commitment has led to the creation of the bob s discount furniture high school heroes program which awards a total of 250 000 in college scholarships to students who organize promote and host at least two high school blood drives in a year . the program which gives high schools in connecticut massachusetts new york and new jersey the ability to compete with other schools awards scholarships from 250 up to 1 000 to individual students based on a school s participation rate and total units of blood collected . 38 in total bob s discount furniture s support of new england blood drives has resulted in almost 40 000 units of blood . 35 bob s golf outing edit in 1991 bob s discount furniture became an event partner of an annual charity golf outing with planned furniture promotions . money raised from event goes directly to a number of non profit charities including nutmeg big brothers big sisters family & children s aid connecticut children s medical center and camp rising sun a camp for over 120 children battling cancer . 39 the 27th annual outing raised 452 000 in july 2015 . 39 bob s discount furniture gives 2 million a year to various charitable causes celebrate the arts edit bob s discount furniture launched its celebrate the arts contest in 2006 after seeing numerous school districts deal with budget cuts that affected cultural arts programs . bob s outreach program created the annual contest to help schools deal with these issues awarding more than 300 000 since the inception of the contest . in 2014 bob s discount furniture awarded a 25 000 check to gov. john fairfield school of saco maine . 40 in 2015 bob s discount furniture awarded a 25 000 check to holy trinity diocesan high school in hicksville new york . 41 vendors edit bob s discount furniture offers a warranty plan for all furniture products marketed as goof proof protection . this warranty is fulfilled by a third party guardian protection products . references edit a b c d e f g h i j k l m ryan bill . now about bob and those tv spots ... the new york times . section 14cn page 1 . november 30 1997 . a b c d bob s discount furniture promotes michael skirvin to president & ceo . march 10 2016 . last accessed april 28 2016 . a b c d company profile from hoover s inc. . last accessed september 15 2007 . top 100 u.s. furniture stores . furniture today . may 28 2007 . volume 31 issue 37 p. 26 . new investors have come on down to bob s discount furniture article preview . the hartford courant . february 1 2005 . e1 . last accessed september 15 2007 . a b saunders karp & megrue completes recapitalization of bob s discount furniture press release . january 31 2005 . last accessed september 14 2007 . a b c engel cliff .