subsidiary industry furniture retailers founded 1918 headquarters taunton massachusetts key people eliot tatelman barry tatelman samuel tatelman products furniture bedding mattresses owner berkshire hathaway parent berkshire hathaway website www.jordans.com jordan s furniture is a furniture retailer in new england . there are currently seven locations in reading avon taunton natick massachusetts nashua new hampshire warwick mall in warwick rhode island and new haven connecticut . contents 1 history 2 promotions 2.1 monster deal 2.2 2008 monster sweep 2.3 monster hit 2010 2012 2.4 the big check 2.5 the perfect game 2.6 trapeze school 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit the company was started by samuel tatelman in 1918 in waltham massachusetts . samuel sold furniture out of the back of a truck until 1926 . in the late 1930s his son edward joined the business . in 1973 barry and eliot tatelman took over the business from their father edward . they stopped advertising on the back page of the waltham paper and started on radio . in 1983 barry and eliot built and opened the nashua new hampshire location . in 1987 they opened the avon massachusetts location creating the largest traffic jam ever recorded on route 24 . barry and eliot had to go on the radio to beg people not to come . customers stood in line for hours waiting for their turn to go into the showroom . on mother s day 1992 the motion odyssey movie mom opened in the avon store after five years of planning and a 2.5 million investment . over 1 million people have experienced mom raising more than 300 000 for non profit organizations . on april 17 1998 barry and eliot opened the biggest jordan s furniture to date with 120 000 sq ft 11 000 m2 . of showroom space and a mardi gras bourbon street theme the natick massachusetts location introduced jordan s to the metrowest area . in october 1999 the tatelman brothers sold the company to insurance conglomerate berkshire hathaway . 1 the sale was intended to increase the financial backing of jordan s furniture for future growth . to celebrate each employee received a financial gift of 50 cents for every hour ever worked at jordan s. operationally nothing changed . barry and eliot remained at the helm still starring in all radio tv commercials and as integral parts of the company . on thursday august 22 2002 the imax 3d theater at jordan s furniture in natick opened its doors to the public . this new venue offered a new level of shoppertainment in jordan s furniture history . the waltham store closed in 2004 the day the new reading massachusetts store opened which was the largest of jordan s locations . it includes a complete showroom warehouse and 3d imax movie theater . in addition jordan s opened a 750 000 sq ft 70 000 m2 warehouse office complex in taunton massachusetts . in 2005 the warehouse underneath the avon store was converted into the colossal clearance center containing over 60 000 square feet 5 600 m2 of clearance merchandise . barry tatelman left jordan s furniture in december 2006 2 ... to pursue other interests such as helping to produce a broadway show dirty rotten scoundrels starring actor john lithgow ... . besides broadway barry tatelman will dabble in hollywood . he is a principal of a new film company called filmshop and is working on a tv series according to a jordan s press release . after barry left for hollywood eliot tatelman remained the public face of the company . recently tatelman has aligned himself as a sponsor of the boston red sox and boston bruins radio and television broadcasts . for the past four baseball seasons tatelman s spiel has been to offer shoppers free furniture if the red sox perform improbable feats such as sweeping the world series in four games or if a sox batter hits a ball that strikes a dinner plate sized baseball next to the jordan s logo in straightaway dead center field . the origin of the company s name is uncertain ; the brothers once speculated that their grandfather chose the name out of a hat . promotions edit springtime in boston finds jordan s furniture leveraging the annual start of the red sox baseball season to sell furniture . monster deal edit as a promotion in 2007 jordan s offered full rebates on certain pieces of furniture bought between march 7 and april 16 provided the boston red sox won the world series . to cover the potential liability the store took out an insurance policy for approximately twenty million us dollars . on october 28 2007 the red sox beat the colorado rockies to win the world series jordan s furniture wrote checks to an estimated 24 000 qualified customers . joseph frate of medford ma sued jordan s furniture claiming that the promotion was an illegal lottery . the case was thrown out by the middlesex superior court and upon appeal by frate by the state appeals court in july 2009 . 3 4 2008 monster sweep edit in another promotion linked to the red sox in 2008 jordan s offered full rebates on certain pieces of furniture . instead of just winning the world series the red sox would have to sweep the series winning four games in a row . there were no winners . monster hit 2010 2012 edit in 2010 the promotion launched on march 31 with anyone buying furniture between april 1 and may 2 getting that furniture for free if a red sox player hit a dinner plate sized baseball on the jordan s furniture sign on the outfield wall at fenway park between july 15 and the end of the season on october 3 . jordan s offered 20 % off coupons to customers if the image was not hit during the promotional period . no player hit the little baseball and no free furniture was awarded . 5 in the spring of 2011 tatelman was back again this time with a new monster hit promotion hit or no hit ... you win . clad in red sox garb tatelman was again a ubiquitous white ponytailed figure in print television and internet banner ads . the gimmick was the same as that described above if a red sox player hit a ball that struck a dinner plate sized baseball next to the jordan s logo in straightaway dead center field the customer s jordan s furniture purchase price would be refunded . if no player struck the logo all buyers would receive a 20 % credit toward a future jordan s purchase instead . the promotional purchase period ran throughout the spring but the timer for the actual hitting of the sign did not begin until july 22 2011 and continued until the end of the season . citation needed the red sox season concluded on september 28 2011 and for the second consecutive year there were no winners . 6 the monster hit returned for 2012 with the same deal as described above but with additional advertising . the 2012 timer for the hitting of the dinner plate sized baseball next to the jordan s logo in straightaway dead center field began on july 16 and continued until the end of the season . the red sox home season concluded on september 26 2012 and for the third consecutive year no batter hit the little baseball and again the monster hit promotion produced no winners . the big check edit on september 30 2011 two days after the monster hit promotion ended tatelman resurfaced with the big check promotion in conjunction with the boston bruins 2011 2012 nhl season . tatelman hit the television airwaves and internet rollover banner pop up ad circuit again this time attired in full bruins regalia including ponytail and hat promising to refund jordan s customers the purchase price of their furniture if the bruins won the stanley cup for a second consecutive season . the big check promotion is identical to the monster deal above in which shoppers were offered the same deal if the boston red sox won the 2007 world series . the bruins were eliminated from stanley cup contention in the first round of the playoffs losing to the washington capitals in seven games and once again tatelman was not obligated to refund any money to jordan s customers . the perfect game edit on april 3 2013 tatelman reappeared with a new promotion the perfect game this time accompanied by new red sox consultant pedro martinez a former star pitcher with the team . the gimmick this time was similar to the monster hit except to win free furniture a member of the red sox pitching staff has to pitch a perfect game during the last 72 games of the 2013 season . 7 according to baseballreference.com since 1865 there have been 23 perfect games pitched in 202 520 major league baseball games played . 8 therefore one perfect game is pitched in every 8805 contests . assuming a 72 game jordan s contest period each season jordan s will award free furniture to customers an average of one time in the next 122.7 years . the perfect game promotion covered purchases made between april 3 2013 and may 5 2013 . the 72 games eligible for a perfect game were those played between july 19 2013 and september 29 2013 . 7 the 2013 red sox season ended without a perfect game being pitched and once again customers received no free furniture . trapeze school edit the outlet in reading once featured a trapeze school which included a 30 foot tall net enclosed swing that anyone could sign up to use along with seating for observers . this closed in late 2014 and was replaced with a ropes course . 9 see also edit jordan s imax references edit jordan s furniture sells to berkshire hathaway inc. press release . berkshirehathaway.com . 1999 10 11 . retrieved 2013 02 12 . barry tatelman leaves jordan s furniture . boston globe . 2006 12 21 . retrieved 2007 01 16 . buteau michael 2007 10 26 . buffett owned store giving away furniture with red sox win . bloomberg . retrieved 2007 10 29 . turner greg 2009 07 23 . court tosses lawsuit against jordan s furniture red sox promo . boston herald . retrieved 2013 02 11 . diaz johnny 2010 03 31 . a long shot jordan s launches new sox promotion . boston.com . the boston globe . retrieved 2013 02 11 . globe staff 2011 03 316 . jordan s furniture brings back monster hit promo . boston.com . the boston globe . retrieved 2013 02 11 . check date values in date help a b http www.jordans.com current promotions perfect game.aspx http www.baseball reference.com leagues bahr jeff 2009 . amazing and unusual america . chicago illinois usa publications international . p. 21 . isbn 978 1 4127 1683 3 . external links edit jordan s furniture website berkshire hathaway website barry tatleman at the internet movie database v t e berkshire hathaway board of directors warren buffett chairman and ceo charlie munger howard graham buffett susan decker bill gates david gottesman charlotte guyman donald keough thomas murphy ronald olson walter scott jr. insurance applied underwriters berkshire hathaway assurance berkshire hathaway homestate companies kansas bankers surety company berkshire hathaway specialty insurance boatus central states indemnity gateway underwriters agency geico gen re medical protective national indemnity company guard insurance seaworthy insurance company united states liability insurance group materials and construction acme brick benjamin moore & co. charter brokerage clayton homes international metalworking companies johns manville lubrizol marmon marmon herrington procor union tank car company mitek mouser electronics precision castparts corp. shaw industries tti furniture cort business services jordan s furniture larson juhl