Furniture Fair opens in Green Tree Mall in the former Sears space
May 18—CLARKSVILLE — It's not a secret that 90,000 square feet is an abundance of room, but somehow it looks even bigger in the completely revamped space that Furniture Fair occupies at Green Tree Mall.
For more than five decades Sears had a store in this anchor space and people who shopped there are likely to be stunned at the transformation that's been about a year-and-a-half in the works.
"I think they are going to be shocked at how different it looks," said Furniture Fair General Manager Kevin Burke. "We pretty much gutted the interior of this building and started over."
The store officially opened Monday and will hold its grand opening the first weekend in June.
That hasn't stopped curious customers from coming by, taking a look and purchasing furniture.
Burke and his employees are genuine, friendly and cordial. They make sure to greet everyone who walks in the door and it's all part of the mission of Furniture Fair.
"So we are kind of, I think, a rarity in the furniture world in that we really truly have something for everybody in here," Burke said. "From a good, to a better, to a best perspective and really want to treat each one of those customers the same way."
The idea is to help people out when they buy furniture the first time and then be able to offer higher quality items later in life.
Burke said that no matter what, the goal is to make sure people get quality and good service, no matter what price point they can afford.
"In that hope that as they grow and their family grows, they come back to upgrade to the better furniture, and maybe eventually, the best furniture, depending on what it is," he said.
Furniture Fair is a completely open concept that sells everything from kitchen tables to complete bedroom sets to specialized pillows to guarantee a good night's sleep.
"We do have a sleep center where you can buy a mattress," Burke said. "We have a phenomenal bed match machine and with that, it really helps the consumer identify what mattress is going to fit them best."
Sears closed in the Green Tree Mall in 2017.
It was one of 35 Kmart and eight Sears stores that closed that year. Sears and Kmart are part of the same company, Sears Holdings. Three of those Kmarts and two other Sears stores were located in Indiana and Kentucky.
The Sears, along with a JCPenney and Dillard's, was an anchor at Green Tree Mall.
Sears was built first, in 1966, with the intention of the mall opening later. The mall opened in 1968.
The new Furniture Fair also offers an outlet center and a custom design center, where people can customize a number of pieces, including accent chairs.
"We have phenomenal delivery service, for the most part we can deliver the next day," Burke said. "If we deliver it, we are going to bring it to your house, set it up, put it where you want it and move it 18 times if we need to and get you taken care of."
Furniture Fair is based out of Cincinnati and has a location in Louisville. The store in Clarksville has about 40 employees.
The company's Marketing Director Craig Daniels said the Clarksville location is the first venture into Indiana for the brand...we have great exposure on the Kentucky side," Daniels said. "We love Indiana. We sell to Indiana residents (near) Cincinnati and we wanted to further our footprint in the Indiana market.
"A lot of stuff is happening in Clarksville," Daniels said. "...and this will be our first venture into a mall as well, but we are really excited. It's great exposure."
Furniture Fair is known for the work it does in the community and partners with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
"We have helped raise over $1.5 million for them, which is super-exciting because they do amazing work for blood cancer," Daniels said.
Furniture Fair is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
