A new labor of love: Former Rotmans Furniture employees open new store in Auburn

AUBURN ― When Rotmans Furniture closed for good in October of last year, Heidi Richardson could not see herself doing anything but the furniture business.

On Saturday, she and about 12 other former Rotmans employees will open Harte’s Home, a furniture store not far from where Route 20 meets Interstate 395 in Auburn.

On a walk through the building on Thursday, Richardson couldn't help calling it a “mini-Rotmans.” After all, she spent more than 20 years there, most recently working as the general manager.

“I know it sounds so silly, but Rotmans was a different world,” said Richardson. “It was family. It was not just our jobs, for most of us, it was just more than that.

“When Rotmans closed, it didn't feel like it was time."

Richardson said the wheels started turning for a new venture the moment longtime owner Steven Rotman called it quits last year at 80.

Richardson, who lives in Northbridge, still saw potential in the business, but she was looking to downscale, without straying too far from the red-brick Rotmans building, still identifiable by westbound motorists zooming past the Interstate 290 curve by Fitton Field.

It was a venture that she at first thought might be too great an undertaking.

“Would there be a space that made sense?” said Richardson. “Could we create a model that makes sense and still supports this community, brings them what we think they need?

“It the beginning, I didn’t believe all the pieces were going to fit.”

Although Richardson is 75% owner and describes the business as “my brainchild,” she describes the effort put into bringing it to life as collective work with the help of co-workers with hundreds of years of combined experience.

Richardson brought Marvin Carron of Southbridge aboard to bring in about 45 years of experience in retail.

Carron took a summer job driving delivery trucks for Rotmans after earning a degree in science from Assumption College. It became a lifelong career in which he held many hats, from working as one of the store managers, to customer relations, to supervising the warehouse.

He looks to do the same at Harte’s Home.

“Just backing up Heidi with whatever she needs to do," Carron said.

“We do everything, and everyone who we have working for us knows that. They're willing to do anything that's maybe not even part of their so-called titled job.”

The building features 37,000 square feet of space across two floors, with the first floor dedicated to living room and entertainment products, and the second floor reserved for a display of about 50 mattresses.

Situated along Washington Street, the building originally housed luxury retailer Cabot House Furniture, which is still the property owner. Most recently, Solar Wolf Energy was a tenant.

Richardson also leases a 40,000-square-foot warehouse in Northbridge for stock and deliveries.

The new store's name, Richardson said, was inspired by the way they had heard their work described as having "a lot of heart," when they worked at Rotmans.

Trying to make it resemble a family name, they stylized it as "Harte."

“One thing I do love about this, or what we always did, is that you’re working with the young couples buying their first home, or you're working with an older couple who is downsizing and moving into their forever last one," Richardson said.

“The customer base varies and it's just like regular people, regular furniture. We're regular people, so it's easy to get passionate."

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Former Rotmans Furniture Worcester employees open new store in Auburn