Fortunoff Mattress closes its stores; LI locations just opened in July

Fortunoff Mattress has closed its three stores just weeks after its two Long Island locations held ribbon-cutting ceremonies celebrating with local business and legislative leaders.

The two local stores, at 277 Walt Whitman Rd. in Huntington Station and 214 Glen Cove Rd. in Carle Place, opened in leased spaces July 20 and 27, respectively, before holding ribbon-cutting ceremonies in August. They closed Friday. The third closed store, in Paramus, New Jersey, had been the first to open, in May.

“Fortunoff Mattress had opened two stores on Long Island to test the feasibility of entering the category on a larger scale. Ultimately, we decided that the marketplace conditions would not support a new large store network, and we decided to close the business,” Bernie Sensale, CEO of Jericho-based Fortunoff Mattress, said in an email Tuesday evening.

Fortunoff had announced in June that it would open three stores on Long Island during the summer. The third Long Island store, planned for 4934 Sunrise Hwy. in Massapequa Park, never opened. A lease had been signed for the location, Fortunoff Mattress told Newsday in June.

At the closed Paramus store the signs have been removed, said Roger Gross, president of NIA National Realty Inc., the Paramus-based broker for the property.

“They’re done,” he said.

A store planned for Union, New Jersey, this summer never opened.

It could not be immediately learned how many employees will be affected by the store closings.

The Fortunoff name is well known as a former regional chain of family-owned, upscale stores that sold jewelry, furniture and other home items.

Westbury-based Fortunoff, founded in 1922, shut down in 2009 after filing for bankruptcy protection.

The Fortunoff and Mayrock families, who owned and operated Fortunoff for four generations, bought the intellectual property of Fortunoff, including the brand name and related trademarks, in 2009, according to the company.

In June, Fortunoff Mattress was announced as a new expansion, under a license, of Fortunoff Brands LLC, which also licenses the brand to Fortunoff Backyard Store and Fortunoff Fine Jewelry.

“The company was not affiliated with other Fortunoff retail entities and will have no impact on those entities,” Sensale said in the email Tuesday.

Fortunoff Mattress is co-owned by Sensale; David Fortunoff, president of Fortunoff Brands; Isidore Mayrock; and City Mattress, a Bonita Springs, Florida-based retailer with 23 stores in Florida and upstate New York.

In June, Sensale told Newsday the company planned to open eight to 10 Fortunoff Mattress stores in 2018 in New York and New Jersey, and 10 to 15 in 2019 if Fortunoff could find suitable locations and staff. He said at least seven of the stores would be on Long Island.

“We like the business, and we thought it was a good placement of the brand. We saw a gap in the marketplace to provide a differentiated and upscale assortment of products and shopping experience,” he said at the time.

All customer commitments at the closed Fortunoff Mattress stores will be fulfilled, he said in the email Tuesday.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.