Bob’s furniture chain to move into former Toys ‘R’ Us site
NORWALK — Bob’s Discount Furniture is taking over the former Toys ‘R’ Us store, among the most visible retail locations in lower Fairfield County, overlooking Interstate 95 across from the SoNo Collection mall scheduled to open in October.
Bob’s is based in Manchester and has some 120 furniture stores nationwide, including stores in Bridgeport, Stamford and Brookfield among nine in its home state of Connecticut.
Bob’s Discount Furniture banners were unfurled this week at the former Toys ‘R’ Us store, which totals about 30,000 square feet of space. A Bob’s spokesperson did not give any indication of a planned opening date, with the company having yet to post any Norwalk job openings on its website.
Toys ‘R’ Us closed stores nationally in the summer 2018, including the location at 59 Connecticut Ave., which the bankrupt company sold this January for $8.5 million to Benderson Development, a University Park, Fla.based developer of retail properties. Benderson lists one other retail property in Connecticut, at 57 Eagle Road in Danbury.
The deal continues a successful run in Norwalk of bigger retail spaces landing new tenants, including a former Staples store along Connecticut Avenue that
Ashley Furniture HomeStore leased, the first location in lower Fairfield County for the country’s largest furniture retailer.
The SoNo Collection mall’s tenants will include EQ3, a Canadian company that designs modern pieces.
Other major furniture retailers with a Norwalk presence include Lillian August based in Norwalk, where the United Kingdom designer Timothy Oulton is planning to open its first Connecticut outlet; Raymour & Flanigan; and Ethan Allen Interiors, which has its headquarters in Danbury.