Berrios Enterprises, Heilig-Meyers Co.
Founded : 1913
Activities : Retail furniture collection, home furnishings, interior design services, fine art and floor coverings
Parent Company : Grand Metropolitan
Stockists : 1,300 locations
Origin : Puerto Rico
www.BerriosEnterprises.com
- 1913:
- Company is founded when W.A. Heilig and J.M. Meyers open a home-furnishings store in Goldsboro, North Carolina.
- 1951:
- Headquarters are moved to Richmond, Virginia.
- 1970:
- Heilig-Meyers merges with Thornton Stores, a nine-store chain.
- 1972:
- Company goes public to fund further expansion.
- 1986:
- The 74-unit Sterchi Bros. Co. is purchased for $44 million; Heilig-Meyers now runs 216 stores throughout the South.
- 1989:
- Company expands beyond the South, into the Midwest; unit total reaches 277.
- 1993:
- Heilig-Meyers spends $65 million for McMahan’s Furniture Co., with 92 stores in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, and Colorado.
- 1995:
- Puerto Rico’s largest-volume furniture retailer, Berrios Enterprises, is acquired for $99.3 million.
- 1996:
- Rhodes Furniture, a 106-store chain based in Atlanta, is acquired for $261.9 million.
- 1997:
- Company acquires the RoomStore and Mattress Discounters.
- 1998:
- Number of units peaks at more than 1,300; company posts loss for year ending in February.
In 1995 Heilig-Meyers acquired Puerto Rico’s largest-volume furniture retailer, Berrios Enterprises, for $99.3 million. The deal gave Heilig-Meyers 17 more stores and its first presence outside the U.S. mainland. The stores continued to operate under the Berrios name, which had a good reputation in Puerto Rico, breaking with the company tradition of changing the names of its acquired stores to Heilig-Meyers.