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.