The Central Florida locations at the former HomeLife stores are at 4545 E. Colonial Drive and 2000 Principal Row in Orlando and 645 W. State Road 436 in suburban Altamonte Springs.

In a deal announced in November 2001 by Haverty president/CEO John E. Slater Jr., the company paid $11 million or an average $2.75 million each for four HomeLife sites. Haverty leased three other stores in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC.

Slater projected the seven new locations would increase total sales by $12 million for 2002 and $42 million for 2003. Haverty's averages annual sales of about $700 million, making it the fourth largest furniture chain in the United States, according to industry newsletters.

Slater estimated capital expenditures of $35 million in 2002, up from $21 million in 2001. The company expects to generate about $15 million this year and in 2003 from the sale of various local market warehouse facilities in Atlanta, Charlotte.

Haverty is consolidating its Southeast distribution centers with a new location in Braselton, GA, north of Atlanta, scheduled to open in the third quarter of this year.

Haverty is investing $4 million in renovating the three Orlando area stores. The firm has a 250,000-sf distribution center in Ocala, FL, 80 miles northwest of Downtown Orlando.

In Florida, Haverty has four stores each in Tampa and Jacksonville; three stores in Fort Myers; two stores each in Fort Pierce, Melbourne and Pensacola; and one store each in Lakeland and Tallahassee.

Chicago-based HomeLife filed for protection from its creditors on July 16, 2001 under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company sold 99 stores in 21 states out of a total 133-store national chain.

Sears Roebuck & Co. sold 81% of the 22-year-old HomeLife operation to Citicorp Venture Capital in 1999 for $100 million cash and $10 million of debt. Citicorp Venture is a division of New York-based Citigroup Inc.

Before its Chapter 11 filing, HomeLife was the eighth largest furniture retailer in the United States, according to industry newsletters. Sales in 2000 were $680 million. Sears closed 23 HomeLife stores in 1997.