Courtesy | Vystar
Steve Rotman, CEO of Rotmans Furniture
October 12, 2022
Rotmans Furniture to close, after COVID foiled national expansion plans
Photo | Grant Welker
Rotmans Furniture and Flooring, headquartered in Worcester and owned by holding company Vystar Corp., will close.
By Kevin Koczwara
Rotmans Furniture, Mattress & Accessory is going out of business. The iconic Worcester furniture store will shutter its doors later this year once all of its inventory is sold.
Rotmans CEO Steve Rotman, 83, told the Worcester Business Journal he decided to close the business after not being able to expand the store and its furniture business.
“Because of COVID, we never got to expand Rotmans where I want it to be, “ Rotman said.
Rotman hoped to convert Rotmans Furniture, Mattress & Accessory into a national company and found the transition too difficult. He thought about selling it but didn’t want to give someone else control of a business with his name on it in case they didn’t live up to his standards. Family members were not interested in taking over the company either.
Rotmans started out as a concession company founded by Murray and Ida Rotman. Steve worked for his parents’ store located inside the C.T. Sherer department store and later at Barnard, Summer & Co. department store on Main Street in Worcester. Then they opened their own business in College Square in the late 1960s.
Steve started working there while studying at Classical High School and was a salesman after school. He attended Clark University and got his master’s degree at New York University and eventually joined the U.S. Coast Guard before returning to the city in 1962 to help his parents run their furniture business. He helped open the storefront on Southbridge Street in the early 1970s and over time grew the business, leasing out more space in the large building.
As the department stores downtown closed, Rotmans grew and now leases more than five acres of space in the Southbridge Street location. Rotman took over for his dad as president of Rotmans after his father retired.
Murray Rotman passed away in 2004 at the age of 92 of colon cancer. Ida passed away in 2018 at the age of 104.
According to Furniture Today, Rotman sent a letter to the company’s stakeholders announcing the closure. The store had been trying to liquidate excess inventory and consolidate its remote warehouse in the hopes of improving its finances and to reduce expenses.
In July 2019, Worcester manufacturer Vystar Corp. acquired a majority share in Rotmans for a reported $2.03 million, made up of 25% cash over four to eight years and 75% in notes convertible into shares, making it a publicly traded company.
Rotman is the CEO of Vystar, which makes eco-friendly products for the home, office and medical sectors, according to its website. Its products include Vytex natural rubber latex, a low-protein latex gloves, as well as bedding materials for mattresses and mattress toppers, and air purification system. Vystar owns the technologies developed by Fluid Energy Conversion.
Rotmans furniture will have an on-going sale to liquidate its extensive stock starting on Friday. The business will be closed Wednesday and Thursday to prepare for the sale. Zimmer/Hester Furniture Liquidations of Florida will handle the sale of all of the store’s stock, which boomed during COVID.
Rotman still has a long-term lease at the Southbridge location and hopes to convert the store into a retail complex. He is actively seeking tenants.
“People need some place with low rent,” Rotman said.
Rotman will continue as CEO of Vystar.
“I don’t look at retirement as a goal,” Rotman said. “I want to stay active and involved in what I’m doing.”
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