American Freight, a leading furniture, mattress and appliance retailer, announced its new franchise model in late 2020 after more than 25 years of proven success in the retail home furnishings industry. The announcement comes on the heels of the Franchise Group, Inc. acquisition of the retail concept in 2020.
American Freight opened over 25 new company-owned stores and grew its sales year over year despite challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. According to Will Powell, President and CEO at American Freight, the organization developed the processes and skills necessary to replicate this success as it launched the franchise model late last year.
“American Freight is a proven business model with excellent unit-level economics and very reasonable start-up costs,” said Powell. “We’re well established with more than 350 American Freight stores nationwide and are uniquely positioned to grow exponentially in both existing and untapped territories, especially through franchising.”
American Freight Furniture and Mattress was established in Lima, Ohio, in 1994. The company grew to its current nationwide footprint by adding and rebranding nearly 130 former Sears Outlets and more than 30 former FFO Home locations in early 2020. The rebrand expanded American Freight’s product assortment to include furniture, mattresses and appliances.
“We entered the franchise world with our proof of concept in the bank,” said Jim Steger, Director of Franchise Development at American Freight. “Our franchising model is built on a system conducive to franchising and is proven to thrive in good and bad economies. It’s easy to build, quick to open and highly scalable.”