Brook Furniture Rental Purchases Furnishings Division of ExecuStay

Furniture World Magazine

Brook Furniture Rental, Inc., the largest high-end furniture leasing company in the United States, announced its expansion into the Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Md., and Richmond, Va., markets by purchasing the residential furniture rental business of ExecuStay by Marriott. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Brook plans to retain all the current employees who had been associated with ExecuStay's residential furniture operations. "Our purchase gives us a foothold into this valuable marketplace at a particularly good time," said Brook CEO Robert F. Crawford, in announcing the deal. "This is a sophisticated market that, in an election year like this one, will generate increased demand for temporary housing and high-end rental furniture," he added. The acquisition is part of the overall management strategy of a company that has grown a hundred fold in both sales and number of employees in the 21 years since its founding in 1979. Washington-Baltimore-Richmond becomes the third major metropolitan area to be entered in the last two years, following Atlanta and Dallas-Ft. Worth. Brook's proven combination of an attractive, high-end product line, professional sales organization and "extreme customer service" will continue to drive sales in these three new locations, as well as in its established Midwest and West Coast markets. Because of the importance of this purchase, Crawford intends to head up the effort himself, guiding the application of resources to ensure success. "I'm very excited about this opportunity," said Crawford. "This will be the first time that the DC area has a dedicated high-end resource for residential furniture rentals." Customers soon will begin finding Brook Furniture brochures and rental applications in the offices of many Baltimore-Washington apartment complexes, relocation services and real estate agents. In its 21st year, Brook is a national company with 21 showrooms, 9 distribution centers, 7 clearance centers and a staff of more than 500 team members. It is a recognized market leader in Illinois, California, Nevada and Wisconsin with approximate 2000 revenues of $65 million.