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Saturday, July 21, 2001

By Patricia Sheridan, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

It's not necessary to think out of the box if the box just keeps getting bigger and better. This is exactly what Levin Furniture is doing.

	Levin Furniture president Robert Levin has a seat and store designer Tom Zwierzelewski stands among a sampling of Jessica McClintock's "The Romance Collection" for sale at the new McMurray store. (Martha Rial, Post-Gazette)

"We are on a mission to gradually replace all the company's older, cramped stores with new expansive showrooms," company president Robert Levin said.

Tomorrow, Levin will be cutting the ribbon on his largest store yet at 3364 Washington Road, McMurray. With 74,000 square feet, it has nearly 5,000 feet on the store in The Pointe in North Fayette. The even larger format allows for more categories of products to be displayed in a more appealing manner, he said.

"We find we can showcase the furniture in a better way. It gives us the space to accessorize properly and really show the customer how things would look in a room setting," Levin said.

Creating a theme park for furniture with elaborate vignettes was the work of Tom Zwierzelewski, store designer and director of visual display. Using some of the voluminous space to attract a younger clientele, he created an enticing youth furniture section called "Kid's Kountry" with a "Wizard of Oz" theme, including the yellow brick road.

"There is the celestial room, which is a blacked-out space with glow-in-the-dark lights," the designer said.

Another popular spot is a nautical-themed area, with a floor that gives the impression you're walking on water.

	A loveseat by Hickory Hill is accented by a faux fur throw pillow and small statue in a living room grouping at the new Levin Furniture in McMurray. (Martha Rial, Post-Gazette)

"Every department has a unique something, like urban loft, which is about casual lifestyle looks, and the Kincaid Gallery, which displays America's largest case-good manufacturer," Zwierzelewski said. "Everything is in departments and categories."

Collections by Levin is another of his innovations and is intended to be a constantly evolving section of the store where Zwierzelewski can experiment with an assortment of accent pieces like wicker trunks, bombe chests, metal beds, etc.

"We also have the 10,000-foot clearance center and Sally's Cafe, where a portion of the proceeds goes to Children's Hospital," Levin said.

Besides looking good, the new building is environmentally sensitive, with two sides built into the hillside to cut down on energy costs.

Getting a lot of exposure on the floor are two lines new to Levin -- Jessica McClintock for American Drew and Alexander Julian's case goods.

"These designers take us to a another level, which we're very excited about," Levin said.

The store also will feature the Chris Madden Collection for Bassett, which has been well received in the North Fayette store and will be displayed at the new site in a townhouse facade divided into rooms.

The new collections and larger space, with the capacity to show 130 different living room groups, are intended to increase the range of customers coming into the family-owned store.

"We want to be more things to more people," Levin said. "We will always provide great value, and now we will also be able to compete with stores that cater to the higher-end customer."