Bacon's leases Robb & Stucky building

Port Charlotte-based Bacon's Furniture has leased the 68,000-square-foot Robb & Stucky building on South Tamiami Trail in Sarasota. The new facility will be used to consolidate two smaller stores Bacon Furniture owns two blocks apart on the west side of Tamiami Trail.

“We've wanted a larger store in Sarasota for a long time,” says Bacon's Furniture President Bill Bacon. “It was a journey to get there. Robb & Stucky was a great organization that always ran a good program in the marketplace, and it's unfortunate what happened to them. But it offered us an incredible opportunity.”

Along with the overall high quality of the building, Bacon says he was attracted by the recent activity along the South Trail. Home Depot, Kohl's Corp. and Lowe's have all recently announced plans to locate new stores in the area, and construction is under way for a Costco Wholesale store in Sarasota Square Mall.

Bacon expects to have the new store, at 7557 S. Tamiami Trail, open this summer. He says his company will most likely sell off its existing 19,000-square-foot and 14,000-square-foot stores on the other side of U.S. 41.

“This is going to be a wow store,” Bacon says. “People are going to be amazed by what a great-looking store it is.”

In February, Robb & Stucky filed for bankruptcy protection and its creditors recently started liquidating the firm.

Stan Rutstein of Re/Max Alliance Group handled the transaction and Florida Shores Bank is providing the financing for the interior renovation.