Former Levin Furniture CEO makes good on promise to pay former employees

PITTSBURGH — Robert Levin, the former CEO of Levin Furniture, promised he would not forget the 1,200 workers left without a job when his plan to rescue the furniture store empire did not pan out.

RELATED: Deal to save Levin Furniture stores, employees is off

According to TribLive.com, employees were concerned that working for the store for decades would leave them without paychecks or health insurance when the company went under. Levin set up a $2 million assistance fund to help out and checks have started arriving in former employees’ mailboxes.

“Once I realized what it was, I cried a bit,” Neva German told TribLive.com.

German had worked for Levin’s since 2004 as a store manager and sleep specialist. She said she was confused at first when she opened the mail.

Just over two weeks after Levin announced a plan to buy back the stores and save them from bankruptcy, the deal collapsed. It involved Levin acquiring Levin Furniture and Wolf Furniture locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio through a court restructuring of parent company Art Van Furniture. The parent company, Art Van, reported major losses in its business because of the COVID-19 pandemic and mandatory store closures before it completely shut down.

Dollars & Sense - What you need to know about the latest round of small business loans Dollars & Sense - What you need to know about the latest round of small business loans

© 2020 Cox Media Group