Clint Engel — Furniture Today,
NORWOOD, Mass. — Top 100 furniture store Domain Home has been sold, with New Jersey-based private investment and management advisory firm Synergy Enterprises acquiring a majority stake from Aga Foodservice Group.

A purchase price was not disclosed.

United Kingdom-based Aga, a producer of high-end stoves and refrigerators, will retain a 15% stake in the retailer. Domain founder and CEO Judy George will remain in her current position and continue to lead Domain and “has become a significant shareholder in the company,” according to a press release.


Under the new ownership, George said there are plans to open about 15 stores over the next three years, primarily in suburbs and cities within the chain’s existing regional markets.

Founded in 1985, Domain was acquired by Aga in 2002 and soon began integrating Aga cooking products into its stores. The retailer said it operates 27 stores in seven Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states.

Domain is No. 93 on Furniture/Today’s Top 100 with estimated furniture, bedding and accessories sales in 2013 of $66.3 million, down 10% from the year before.

Domain retains the right to sell and market Aga kitchen and cooking products, the company said.

In a release, Gary Nacht, chairman and CEO of Colts Neck, N.J.-based Synergy, said, “We are excited to move forward in close partnership with Judy George and her team, who have built an outstanding lifestyle brand associated with world class service and design customization and powerful name recognitions that rivals brands such as Ethan Allen, Crate & Barrel, Williams-Sonoma and Restoration Hardware in the Northeastern United States.”

He added that Synergy is “enthusiastic about the company’s tremendous growth potential with more focused and dedicated support.

“The specialty upscale furniture retailing market is highly fragmented, giving Domain Home opportunities to expand within its current markets as well as into new markets across the U.S. and internationally,” he said. “We look forward to providing Judy and her management team with the strategic, financial and operational resources necessary to realize Domain Home’s full potential.”

George said the new partnership “represents an excellent opportunity for us to refocus on our core business and our mission of becoming the retail destination of choice for discriminating consumer who appreciate a designer touch.”

She said there are “initiatives under way to further capture our share of this market, as well as expand into new markets.”