Scott Zawitz, owner of Fort Pitt Furniture in Chicago, is a hard person to catch —mostly because he’s continually traveling around the country emptying hotel rooms of their furniture.

Most recently, he was at the Drake in New York City fielding phone calls and prodding tired workers. But piloting this business is all worth it.

Fort Pitt buys upscale furniture from hotels that are either remodeling rooms or going out of business. In the case of the Drake, it’s the latter—it is going condo. Fort Pitt buys the contents of the rooms and bring the pieces back to Chicago to sell in its 180,000-square-foot showroom.

Some of the buyers are less-pricey hotels and motels, nursing homes, churches, and model home decorators. In fact, a big client is HGTV, whose television show hosts buy the items to fix up homes for a small price.

“People have been in here from Design on a Dime and Designed to Sell,” Zawitz explained. “They are on a budget and are looking for the lease expensive way to furnish a house nicely.”

Whatever is left is sold to the public directly from the warehouse. And there are many, many nice things left.

“Some other businesses like this sell crap,” Zawitz said. “But we have more Marshall Field’s quality items. In fact, I don’t even want to associate myself with the others—we aren’t in the same league.”

For a nice armoire that retails for $3,000-$4,000, expect to pay no more than $199 at Fort Pitt. A marbled-topped bar and TV cabinet from the St. Regis, which retailed at $6,000 sold for $399 at Fort Pitt.

Recently a customer came into the warehouse to buy furniture for a 10,000-square-foot Kenwood mansion. He was getting the house ready to sell and wanted nice furnishings.

Zawitz’s grandfather started the business 30 years ago. The first furniture came from the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh—hence the name. Twenty-five years ago, the business moved to Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.

“He and a friend started out as contractors,” Zawitz explained. “While they were working at another hotel they saw someone else doing this and they decided to give it a try.

“When they first started, they would sell the furniture right out of the hotel rooms.”

After Zawitz negotiates prices with the owners, his employees empty furniture from the hotel’s rooms. He figures they average 3,000-5,000 rooms per year.
The hotels they have serviced include The Trump International Hotel and the St. Regis Hotel in New York City, The Four Seasons Hotel in Boston, and the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis.

“As far as cost goes, every job is different,” he explained. “First you pay the hotel and then you supply all the labor and expertise.”

The furniture Fort Pitt removes includes couches, chairs, dressers, dining sets, armoires, beds, side tables, table and floor lamps, and office furniture. They also remove and sell mattresses, linens, televisions (which come with a three-month guarantee), refrigerators, rugs, and wall hangings.

Since most hotels turn over their furnishing every three to 10 years, nothing is very old, although some items are damaged; according to Zawitz, it’s mostly typical wear and tear.

Zawitz said Fort Pitt does a brisk business in used mattresses and that a double mattress generally sells for $75. It offers furniture delivery for an additional charge.

The furniture it resells is manufactured by some of the highest quality furniture companies in the United States and Europe, such as Stiffel, Drexel, and Thomasville. Many of the pieces feature inlaid designs and have granite and marble surfaces. Most of the upholstered pieces are covered with top-quality fabric.

Fort Pitt often has specials on entire rooms of furniture and, because turnover is so rapid, Zawitz urges shoppers to check the warehouse often.

At Fort Hill, business is good, so much so, said Zawitz, that in the past five years it has quadrupled in size.

“The past couple of years, business has gone through the roof,” he said. “A lot more hotels are updating more often. It’s like keeping up with the Joneses.”

Cooper Used Furniture in Chicago also reclaims and sells used hotel room furniture, but its stock tends toward the lower end as it resells to economy hotel chains like Days Inn and sells to the public from its 7-story warehouse on South Halsted Street.

Contact Information
Fort Pitt Furniture Liquidators
1400 W. 37th St.
Chicago, IL 60609
773-247-3523
Website: www.fortpittfurniture.com
Showroom hours: M-Sat. 9:30-5:30, closed Sundays

Cooper Furniture & Carpet Co., Inc.
1929 S. Halsted St.
Chicago 60608
312-226-2299
Showroom hours: M-Sat. 8 – 6, Sun. 10 – 5