Myron Hendel, left, CEO and Jon Hendel, president, at their Americana Furniture store in Waterford, earlier this month.

The New La-z-boy Furniture Galleries on Route 1 in Groton, owned by Myron Hendel, CEO and his son Jon Hendel, president.

Myron Hendel CEO of Americana Furniture in Waterford earlier this month. The family is expanding again, with a new venture in Groton.

The furniture business has been a part of the Hendel family for nearly a century.

And now, Myron Hendel and his son Jon have further expanded those interests by opening a new La-Z-Boy furniture gallery on the busy Route 1 in Groton - a vote of confidence, they say, in the local economy despite the current tough times.

"They said my father wouldn't last six months," says Myron Hendel, recalling when his father Hilbert began in the furniture business in New London on Jan. 10, 1922.

He survived and prospered, Hendel points out, while many other local furniture stores closed their doors over those many decades, a victim of economic hardship, changing times and big-store competition.

The new La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries store at 721 Long Hill Road (Route 1) opened earlier this month in the site of the former Ethan Allen store, which closed in 2009. The Hendels owned the prime real estate along Route 1, and after much consideration and research decided to affiliate with the Michigan-based La-Z-Boy, one of the world's largest makers of residential furniture with more than 300 retail stores.

The move was a bold one by the Hendels. They reinvested capital into the building, constructing a new facade, installing new signage and renovating the entire interior covering more than 14,000 square feet.

Jon Hendel, who spent more than five months coordinating the transition to being the state's only independent retailer of La-Z-Boy's extensive furniture line, says the new Groton store is a reflection of much hard work.

"This store was completely gutted, so everything is new," he says as he surveys the extensive floor displays of furniture, from upscale living room displays to comfortable family room furniture and, of course, the extensive line of recliners that the furniture retailer is known for. "We own the store. We buy the merchandise, and we have a license (from La-Z-Boy) to sell their product," says Jon Hendel.

The Hendels built the site for the Ethan Allen store in 1979 and ran the business for two decades before it leased the site to Ethan Allen, which eventually closed the store.

Jon Hendel says he and his father believe that the extensive La-Z-Boy line of products and its pricing levels are a good fit for southeastern Connecticut. He recalls that on the Groton store's opening day earlier this month, a couple looking at the new furniture told him they can still remember his grandfather showing up years ago to ensure that the delivery of the couple's new furniture was a smooth one. "He gave his customers personal service his whole life," Jon Hendel says of his grandfather, who passed away in 1986.

Proud tradition

This newest addition to the Hendels furniture business comes at an appropriate time. Myron Hendel points out that next year marks the 90th anniversary since his father began in the furniture business. Over the many decades, the Hendel name has been associated with a host of furniture stores in the region, including the former Furniturama, Hendel's Dollars Worth, Hendel's Ethan Allen and Hendel's Americana Furniture Barn.

"We used to have four furniture stores," says Myron Hendel. Today, the flagship furniture store is Hendel's Americana Furniture Barn on Great Neck Road in Waterford. The store, which was originally a dairy cow barn, has been enlarged over the years and today covers about 50,000 square feet of showroom, a furniture repair and prep shop, and a large warehouse and clearance center with even more displays of furniture.

As Myron Hendel walks through the Americana furniture store, he points out the earmarks of its rich history, showing where the original store was created out of a former dairy barn, a display of an early advertisement from The Day when the store heralded its grand-opening sale, and the large-scale addition in the rear of the store to accommodate inventory and give Hendels more retail display space.

"Come Jan. 10, we'll be in business for 90 years," Myron Hendel says proudly.

The Hendel family has had a profound impact on southeastern Connecticut's business community and is known for its broad philanthropic giving over the decades. Such values are important, says Myron Hendel, who is proud of his family's achievements and many contributions to this region. He says this latest venture of opening the new La-Z-Boy furniture gallery is proof that the family believes in this region and supports its local economy.

Committed to the region

When his father Hilbert Hendel arrived here from Lithuania, he didn't speak a word of English. Yet during his long lifetime, he built up a successful business footprint in southeastern Connecticut that's clearly evident today.

Over the years, the Hendels have had business interests ranging from furniture to fuel-oil delivery, retail gasoline and propane. Besides the furniture interests, today they operate the growing Henny Penny chain of gasoline stations and convenience stores and also continue to operate a wholesale gasoline business, primarily distributing Shell gasoline.

Myron Hendel says this region's economy, battered by a deep and profound recession, hasn't regained its full economic strength. "We haven't come back yet," says the longtime businessman who holds a bachelor's degree from Yale University and a law degree from Harvard.

"But we have gone and made a significant investment in southeastern Connecticut," he says of the Hendels newest retailing venture in Groton.

Says Jon Hendel, "We're a family oriented company."

"We didn't build a new furniture store in the hopes of making money over the next two weeks," he says. Instead, it's a long-term commitment, like the family's nearly 90-year commitment to its Americana furniture store in Waterford.

"We decided to invest our money at the bottom of this recession," says Jon Hendel.

"There's a lot of pessimism right now. But it's basically our vote of confidence. Our timeframe is not short term. We believe that Hendels and La-Z-Boy will be around for a very long time selling these products."