Lancaster Ave. Furniture Store Hit With Lawsuit From State AG

State attorney general Kathleen Kane on Thursday filed a lawsuit against several business entities operating the Philadelphia furniture store commonly known as Furniture Sir-Plus.

The lawsuit claims the business, and the individuals behind it – named as Charles Lederman, Mark Finkelstein and Daniel Roberts – failed to deliver furniture after accepting payments from certain customers. In addition, the business failed to provide refunds to some customers when the furniture they paid for was not delivered.

Kane in a statement Thursday cited one case, in which the lawsuit alleges a 78-year-old customer visited a Furniture Sir-Plus location in March, paying $215 for a recliner chair that was to be delivered to his home within 10 days.

After 14 days and no delivery, the customer returned to the store, only to discover that the location had closed.

According to the state attorney general, cash flow problems had caused Furniture Sir-Plus to close two of their three locations, with the remaining store located on 5351 Lancaster Avenue. They then allegedly moved all of their leftover furniture to another location in the city, to be taken over by Roberts and his business “King Furniture Warehouse.”

The new business kept the same phone number, furniture, employees and computer ordering system.

However, Finkelstein and Lederman allegedly failed to notify consumers that they were closing, even as they accepted payments from customers up until the day they closed the two stores.

Kane has filed a motion seeking to prevent the defendants from accepting any further payments, or selling furniture that belongs to certain customers.

The lawsuit seeks full restitution for consumers who have suffered losses as a result of the alleged business dealings. The lawsuit also seeks a $1,000 civil penalty for each violation of the Consumer Protection Law and a $3,000 penalty for each violation involving consumers 60 years old or older.