A trip to the furniture store usually means sitting on sofas, checking the firmness of mattresses or opening china cabinet doors. But a visit to the new Jordan's Furniture in New Haven will offer just that: an indoor ropes course that rises as high as 60 feet with more than 100 different challenges along the way.The Massachusetts chain, known for combining its furniture business with attractions such as IMAX theaters and water-and-light shows, is opening its first Connecticut store on Sargent Drive, in the former New Haven Register building. The ropes course is being constructed in an area that once housed the newspaper's printing presses. Jordan's, which is sinking more than $20 million into the renovations, expects its sixth store to open in mid-December, employing 200.The course, still under construction, will include four levels and challenges such as zig-zag swinging beams, criss-cross rope ladders, cargo nets, bridges and a 48-foot free-fall jump. Four, 200-foot-long zip lines will traverse a path over a 1,000-nozzle water show with lights.
The course, called the "IT Adventure Ropes Course," also will offer options for younger children. A spokeswoman for the chain said Wednesday that entrance fees have not yet been determined.For its first store in Connecticut, Jordan's has chosen a high-profile location, visible from I-95 just west of the 1-91 interchange and a block from IKEA. Jordan's has a long-term lease for all but 30,000 square feet of the 192,500-square-foot building. The remainder will be leased to another tenant, the store has said. The store pursues an "underprice" strategy and does not run traditional sales.Jordan's, founded in 1918 and operated by the third generation of the Tatelman family, has three stores in Massachusetts — in Avon, Natick and Reading — and stores in Nashua, N.H., and Warwick, R.I. Jordan's Furniture, With Ropes Course, Opens In New Haven NEW HAVEN – The new Jordan's Furniture has "IT" going on.The chain, known for packaging entertainment alongside showrooms filled with living, dining and bedroom furnishings, opens its first Connecticut location in New Haven on Friday at 5 p.m. Housed in the former New Haven Register building at 40 Sargent Drive, just up the street from IKEA, the store features a 150,000-square-foot retail showroom.
But the 20,000-square-foot black box area housing the "IT Adventure Ropes Course," a computerized light and water display, sound system, pizza restaurant and ice cream shop is the main attraction."I call it 'shoppertainment,' " CEO Eliot Tatelman said. "It's not just a shopping, it's an experience. The is the first Connecticut store for Jordan's, a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway. Jordan's Furniture has stores in Reading, Natick and Avon, Mass., Nashua, N.H., and Warwick, R.I. Each location has its own amusement component, including IMAX theaters, laser water shows, holiday villages, a city made of jelly beans and restaurants. Tatelman says the New Haven store, with what he calls"the world's largest indoor ropes course," is the company's most ambitious — and expensive — undertaking so far."I've done a lot of crazy things, but this is over the top," Tatelman said.Customers will pay $10 to $30 to experience the ropes course, depending on the activities chosen.
A Blaze Pizza shop and Richardson Farms counter featuring 50 flavors of ice cream are also in the area.Customers can shop for furniture without doing the ropes course and visitors can walk into the entertainment area and watch folks on the ropes course or the light and water show or buy a pizza or ice cream. You only pay if you do the activities.Although he declined to reveal the total cost of the project, Tatelman said that the water, light and sound show alone cost more than $2 million to install. The system incorporates 1,000 nozzles with 40,000 watts of sound and music, choreographed to a 45-foot-high water show. The light and sound effects were created by Clair Solutions.The elaborate IT course includes two 60-foot-high ropes courses with four levels, zigzag swinging beams, crisscross angle rope ladders, cargo nets, bridges, plank-walking, a catwalk and a 48-foot-high free fall jump. The four 200-foot-long zip lines are 48 feet high and extend above the light and water show. The company says the course is for all ages and all abilities.
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