Norton, MA, June 22, 2004 — Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture recently received the coveted Local Torch Award for Excellence from the Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern MA, ME and VT (BBB). The BBB Torch Award honors remarkable businesses committed to promoting ethical business practices. Each winning company (four are selected each year in different size categories) must consistently meet very high standards in its relationships with customers, employees, vendors/suppliers, industry peers, and the community in which it does business. Shown here receiving the award at a ceremony at their headquarters, from left to right, are: Rob Rubin, senior vice president, Robert Pepé, operations manager, Phyllis and Bernie Rubin, co-founders, Robert H. Williams, president and CEO of the BBB, and Larry Rubin, chief operating officer.

Norton, MA, June 9, 2004 — Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture, one of the fastest growing furniture retailers in the country with five stores in Massachusetts and one in New Hampshire, has made the list of Top 100 U.S. Furniture Stores for the fifth year in a row. The exclusive list is compiled by Furniture/Today, the industry’s leading trade publication. Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture has moved up the list to number 70 with a 13.4 percent increase in sales over the previous year. Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture holds the top ranking of the only two Massachusetts-based retailers to make the prestigious list.

Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture also made Furniture/Today’s Top 10 lists in the important “sales per square foot” category and “average stock turns” category. The retailer was number nine in the category of sales per square foot and number five in the average stock turns category (up from number eight last year). Bernie & Phyl’s was one of only five retailers from the Top 100 to appear on both these lists.

“We started out on this prestigious list just five years ago at number 100 and have steadily moved up,” said Bernie Rubin, president and co-founder of Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture. “We are proud of having reached where we are, but we never forget that our numbers have grown and will continue to grow by serving our customers at the highest levels. Our success is based on their satisfaction and that is our primary goal.”

With a focus on quality furniture at great prices, the family-run business has created a highly successful niche in a very competitive marketplace. In 2003, Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture opened a new 55,000 s/f superstore in Raynham and doubled the size of its Nashua superstore to 86,000 s/f – which contributed to the retailer’s double-digit growth. The company plans to open another superstore in 2004.

Bernie & Phyl’s Furniture is one of the largest furniture retailers in New England. Based in Norton, MA, the company has five Massachusetts stores, in Everett, Raynham (55,000 s/f superstore), Saugus (50,000 s/f superstore), Westboro (50,000 s/f superstore), and Weymouth, and one New Hampshire store in Nashua (86,000 s/f superstore). The company was named the 2002 Retailer of the Year by the National Home Furnishings Association and the 2004 winner of the Better Business Bureau’s Local Torch Award for Excellence.