Furniture store adding another U.P. location

MARQUETTE TOWNSHIP — Right now it’s a mostly empty building. Two months from now, the two-story structure will be full of furniture- all 20,000 sq. ft. of it.

Ashley Furniture HomeStore is remodeling a building on US-41 in Marquette Township, right across the highway from the Marquette Mall. The Jensen family, who has owned and operated the Escanaba store since 2006, is thrilled about their new business venture.

“We probably get asked every day from our customers in Marquette that travel down to Escanaba, ‘When are you going to put a store here?’ We’re just so excited to finally be able to say that after 11 years it’s actually happening,” said Kelly Jensen, owner and general manager.

Local contractors are working on changing both the interior and exterior of the building. Marquette has several other furniture stores close to where Ashley Furniture HomeStore will be located.

“We feel that we offer a different enough product. We have product for every budget, every style, plus we have the backing of 700 other Ashley HomeStores throughout the country,” said Jensen.

Jensen says the goal is to have the furniture store open for business by Labor Day. The store will be open seven days a week and they’re looking to hire fifteen new employees.