Eliot Tatelman, President of Jordan’s Furniture, Announces Retirement

The president of a well-known New England furniture company has announced his retirement. Jordan's Furniture announced on Thursday, April 3, that President Eliot Tatelman "is retiring from daily operations after decades as the face of the brand."

In a statement shared with CBS News Boston, Jordan's said the change in management is a "natural evolution in its leadership" since Tatelman's sons will be taking over. Josh and Michael Tatelman have been co-CEOs during the past five years. 

In an interview with CBS News Boston, Tatelman said he's been "really running pretty much everything for a long time" at Jordan's. He explained that his wife's sudden death in June 2024 made him contemplate his future.

"It's time to let go and do some other things, help some other people," Tatelman said. 

Even though he's handing over the leadership reins, Tatelman said people shouldn't be surprised if they still see him in TV spots as the face everyone recognizes and connects with Jordan's Furniture.

According to an American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame profile, Eliot Tatelman and his brother Barry assumed control of Jordan's Furniture, their family's business, in the 1970s, when the company had only five employees. Over the last several decades, the company's presence on TV and radio ingrained the brand into the fabric of New England's business community. 

CBS News Boston noted in a report that Jordan's Furniture became more than a furniture store. It became an immersive experience for customers, with some stores featuring an IMAX theater, an Enchanted Village, and other amenities.

In 1999, the Tatelman brothers sold Jordan's Furniture to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway enterprise. They gave store employees a trip to Bermuda and 50 cents for every hour that employees had been with the company. The pair continued to operate Jordan's collaboratively until Barry stepped down in 2006 to launch a Broadway production company.

Jordan's operates in Avon, Natick, and Reading, Massachusetts, plus Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.