Business

Eli Weingarden has his
own furniture store

BEN FALIK
Special to the Jewish News

E

li Weingarden has always had an entrepreneurial flair. While he
may be a fraction the age of his competitors, Weingarden has nei-
ther the professional mindset nor the resume of your average 20-
year-old.
Elite Furniture, a small wholesale showroom at 10 Mile and Southfield,
opened its doors last month.
Weingarden, an Orthodox Jew and
Southfield resident, owns and oper-
ates the business, in addition to tak-
ing a full load of classes at Wayne
State University in Detroit and the
Michigan Jewish Institute in Oak
Park, and devoting time each day to
prayer. Weingarden's first commercial
lease follows a long line of business
ventures that go back to well before
he could drive.
"It all started with candy,"
Weingarden takes an
Weingarden said. "I started selling it
order from a client.
out of my locker at Yeshiva Beth
Yehudah in Southfield and then I used

the money I made to buy vending machines that I kept stocked at nearby
schools."
The pattern continued, as the then high school student kept rolling over
his profits into different projects. Some of his successes have included
Israelcell.com , a business that bid between companies to get the best cellular
phone deals for students traveling abroad, and Biznet Place, a Web design
company for area businesses. Other efforts, like a database for Jewish higher
education and a travel agency, never took off.
Unlike some of his ventures, Elite Furniture is backed by some real expe-
rience in the industry. "I got a job working in the warehouse for this dis-
tributor," said Weingarden. "It was tough, physical work, but I liked it.
"One day, I wandered into the showroom during my break and found this
couple that wasn't being helped and sold them on a bedroom set. Then I
went and helped someone else. This went on for a few days until I finally
asked the owner if I could just wear a tie to work the next day."

On-the-job Training

Over two summers working there, Weingarden sold an average of $10,000
worth of merchandise a day. Through his experience working both behind
the scenes and as a salesman, he made the observation that would shortly
give birth to Elite Furniture.
"With all the costs of aggressive advertising, space, and large staffs, big
furniture chains end up with a 100 percent markup before they can make a

8/24

2001