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LAPLACE — Leo Furniture is St. John the Baptist Parish’s newest and largest furniture store, offering an assortment of elegant and affordable living room, bedroom and dining room pieces.

The old Stage location at 1428 W. Airline Highway in LaPlace now houses living room rugs, sectionals, mattresses, bed frames, bedroom storage, dining sets, floor length mirrors, makeup vanities and more.

Owner Idrees “Eddie” Salem plans to add washers, dryers, TVs and refrigerators to Leo Furniture to give locals a one-stop shop to find home furnishings and appliances.

Salem became a business owner at only 18 years old when he opened his first Oprah Beauty Supply store in the late 1990s. He now owns five Oprah locations, including one in the Riverlands Shopping Center in LaPlace that opened in 2018.

Leo Furniture is the third business that Salem has opened in the Riverlands Shopping Center. Two months ago, he opened DoorBuster Deals, a store that makes every day feel like Black Friday with discounted prices that drop lower each day until merchandise is restocked each Thursday.

“This is my first furniture business. When I came to LaPlace, I saw it was missing something. I was searching for furniture, and I could only find one small store, so I decided to open a big one,” Salem said.

He said Leo Furniture will be competitive with well-known furniture stores in the New Orleans area and across Louisiana.

“We offer all kinds of products, all brand names. Just name it, and we can get it. Price wise, we are guaranteed to be the cheapest in the state, no question about it. We’ll match any price in the whole state of Louisiana,” Salem said. “We are going to have nice and decent deals for everybody. Most of my customers know me and the way I deal with people. I like to save money for everybody.”
Salem said he is working on a grand opening with great deals on furniture. He believes in always maintaining fair prices, especially during the tax season when other businesses tend to raise costs. Twelve-month, interest-free financing is also offered to make high class furniture affordable. Even those with bad credit can achieve three months of interest-free payments.

The community response has been positive since Leo Furniture opened two weeks ago, and Salem looks forward to meeting more members of the community.

“LaPlace is a small town, but it’s beautiful, honestly. We’re bringing big business to a small city, and we hope we do well,” he said.

He invites anyone who isn’t happy with the service they receive to email him at eddieoprahs@hotmail.com.