Mor Furniture for Less Inc., of San Diego, Calif., has bought for $1.8 million the building in which it's been located for years on north Division Street and plans later to open a related store there called Mor Kids & Teens for Less.

Company Chairman Rick Haux Sr. says Mor Furniture has operated a store in that location, at 1201 N. Division, under different names. It first opened the location as a Waterbed Emporium, and over the years the company has changed the focus of its outlet several times, operating from 1995 to 2001 as a Bedroom Superstore, and then in 2002 changing to its current name, Mor Furniture for Less.

The company has been pleased with that store's performance in its various incarnations, and late last year agreed to buy the building from local real estate broker and investor Pat Haskins, Haux says. The transaction was completed Dec. 22, he says.

"The economy has been very tough," Haux says. "When retail is soft, you have to become more aggressive to maintain your share. We have definitely maintained."

The store, which occupies 25,000 square feet of the 30,000-square-foot building, employs about 20 people. The remainder of the building is leased to a Tandy Leather Factory store, which Haux says anticipates remaining in that location until May next year. After that, Mor Furniture expects to open one of its youth furniture stores in that space, Haux says. The Mor Kids & Teens for Less line includes youth bedroom groupings, bookcases, and desks.

Mor Furniture operates 15 stores in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico, including five Mor Kids & Teens for Less locations, and employs about 900 people overall, Haux says.