Bob’s Discount Furniture, a Manchester, Conn.-based retailer, is opening a Rockville store in November, its third location in the Washington area in six months.

Housed in the Montrose Crossing Shopping Center, the store will fill 62,000 square feet at 12011 Rockville Pike, the former home of Sticks N Stuff Furniture. The new store, at roughly the size of a supermarket, will be Bob's largest location in the region with a showroom, pickup area, clearance pit and warehouse.

Bob’s offers a wide selection of traditional and contemporary designs at price points similar to Swedish powerhouse Ikea. Pricing, however, is the only comparison Bob Kaufman, founder of the eponymous store, is willing to draw.

“We offer more grown-up furniture,” he said. “If I had my way, I’d be next to every Ikea because what we do is so different that we easily stand out.”

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In the 20 years since Kaufman started the company, Bob’s has expanded into nine states with 43 stores. The company opened six sites in the past year alone, including the locations in Hyattsville and Falls Church.

Attractive real estate values and population density drew Kaufman to the Washington area, where he is considering additional locations. Bob’s has created more than 250 jobs at the three local stores and the distribution center in Aberdeen.

“This area is right for our type of retailing,” Kaufman said. “People want a place to go where they feel they’re getting great value and high quality.”

Discount stores are outperforming other segments of the $61 billion furniture industry, fueled by the shift away from homeownership toward renting, said Mary Gotaas, an analyst at research firm IBIS World.

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“People who own a home are more willing to invest in nicer furniture,” she said. “Since so many people are mobile and keep moving, the growing trend is to buy cheaper furniture.”

Discount merchants, however, face increasing competition from Wal-Mart, Target and Costco as they continue to offer a wider selection of smaller items such as desks and chairs.

The furniture industry as a whole has recorded an average 1.8 percent decline in revenue in the past five years. That trend, according to IBIS World data, is reversing amid a slight upturn in consumer confidence and home sales. The research firm is forecasting industry revenue will grow at an average annual rate of 3 percent through 2016.

Kaufman would not disclose the company’s revenue or sales growth, but said Bob’s would not be expanding if business was down.

“We’ve certainly done more gross sales this year than last year; it’s exceeded my expectations,” he said. “We typically do better when money is tight and people are seeking value.”

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