“Fenway Park’s mascot…Wally holds a New York player in his glove. Wally is hungry, ready to enjoy a pinstriped snack!”

On a recent visit to my home state of Massachusetts, I made a point of visiting Jordan’s Furniture, as it had been years since I had experienced the quirky goodness of this local furniture chain. Becky, my host and dear friend from high school, suggested we take the kids to the one closest to her, the Boston-themed location in Reading: “Beantown.” Each of their five New England-based locations are themed differently (for “shopper-tainment”). At “Beantown,” Jelly Belly has a prominent storefront inside the entrance and has created “a replica of Downtown Boston made up of nearly twenty-five million” of their jelly beans. Besides this large-scale jelly bean display and, you know, the actual furniture store, the building also houses an IMAX 3D theater (The Hobbit was showing at the time of my visit), a Liquid Fireworks water show, Wally The Green Monster, a trapeze school, a Richardson’s Ice Cream shop (jimmies!) and a Fuddruckers restaurant. Naturally, I took a lot of photos.

Beantown’s entrance

‘Make Way for Ducklings‘ in jelly beans

Now Playing: The Hobbit

Theater Entrance

“Lenny Zakim Bridge: Don’t try this in Boston. Only in Reading can you fly off the Lenny Zakim Bridge. Manned by the professional trapeze instructors of Trapeze School New York, Jordan’s Beantown hosts a swing set like you’ve never seen.”

“Big Dig Ice Cream: No Beantown could be complete without plenty of construction. Jordan’s Furniture decided, however, to make this Big Dig even bigger—and sweeter. The Big Dig is a 40-foot ice cream sundae made from over 4 million jelly beans.”

“Liquid Fireworks by Waltzing Waters provide a stunning water, light, and sound display. Fountains of water dance in time as lights color and shimmer amidst them. You can sit and enjoy the show as you eat ice cream inside Jordan’s Beantown. Kids and adults alike will love the show.”

An overview of the downstairs area

Oh yeah, there’s furniture too!

photos by Rusty Blazenhoff