HomElegance expands warehousing
By Powell Slaughter -- Furniture Today, August 26, 2002
HIGH POINT — Import distribution consortium HomElegance is substantially boosting its warehousing capacity in its Asian source countries and in the United States.
The company is nearing completion of a 250,000-square-foot warehouse in Dong Guan, China, to handle product from a source plant making bedroom and dining room furniture. It replaces a 100,000-square-foot warehousing area at the plant.
"We'll be ready to ship from there by the end of September," said Joe Elmore, director of sales and marketing. "That facility will concentrate on best-sellers from 450 SKUs from a single factory. We want more customers to have the option of direct containers or mixed containers."
Also in Dong Guan, HomElegance is getting started on a 60,000-square-foot warehouse to serve another factory. That plant produces bedroom, entertainment centers, occasional and leather.
"We're adding 3,600 square feet of showroom space in the Center Point building in High Point dedicated to that factory," Elmore said. HomElegance already has 17,000 square feet in Center Point.
In Malaysia, HomElegance has a new 150,000-square-foot warehouse, two and a half times the size of its former facility there, handling product from several factories totaling 500 SKUs.
The company is increasing the size of its distribution operation stateside as well.
"We recently moved into a new 100,000-square-foot distribution facility in Houston, where we did have 50,000," Elmore said. "In the Los Angeles area, we moved from a 50,000-square-foot warehouse in Montebello to a 100,000-square-foot facility in Santa Fe Springs. We're also developing a marketing office in High Point and looking to open a mid-Atlantic warehouse by early next year."
