Toms-Price grand opening draws 5,000
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, February 10, 2002
Wheaton, Ill. — Dozens of factory executives and thousands of consumers stopped in to tour and celebrate the newly expanded and remodeled Toms-Price store here.
The grand opening event attracted more than 5,000 shoppers looking to get a taste of a grand addition to one of Chicago's leading high-end stores.
The expanded building, with 65,000 square feet of showroom and design studio, now spans 129 years of construction. The oldest part of the building is actually a house, built in 1872. The newest and largest section of the store, built in the style of a contemporary warehouse showroom, was completed late last year.
In the new space, Toms-Price is spreading its wings.
"Over the years, we were pretty much exclusively 18th century and American reproductions," said David Price, president. "We've certainly branched out a bit in the last 10 years, but now in our new space, we're getting into a more international look as well the urban loft style."
Toms-Price collaborated with Stan Bossler of Bossler Design Services in planning the expanded interior of the 26,000-square-foot, two-level addition.
It features several large windows and an atrium, allowing natural light to pour in. In the older sections of the buildings, skylights were added and walls were removed or reduced in order to achieve the same effect and to open the store's sight lines. The $4 million project also included new flooring throughout.
A key aspect of the project was the expansion and improvement of the store's design studio, which had been squeezed into 1,000 square feet in the oldest part of the building. It is now more than twice as large, allowing the store's designers and clients to comfortably spread out as they work.
Toms-Price also has a store in a two-year-old building in Lincolnshire north of Chicago. The next big project for the company comes later this year when it installs French cafés in both its stores. "People are going to spend a lot of time in the store so we want to make them feel comfortable and at home," said Price.
At the grand opening event, the crowds were so big that the caterer had to run out and replenish the drinks and snacks several times.
"The response to our invitations was fantastic," said Price. "They just kept streaming in. It was awfully gratifying to have that happen."
| The new wing of the Toms-Price gives the company an even more distinctive presence in historic Wheaton, Ill. |
| This elegant country setting features a table and sideboard from Wright Table and chairs from Ficks Reed. |
| The new wing has a more contemporary design than the old, allowing Toms-Price to add several urban loft vignettes. This one features Stickley case goods and upholstery. |
| Guests at the grand opening look over the store's design studio, which was more than doubled in size to 2,500 square feet. The studio is in the oldest part of the Toms-Price building in Wheaton, Ill., circa 1872. |
| Toms-Price built its reputation for premium home furnishings in Chicagoland with traditional styles such as this vignette from Hickory Chair. |
| Guests at the grand opening crowd into a 175-square-foot landing inside the main entrance, which connects the old space with the new. It serves as a showcase for featured vignettes. |
| Officially opening the Toms-Price store expansion are family members Ed Price, left, Scott Price, David Price and Denice Price, with the mayor of Wheaton, Ill., Jim Carr. |
| Hank Holste, left, Baker/Milling Road; David Price, Toms-Price, Rick Vaughn and Charlie Flynn, both of Baker/Milling Road. |
| John Burgess, left, and Jim MacLennan, both of Isenhour; Amy Dvorak, Stickley; and Dwight Isenhour. |
| Fred Heagarty, left, Lexington; Camille Snyder, Toms-Price; Lenwood Rich, Lexington; Lynn Birnbach, Toms-Price; and Ted Philpott, Lexington. |
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