Broyhill plans big WMC space
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 3, 2003
Las Vegas — Broyhill has signed a lease for a nearly 20,000- square-foot space at the top of the planned World Market Center here, seeing it as an up-and-coming regional market to reach retailers in the West.
"We believe the new World Market Center will develop into a viable and well-attended regional furniture market," said Broyhill President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Burgette, "and is sure to be an exciting venue to display our products and conduct business with our regional customers."
He said a Broyhill representative is on WMC's 18-member board of advisors. The Furniture Brands International division has a lease for 19,691 square feet on the 10th floor of the planned 1.3 million-square-foot first building.
While WMC developers are promising an international flavor for the market in Las Vegas, Burgette said Broyhill doesn't expect its showroom there to affect its strategy in High Point, where it has a 127,000-square-foot showroom serving domestic and international dealers.
Some retailers may go to both markets, Burgette said, but he expects to see dealers primarily from the West in Las Vegas.
Broyhill doesn't plan to leave the San Francisco Mart, he added. The company leases about 12,000 square feet in the SFM, where it returned in July 2000 after a long absence. Business there has remained strong, with written business at last month's market up from a year ago, Burgette said.
He said the company's San Francisco strategy "will evolve as dealer participation trends in supplementary markets develop in the future. We're going to be where the customer goes."
He would not disclose the terms of Broyhill's leases, including the time left on its San Francisco contract. Broyhill also has smaller showrooms in Toronto and Guadalajara, Mexico.
"Having Broyhill on board in Las Vegas is certainly a validation of our project," said WMC General Manager Dave Palmer. "We're thrilled to have one of the industry's best-known brands. It will be a tremendous draw and asset for our project. They have an incredible retail base and ... they've taken a large enough showroom to give a full shopping experience to the dealers."
WMC expects to break ground in March and plans to complete the first building in the proposed $1 billion, 7.5 million-square-foot complex sometime next year. To date, 199 signed tenants have been named out of about 250 companies that have either signed leases or committed to doing so (see list at right).
