Ennis Fine Furniture opening Thomasville store
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2005
Meridian, Idaho — Ennis Fine Furniture will open a 14,000-square-foot Thomasville Home Furnishings store here in February, the first of three planned by the retailer over the next 12 to 18 months as it dives into dedicated stores.
The store in this western suburb of Boise will be the seventh unit for the family-owned, upscale Ennis, and its first Thomasville store. It will feature about 12,000 square feet of selling space and will have the new interior design unveiled by Thomasville in October at a Hendricks Furniture Group store in Jamestown, N.C.
Ennis also is exploring opening Thomasville stores in Reno, Nev., and Spokane, Wash., where it has other stores, said Dick Ennis, president of the Boise-based company.
"We know (Thomasville's) program has been a success, and the opportunity for this property (in Meridian) became available," he said.
Ennis said Meridian is a growing area and the store site, a former high-end furniture store, is right off Interstate 84 at Sorrento Drive. Ennis is leasing the space with an option to buy in three years. He estimated the project cost, including inventory, tenant upgrades and renovations, will be about $750,000 and said the store should build to $2.5 million to $3 million in annual sales.
"Meridian has experienced tremendous growth, and the timing couldn't be better to open an independent Thomas-ville Home Furnishings store," Ennis said.
Managing the store will be Mike Madison, currently sales manager of Ennis' three Boise stores. He has been with Ennis for five years and in the furniture industry for 35 years.
The company wants to open the Reno and Spokane Thomasville stores — in the 13,000- to 15,000-square-foot range — within 18 months, and probably will have to build from the ground up in both cases, Ennis said.
"They're longtime Thomas-ville customers, great operators and the kind of people we really want to grow with," said Eric Easter, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Thomasville Furniture Inds. "They're dominant in their markets for better-end furniture."
Thomasville expected to end 2004 with 157 dedicated stores, and it plans to open a net 20 new stores this year.
As Ennis opens Thomasville stores it will move the line out of existing stores, freeing up space to expand other high-end lines such as Stickley and Henredon, and possibly add others, Ennis said.
Also this spring, the retailer will open a 16,000-square-foot outlet called Ennis D&O (for discontinued and overstocks). "The philosophy behind it is ... high-end furniture but at discount prices, at least 50% off suggested list," Ennis said.
That will give the retailer four showrooms at one location, at 23rd Street and Fair-view Avenue in Boise, as well as the Meridian store.
The chain had a good year in 2004, Ennis said, noting that Boise has become a hot spot for retirees, especially those from California. He estimated sales would reach $19 million, up from about $17 million in 2003. With the new stores set to open, he projected sales could hit $23 million in 2005.
With the four-store expansion, Ennis will operate 10 stores — five in greater Boise, including an upscale Drexel Heritage and Lexington showroom, a Stickley and Henredon showroom and a Bassett at Home and Patio shop; two in Reno and Spokane; and one in Richland, Wash.
Founded by Dick Ennis' father, R.C. Ennis, the company is celebrating its 59th anniversary this year. All six of Dick Ennis' children are involved in the business.
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