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UPDATE: Room & Board acquires building in Washington

Furniture store expected to open next spring

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, June 12, 2009

WASHINGTON — Room & Board will expand into this market next spring with a 31,600-square-foot showroom, its second on the East Coast.

The store will be in the historic Taylor Motors Building at 14th and T and will be Room & Board's 12th location - after the opening of another Southern California store this fall and including an outlet store that's open weekends only.

"Room & Board recognized Washington, D.C., as an ideal market for its new store after receiving strong demand and positive feedback from its 11,000 (catalog and Internet ) customers in the area," the Minneapolis-based retailer said in a release.

The company purchased the Taylor building for an undisclosed amount, hired a local architect and plans to hire local contractors and employees for the store.

"We are a national retailer with a local point of view, and we're glad to do our part to help the economy and be a good neighbor," said founder and President John Gabbert. "We're proud to bring our unique philosophies to Washington, D.C., and to support the American manufacturers and small, family-owned businesses that create our handcrafted furniture."

The new store initially will employ about 50 people, and others at a distribution center the company it plans to open. The retailer said the shell of the Taylor building will be refurbished "to preserve its historic character, reflecting Room & Board's environmental philosophy of design."

More expansion is on the way. The company expects to open its second Southern California store in Culver City this fall and has identified at least six additional new markets where it's looking to take its midpriced to upscale classic contemporary style - New Jersey, San Jose, Boston, Seattle, Miami and Dallas.

Room & Board is No. 34 on Furniture/Today's Top 100 with estimated sales last year of $217 million at nine stores in greater Minneapolis/St. Paul, Chicago, Denver, New York, San Francisco and Santa Ana, Calif. The retailer offers furniture that combines simple and classic designs that feature natural materials, and says that more than 85% of its assortment is made in America.

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Room & Board will expand into Washington

Jul 6, 2009

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