Badcock center opens
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 27, 2005
Mebane, N.C. — W.S. Badcock opened its fourth distribution center here, a 200,000-square-foot, high-ceilinged giant that will support the company's expansion into Virginia, West Virginia and eastern Kentucky as well as future growth into eastern North Carolina.
The facility — an approximately $10 million investment with 22 bay doors and room for later expansion — is on line with 38 stores transferred from the company's other centers. It will grow gradually as the company brings on new stores in new markets.
Badcock expects to enter its eighth state, Virginia, with a company-owned store there by the end of the year, said Don Marks, president and CEO of the Mulberry, Fla.-based retailer. Most of the store growth will come in the dealer-owned segment, but Marks said Badcock will open a few company-owned stores "to seed" the expansion strategy — stores it could later sell.
Independent dealers own more than 260 of Badcock's 320 stores. About 170 stores have been updated to the company's Badcock Home Furniture & more interior and exterior format over the past few years.
"We think this (Mebane center) will serve up to 200 stores," Marks said. In addition to the new state markets, he sees tremendous opportunity to grow in eastern North Carolina. A few stores already have opened there with sales volume he termed outstanding.
The ribbon-cutting here drew hundreds of guests — including local officials, vendor representatives and members of the founding Badcock family — who toured the sparkling new facility in this town east of Greensboro and Burlington, N.C.
"We see this new distribution center as a linchpin for Badcock's expansion," said Mike Whitten, director of dealer development for the retailer. "We have been actively speaking to entrepreneurs interested in business ownership opportunities and welcome continued inquiries about the potential to own a Badcock store in these new markets."
Through a series of area development agreements with local entrepreneurs, Badcock has lined up more than 20 stores committed to opening soon — mostly in the new markets covered by the Mebane facility.
Marks said it could take 10 to 15 years to reach the center's 200-store capacity, and noted that the ability to make an investment with a long-term payoff is one of the advantages to operating a privately held business.
The distribution center is Badcock's largest next to its 360,000-square-foot Mulberry facility. It was dedicated to Wogan Badcock Jr., father to the fourth-generation Badcock operators, who took the company from 50 stores to 250 stores during his CEO tenure.
"He realized he had to have the back office systems and distribution systems to allow Badcock to grow," Marks said. He credited Wogan Jr. with creating those systems.
Badcock regional manager Van Cochran will manage the Mebane center. He also heads the retailer's Cullman, Ala., distribution center. Badcock's fourth facility is in Thomson, Ga.
At the dedication, in keeping with its tradition of giving back to its communities, Badcock presented the local chapter of United Way with a $5,000 donation.
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Badcock distribution center opens
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