R.C. Willey readying Calif. distribution center
Facility will serve showrooms set to open in California and Reno
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, October 22, 2005
Roseville, Calif. — R.C. Willey will lease space here for a 495,000-square-foot distribution center to serve a Reno, Nev., store that will open soon, its first California showroom under construction in the Rocklin area, and one or two others planned for metro Sacramento, Calif.
The 12-store Salt Lake City-based retailer, part of the Top 100 Berkshire Hathaway furniture division, would not disclose the terms of the lease or the projected investment in the facility, expected to open in February. The space is part of a former Hewlett Packard manufacturing and distribution facility and will create about 150 jobs.
"We are excited to enter the California market and provide a unique retail experience for those shopping for furniture, appliances, electronics or flooring," said R.C. Willey CEO Scott Hymas. "Roseville will be an ideal location to service our stores in Rocklin and Reno and future stores in the greater Sacramento area."
In Reno — after severe winter weather delayed construction — R.C. Willey is finally preparing to soft open a 170,000-square-foot store and warehouse within a few weeks.
That store will be supported by the company's Salt Lake City distribution center until the Roseville facility opens.
The 150,000-square-foot store in Rocklin, a Sacramento suburb, will open in June. The retailer wants to open a second Sacramento store by late 2007 if all goes well, although that is still a tentative date, said company President Jeff Child.
"The more we can do (quickly), the better cost-wise we're going to be," Child said, noting that multiple stores create improvements in advertising efficiency and in flowing more volume through a distribution center.
"Sacramento can easily handle two and maybe three stores," he said. "We anticipate that's going to be a good market for us."
Supporting a larger market area than Reno, the Rocklin store will be about the same size as R.C. Willey's Las Vegas-area stores, with roughly the same annual sales volume — about $90 million, Child said. Add this to the projected sales at the Reno store, which is expected to do about half the volume as Rocklin, and R.C. Willey's annual sales should eventually move well past $700 million.
Last year, the company did about $600 million in sales, Child has said, with about 60% of the volume from furniture, bedding and accessories.
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UPDATE: Finger leaves furniture business
Mar 17, 2009 -
R.C. Willey to build Sacramento store
Jan 23, 2005 -
R.C. Willey to open Calif. store
Jan 5, 2005 -
R.C. Willey off to fast start in Reno
Feb 12, 2006
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