Wickes to enter Las Vegas market
Two or three stores planned for mid-2007
Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, December 7, 2006
WHEELING, Ill. — Top 100 retailer Wickes Furniture is expanding into the growing Las Vegas market and expects to have two stores, possibly three, open there by the middle of 2007.
“We believe it’s a viable market for us to grow,” said John Disa, president and CEO, citing the population and housing starts growth in one of the nation’s hottest markets. “The customer base fits right into our segment.”
Disa declined to identify locations but said they meet Wickes’ criteria for high traffic count, visibility and accessibility. “I have two locations and I’m looking for a third, which I should have shortly,” he said.
The stores will be 40,000 to 42,000 square feet and fall within the normal Wickes prototype, he said.
Wickes’ announcement caps an aggressive year-end flurry of openings for the company. Stores will open within the next several weeks in Costa Mesa, Victoriaville, Santa Clarita and Corona, Calif., and Schaumburg, Ill.
Owned by Sun Capital Partners, the mid-priced retailer has stores in greater Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and Portland, Ore. — the last market it entered, in 1990, and where it now has three stores and a distribution center.
Each of the previous markets has centralized distribution, but the distribution strategy in Las Vegas is still under consideration, Disa said.
“We’re evaluation our options, either between setting up a satellite there or a cross-dock facility,” he said. “We’re looking at the options right now and are very close on deciding. Our real estate supports itself.”
By year’s end, Wickes will have 39 or 40 stores, according to Disa. The company plans to open 12 more stores in 2007 and close two, giving it a total of 50 stores by the end of next year. When that expansion complete, the company will have opened 25 stores in three years.
The Las Vegas stores will have a clean, contemporary, industrial look, with floor-to-ceiling glass and interior architecture that includes the use of brick, brushed-metal and wood trim. The company has remodeled several of its existing showrooms to duplicate the look.
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