Harlem going to Indianapolis
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, July 29, 2007
Lombard, Ill. — The RoomPlace at Harlem Furniture will enter Indianapolis next year with two stores as it continues to branch out from its Chicago home.
The 30,000-square-foot showrooms — the retailer's 20th and 21st units — are slated to open in the Indianapolis suburbs of Greenwood in January and Castleton in March, treading on the territory of fellow Top 100 store Kittle's.
The Greenwood store on U.S. Highway 31 is being built from the ground up, while in Castleton, RoomPlace is renovating a former wholesale flower shop on East 82nd Street. The stores will open as The RoomPlace, dropping the "at Harlem Furniture" tag, just like the company's first store outside greater Chicago, which opened in Mishawaka, Ind., in January.
"With the service story we tell consumers and (the room-package emphasis), The RoomPlace really solidifies that proposition," said Sondra Wellmerling, vice president of marketing.
"What attracted us to Indianapolis was its combination of big-city amenities in a family-friendly environment," said CEO Bruce Berman. "It was the perfect fit for the store's wide breadth of styles and customer-centric approach to furniture."
"(Indianapolis) is really being re-energized and revitalized, and it's on a strong growth path in housing starts and population," Wellmerling said.
The retailer said it offers consumers complete rooms, including accessories, put together by professionals so the customer doesn't have to worry about pieces coordinating. Its business philosophy is, "The more you buy, the more you save."
Recent key suppliers have included Lifestyle Enterprise, New Generations and Simmons.
The company would not disclose its projected sales for Indianapolis, or its investment.
The midpriced RoomPlace is No. 43 on Furniture/Today's survey of Top 100 U.S. furniture stores, with estimated sales last year of $191.2 million, up 2.9% from the year before. Berman has said he expects the chain to do about $250 million this year.
Asked if more stores are planned for Indianapolis, Wellmerling said, "Potentially." She said the market might support a third store, but there are no commitments. As for other markets outside Chicago, she said the company is "aggressively evaluating real estate opportunities."
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