Toms-Price expands
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 24, 2008
Wheaton, Ill. — Toms-Price is set to expand with its fifth Chicagoland store as the upscale retailer celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
The company, led by third and fourth generation members of the Price family, will open a two-level, 32,000-square-foot store in the affluent suburb of South Barrington. The standalone store will be part of a 600,000-square-foot, high-end lifestyle center called the Arboretum of South Barrington. A soft opening is planned for this fall, with a grand opening in January 2009.
The center will be near Interstate 90, which extends west into about five other communities experiencing tremendous residential growth, said Scott Price, co-owner.
"We feel South Barrington dovetails nicely with our upper-end business," he said. "We're excited to both serve the existing community and capitalize on the growth potential."
The Arboretum also fits with the Toms-Price niche, aiming to appeal to the well-heeled with tenants such as Ruth's Chris Steak House and Gold Class Cinemas. Gold Class will feature theater rooms where consumers make reservations, are served alcoholic beverages and food, and recline in comfortable cinema seating. Price said Gold Class operates in Australia and Europe, but this will be its first U.S. location.
Top 100 competitor Arhaus Furniture also is expected to be in the center.
Toms-Price will own its space in the center as it does all of its stores, but Price wouldn't disclose its investment or any sales figures.
He did say the retailer's business has been "pretty stable and solid." Sales of Stickley furniture, its largest vendor, were up 17% last year and are off to a strong start in 2008.
"We've had double-digit growth with Stickley every year for the past 10 years and we hope to continue that," Price said.
Founded in 1908 by Edmund Toms and George Price, Toms-Price opened its first store on Chicago's Wabash Avenue. It opened a store in Wheaton in 1955 (currently its largest at 70,000 square feet) and has since opened other Chicagoland showrooms in Lincolnshire, Skokie and Bloomingdale.
To mark its 100th anniversary, Toms-Price has updated and remodeled all of its stores for this year, adding casual lifestyle departments with a contemporary flair in Wheaton and Lincolnshire and an area dedicated to Arts and Crafts furniture in Skokie. On Presidents Day weekend, it introduced newly expanded Oriental rug galleries in all stores.
Tom-Price has updated its furniture lineup as well, adding vendors including Hickory White and Bernhardt while strengthening its assortment from existing suppliers, including Stickley, John Widdicomb and Baker.
In honor of the late Alfred Audi, the longtime Stickley leader and president who died in October, Toms-Price has partnered with the nonprofit group RISE International to build a school for about 500 children in the African nation of Angola. The Price family has donated $25,000 to the project and another $25,000 will come from the store through profits generated from a limited edition Tom Jones Drinks Table by Stickley, which Toms-Price is offering exclusively in Illinois.
Price, who sits on RISE's board, will travel to Angola in July for the dedication of the school in Audi's name. In a release, Toms-Price said that beyond South Barrington, it will continue to pursue growth opportunities in greater Chicago.
"We've had a pretty great start to this year and have a pretty good story," Price said. "We're tying to grow our business, increase our market share and plan for the next hundred years."
Toms-Price President David Price said the company is proud to achieve the 100-year milestone.
"It's rare for a company to survive to the second, third and fourth generation," he said. "We are grateful to our loyal customers and dedicated employees."
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