Jerome's Furniture opens new Marketplace format

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, January 11, 2013

The new 3,000-square-foot Jerry’s Bloopers at Jerome’s Furniture Marketplace in Murrieta, Calif., “is where we get rid of furniture that makes me say ‘uh-oh,’” says Jerome’s chairman and owner Jerry Navarra.

The 3,500-square-foot Jerome’s Dream Shop at Jerome’s expanded store in Murrieta, Calif., features a separate entrance from the parking lot, giving bedding consumers easy access to the lines of mattresses from Serta, Simmons and other sources.

MURRIETTA, Calif. — Top 100 company Jerome's has transformed its flagship store here into its first Jerome's Furniture Marketplace, with three storefronts and an extra 10,000 square feet of selling space.

The nine-store San Diego-based Jerome's leases an additional 10,000 square feet in the Village Walk Plaza shopping center here, expanding its overall square footage to 60,000 square feet. The center includes 3,500 square feet for a Dream Shop sleep specialty store and 3,000 square feet for a Jerry's Bloopers clearance outlet.

The brands aren't new, but the format of separate storefronts, each with its own entrance, is a first for the retailer. Jerome's has not added any new vendors as a result of the expansion, it said.

CEO Lee Goodman said the new format will help time-strapped consumers, giving them easy access to specialty stores. Depending on the response to the changes here, Jerome's could roll the format out to its other stores or use it as a standard footprint for any new stores, he said.

"People are looking for convenience," he said. "If they can pop in one store that has exactly what they want and pop right back out, that's good for them."

In a release, the retailer said the Marketplace "allows consumers to ‘one-stop shop' for all their home needs, including design services, in one place."

Jerome's Furniture in the Marketplace continues to be the value-oriented, full-service format known for its everyday low prices (called "Jerry's price"). Lines carried at the new Dream Shop include Serta and Simmons as well as a private label Jerome's Signature brand that is the retailer's bestselling line.

Jerry Navarra

Jerry's Bloopers, named for chairman and owner Jerry Navarra, is the clearance outlet business, selling items such as buying mistakes as well as special deals, discontinued items and scratch and dent goods.

"It's a bit of a treasure hunt and merchandise changes on a daily basis," Navarra said.

"We are excited to announce this expansion," he added. "We've been active in the Murrieta market since 2009 with amazing results. It seems the community really responds to our styles, levels of service and pricing strategy. It was a natural evolution to offer more options to the area."