West Palm Beach Ashley, and Cutler, FL store renderings.
City Furniture, South Florida’s top-selling furniture retailer, launched an $17.5 million expansion program to construct or renovate five stores from Miami to West Palm Beach, beginning with the major renovation of its Dadeland store in Pinecrest.
City Furniture President Keith Koenig said the company will start hiring in the coming months for a total of more than 75 permanent jobs it plans to create in the region by early 2013. Reflecting the company’s strength in the Dadeland, Cutler Bay, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach markets, the expansion program calls for three store openings during 2012 and will create work for several hundred construction tradespeople.
“We’re confident in South Florida’s future,” Koenig said. “We’ve been acquiring properties for this expansion for the last few years, and while it may seem we’re going against the economic tide, the timing is right. We’re seeing increases in year-over-year sales, plus well-timed opportunities to dramatically increase sales at proven locations.” The firm has captured market share in tough economic times, he added, by providing exceptional value for the price and meeting customers’ needs with branded services including “Same Day Delivery 7 Days a Week.”
Koenig announced plans to build marketwide on the success of his company’s innovative “green” City Furniture/Ashley Furniture HomeStores superstore concept. As the Ashley Furniture HomeStores licensee in southeast and southwest Florida, City Furniture has already achieved strong results by offering the two brands in adjoining stores in Boca Raton, Stuart, Wellington, Fort Myers and Naples.
As City Furniture “reinvents” its brand to meet customers’ changing needs, the firm will roll out the upscale, environmentally friendly next-generation store design it debuted in Boca Raton earlier this year, Koenig said. Each store in the expansion is being designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Shoppers can expect plenty of floor-to-ceiling “eye appeal” with richly textured materials, in addition to the host of energy efficient features.
Expansion plans include:
- A $3.5 million renovation and expansion now underway at City Furniture’s Dadeland area store at 9255 S. Dixie Highway – the company’s highest performing store per square foot. Contractor Stiles Construction is adding a second floor and doubling the store to about 30,000 square feet. A fully-stocked temporary location is now open in the former Borders store just steps away to serve shoppers throughout the construction period, which is set for spring 2012 completion. Koenig said the firm seeks a nearby location for an Ashley Furniture HomeStore.
- In Cutler Bay, City Furniture’s $7 million investment will create a new, high-profile 56,000-square-foot City Furniture store fronting on U.S. 1, on property adjacent to its existing store at SW 187 Street. Stiles will begin the construction project in December, Koenig said, with completion expected in August 2012. Stiles will then renovate the existing store as an Ashley Furniture HomeStore, connecting it to the new facility to create a 90,000-square-foot superstore with two distinct brands under one roof.
- Along Fort Lauderdale’s “Furniture Row,” City Furniture will demolish the former Modernage store at Federal Highway and NE 38 Street, Oakland Park, and build a $3 million, 25,000-square-foot Ashley Furniture HomeStore. Koenig plans that Miller Construction Co. will begin the work in spring 2012 for completion by year-end. He added that a major bank is expected to sign a ground lease and build a branch with drivethroughs on the corner of the site. The location is just a few doors north of a busy City Furniture store, which has been fully renovated.
- To create a two-brand superstore in West Palm Beach, Koenig plans to build a $4 million Ashley Furniture HomeStore adjacent to the existing City Furniture store at 2121 Palm Beach Lakes Boulevard. The stores’ interiors will connect, making it easy to park once for two stores, Koenig added. He anticipates Miller will begin construction in 2012’s second quarter, for completion in early 2013. At completion, the firm will close its existing, leased Ashley Furniture HomeStore on Okeechobee Blvd.
The furniture retailer currently operates 14 City Furniture and nine Ashley Furniture HomeStore locations in Southeast and Southwest Florida. Growing “smarter and greener” as it reconfigures its network, the company has increased sales this year despite closing three stores in late 2010. For more information visit www.cityfurniture.com.