LANCASTER, Pa. — Interiors Furniture and Design will open its third store in Camp Hill/ Mechanicsburg, Pa. area next summer, building its presence in the central part of the state while introducing a new display format and rebranding campaign.
Published first in Furniture Today.
The Lancaster, Pa.-based retailer, with stores in Lancaster and Harrisburg, said the approximately 40,000-square-foot showroom will feature the same core assortment of brands at middle to high-end price points from sources such as Stickley, Century, Flexsteel, the Hooker companies and Serta and Tempur-Pedic in bedding.
The retailer hired Al Wight of Strategic Decisions to conduct market research to evaluate locations and develop Interiors’ marketing strategy with the new store.
When it opens, the retailer also will launch a re-branding campaign that it said will “further enhance the brand as well as better communicate the store attributes to consumers.” President and CEO Todd Lehman wasn’t ready to share details, but he said that among other things, the store name will be “enhanced,” noting that “interiors,” is commonly used in the name of other home furnishings businesses, which can confuse consumers.
Interiors is listed in Furniture Today’s Beyond the Top 100 report with estimated annual sales of $10 to $15 million. The company doesn’t disclose exact sales figures, but Lehman said it believes the new store will push it into the $16 million to $20 million sales range.
In Camp Hill, the retailer will lease space once occupied by Linens ‘n Things, sharing a building with a Michaels arts and crafts store. By the time the store opens in early summer, Interiors expects to have added about 14 employees. It’s a roughly $500,000 investment for the retailer, Lehman said.
The new store will be only about 10 miles from the retailer’s Harrisburg showroom, but Lehman said that greater Harrisburg is unusual in that the Susquehanna River cuts through the market, with Harrisburg on the east shore and suburbs such as Camp Hill and Mechanicsburg off the west shore.
Both areas are thriving, but Lehman said the river is a psychological barrier for some consumers.
“We feel in order to serve both markets well, we really need to get a store over on the west shore,” he said. Lehman noted the showroom will be highly visible, located near where three heavily traveled roads converge — State Route 15 and U.S. highways 81 and 83.
The store also will give the retailer more bang for its advertising dollars in Harrisburg, Lehman said, but at the same time, he believes the additional sales the store generates will fuel and even larger advertising budget in that market in the future.
Martin Roberts of Martin Roberts Design is developing the exterior and interior design, including store signage and graphics. Unlike the retailer’s other stores that display primarily by category or brand, the Camp Hill location will feature a combination of lifestyle presentations as well as an expansive design center to focus on the company’s commitment to design and custom orders.
Interiors was founded in 1969 by Lillian Lehman and now owned and managed by sons Todd and Gregg Lehman. Todd Lehman’s son, Justin Lehman, joined the business early this year as director of e-commerce and technology.