Interior Illusions opens I Squared boutique in downtown L.A.

store openings

-- Home Accents Today, 3/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

Los Angeles — Home furnishings and decor store Interior Illusions has opened I Squared boutique in downtown Los Angeles' Great Republic Lofts Building at 758 Spring Street. I Squared features a variety of home and lifestyle products ranging from kitchen and bath accessories to art, sofas, rugs and office products. Product lines include Gus furniture, Umbra, 18 Karat, Camerich and Blu Dot Home

Mike Valles, owner of I Squared and Interior Illusions, hopes the shop will fill a void for downtown dwellers. “We are excited to introduce I Squared to Angelenos as it offers solutions for those looking for sexy, chic finds right in their neighborhood,” he said. “We simply could not ignore the growing demands of our downtown clientele and are proud to offer them modern, stylish products for their home, office and lifestyle.”

Interior Illusions operates at three Southern California locations, in West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Palm Springs, and offers full-service interior design, staging and custom furnishings. In business since 1999, the company has designed and created spaces and furnishings for residential and commercial use including the new W Hotel & Residences in Hollywood.

In 2009, Interior Illusions received the industry's ARTS Award for Top Furniture Showroom in the Western United States.

Collierville, Tenn. — Furniture and accessories retailer I.O. Metro opened its 16th store and second Memphis-area location, at The Avenue Carriage Crossing, 4600 Merchant's Park Circle, in Collierville. The store donated 10% of all sales during its February grand opening event to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I.O. Metro also has locations in Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas. CEO Jay Howard recently told Furniture/Today he plans to open two more stores in the Kansas City market in the second quarter and will enter the Atlanta market in the third quarter with three stores opening simultaneously. The new Collierville showroom is 15,000 square feet.

Germantown, Tenn. — Millennium Home Furnishings & Accents has signed a lease for 12,200 square feet in the Forest Hill Crossing Shopping Center, at Poplar Pike and Forest Hill-Irene Road. Millennium also has a store at 3670 Houston Levee Road. Owners are Robert Bowden and Eric Triche.

Honolulu — Bed Bath & Beyond plans to open its first store in Hawaii later this summer, at Pearlridge Center. The retailer signed a lease for a 65,000-sq.-ft. space formerly occupied by Circuit City.

Charlotte, N.C. — Home decor retailer Casual Elegance is opening in 2,500 square feet at the new Blakeney Crossing mixed-use development this spring. Owners Bob and Beth Taflinger own the store, which carries traditional and transitional decor, artwork, accessories, jewelry and gifts. Located at the corner of Ardrey Kell and Rea Roads, Blakeney Crossing has 87,000 square feet of retail space.

Bridgewater, N.J. — Christmas Tree Shops opened its seventh New Jersey location, in the Somerset Shopping Center at 365 Route 202/206. The 29,000-sq.-ft. store carries home furnishings, housewares, gifts, paper goods and seasonal decor. Founded in 1970 as a Christmas gift shop on Cape Cod, the chain, now a year-round shopping destination, was purchased in 2003 by Bed Bath & Beyond. Today, Christmas Tree Shops operates more than 60 locations in 15 states.Nesconset, N.Y. — Bob's Discount Furniture opened its 36th store in Nesconset, N.Y,. in February, one of five it plans to open this year. The retailer, which has stores in New England, New Jersey and New York, plans to expand into the Mid-Atlantic states in 2011. Last year, Bob's opened its first New York stores in Yonkers, Poughkeepsie and Carle Place.

Pottstown, Pa. — Ashley Furniture recently debuted a new, smaller retail prototype in Pottstown and hopes to open more similar concept franchise stores this year. The stores will offer furniture groups at a single price (all sofas $399, rugs $99, for example) and a cantilever frame will enable merchandise to be vertically stacked.

Cincinnati — Anthropologie announced plans to open a location in an 11,800-sq.-ft. space at Kenwood Towne Centre. The retailer is also opening a new store later this year in Palm Desert, Calif., at The Gardens on El Paseo. Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters Inc. owns and operates 135 Anthropologie stores in the United States and Europe.

Seffner, Fla. — With two new distribution centers in place and hints that the economic climate is improving, Rooms To Go plans to open 16 new stores over the next 18 months, its biggest growth push in at least the last three years. Jeff Seaman, CEO of the 121-store Top 100 company, said the growth will boost its store count by about a dozen units. The rest will be replacement stores, as the retailer converts some of its oldest and smaller showrooms to the updated 35,000- to 40,000-sq.-ft. formats, most including attached Rooms To Go Kids & Teens showrooms. About three of the former Rhodes locations that RTG acquired in 2005 will be replaced with new stores, including the showroom in Mobile, Ala. Roughly half of the net growth will come in Texas, including two new markets Seaman wouldn't identify. About three stores will open in Florida — including new market Destin — and the others will be in Georgia and Alabama, he said.

New stores are already under construction in Houston and Dallas and in the Perimeter Mall area of metro Atlanta, where RTG is filling out existing territory and expects to open within six months. In addition, a 30,000-square-foot Sarasota, Fla., store will soon be under construction to replace what Seaman called a “vintage 1991” showroom, probably by the end of the year.

Seaman said his company started to see a turn for the better in business this past fall. “I'm feeling better (about business),” Seaman added. “I think it's going to be a slow slog out of it, but there's no doubt things are a little better.” For 2009, he estimated sales came in at about $1.35 billion for the company, down about 11% from the year before. — Clint Engel, Furniture/Today

Send your store opening announcements to Retail Editor Susan Dickenson atsusan.dickenson@reedbusiness.com.