Affirmative reaction

The decision to locate there has been a very good one for Yes Home owners Tommy Nix and Keith Hobbs, who knew each other for years before going into business together. “Tommy has always had an eye for design,” said Hobbs, who brought a background in sales and retailing to the partnership. They began as a florist business, expanded into gifts and accessories, then grew to include a second store with furniture.

Eventually they sold both and opened Yes Home in an area where, since 2004, their store has been growing right along with the local economy. Midtown Atlanta offers an attractive mix of amenities and attractions, shopping and dining destinations, cultural entertainment, hotels, office space and residential areas, as well as proximity to downtown offices and destinations. It's home to Fox Theatre, Woodruff Arts Center, Piedmont Park, Atlanta Botanical Garden, High Museum of Art, the Atlanta Ballet and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. In warmer months, the area hosts the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Music Midtown, the Atlanta Pride Festival and the finish line of the Peachtree Road Race.

“We are in the center of the growth boom,” Hobbs said. “There's a lot of residential growth in the neighborhood and a lot more to come in the next few years. Midtown Atlanta is going vertical with several high-rises of up to 40 stories each.”

Another business move that paid off for the duo was their choice of a store name. “Yes” is a hard name for shoppers to forget and it offers a little bit of positive reinforcement in a big city where consumers have lots of retail choices. According to the staff, it's also an easy name for directory assistance operators and makes for some interesting telephone answering. Plus, the signage out front can't help but stir up a few positive feelings in anyone who chances to walk by the store, or through the front door into a well-edited blend of contemporary and transitional furniture, home accents, gifts and accessories … which is where the fun begins.

Hobbs and Nix say that watching someone's face and feeling their excitement when they come into the store for the first time is the most enjoyable part of the job. The showroom is airy, elegant and interesting; a well-organized, high-style operation with just enough offbeat twists and surprises to entice and intrigue. It's a merchandising layout that achieves the ultimate retail goal of making it almost impossible for a customer to leave before he or she has peeked around every corner, and into every nook and cranny, of the store.

It's also an elegant, tasteful look that works well in their market, and one that reflects a little of the owners' personalities. Both of them grew up in Alabama, Nix on the Gulf Coast and Hobbs in the rural southern part of the state. Successful as they may be in their current roles — Nix as Yes Home's CEO, Hobbs as the CFO — they profess a shared childhood ambition of becoming Carol Burnett dancers when they grew up. “Yes both of us, even before we knew each other. How funny is that!” Hobbs said.

A well-edited blend of contemporary and transitional furniture, home accents, gifts and accessories are displayed in elegant room vignettes that beckon visitors to explore the entire store.

Yes Home's well-organized, high-style layout presents many different textures, scents and sounds to soothe city shoppers and provide a lingering sensory experience.

Atlanta's competitive retail environment challenges Nix and Hobbs to keep things fresh and exciting. Original art and photography share space with merchandise selected from a wide variety of vendors to create a sophisticated, uncommon mix.

Hobbs and Nix are well-skilled at delivering enlightened elegance with a sparkle. Touches such as spot lighting on reflective surfaces and Nix's artful floral sculptures add excitement and interest to the artful restraint and sophisticated charm of their store.

The biggest challenge these days is keeping Yes Home's look fresh and exciting in a highly competitive retail city. They do it with transitional to soft contemporary styling that combines different textural elements of stone, wood, metal and glass. Solid colored upholstery softens the look, accented with pillows in stronger colors and patterns. The music is always playing, fragrant candles from the store's extensive collection are always burning, and a running waterfall fountain trickles in the background.

“We provide extremely friendly and knowledgeable service, and visuals that motivate consumers to buy,” Hobbs said. “We also purchase from a large variety of vendors to keep the mix uncommon.”

Lighting spots the merchandise, an assortment of furniture, home accents, candles and gifts, artfully displayed in room-staged vignettes with smaller items on vertical shelving. Original art and photography shares wall and surface space with works from Kinder-Harris, The Phillips Collection, Global Views, Art Club and M.A.C. Sculpture. An extensive selection of rugs includes selections from Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Chilewich, Creative Accents, Loloi, Hellenic, Grand Reserve, Benjamin Rug Imports, Surya and Roost. Added to the vendor mix are lamps and lighting products from Thumprints, Robert Abbey, Stonegate, Nova, Arteriors, Uttermost, Fire Farm and Orbit. The store also offers in-home consulting, start to finish decorating, and custom upholstery and drapery.

The store's mission is to provide customers with a comfortable, easy and exciting shopping experience, seven days a week. Nix and Hobbs are also active in the local community and participate in events such as Midtown's annual Shop & Dine Week, when community programs benefit from the proceeds of special offers from area retailers, hotels and restaurants. They reach some of their market with their Web site, direct e-mail and through advertisements in local publications, but most of their customers find the store simply by walking or driving by, lured by the window displays or perhaps the subliminal message of welcome and affirmation suggested by three letters out front: Yes.