Susan Dickenson

STORE OPENINGS, EXPANSIONS, CLOSINGS
December 18, 2007

Brevard County, Fla. -- Professional surfer April Grover opened Island Inspiration with partner Lou Exline in Indian Harbour Beach. Grover, the former star of MTV's reality show "Surf Girls" carries indoor and outdoor furniture crated from natural materials including plantation and reclaimed teak, teak root, bamboo and cutaways from naturally felled trees. She located the store on Eau Gallie Boulevard near her parents' business, Sun Harbor Nursery. 

Montgomery, Ala. -- Tosh Parker brings nature inside at Sticks and Stones, her new shop at 2101 East Boulevard. Organic offerings include driftwood place mats, original hand-carved statues and benches made from reclaimed wood. Parker operates the store with her mother, Bamma Quates, a designer who produces stone, terra cotta and resin products for a company based in the Philippines.

St. Charles, Ill. – Sage Creek Ltd., owned by Christina and Mark Kwasniewski, recently opened at 1920 West Main Street in St. Charles. The store's product mix includes home accents, gifts, candles, jewelry and seasonal offerings. 

Indianapolis, In. -- MJ Layne, a home décor, gift and clothing shop, opened its doors to the public Saturday, Dec. 8, in Geist. Owners are Michele Lauer and Cindy Lauer. A grand opening is planned for January.
 
Roanoke, Va. -- Trish Martin and Randy Martin recently opened Cre8ive Expressions, in Blacksburg's newly expanded University Mall, selling furniture and home accessories, wall art, decorative figurines and ornaments.

Greensboro, N.C. -- The Heart of Living Home Gallery is moving to 320 S. Elm Street in downtown Greensboro. The store will close from Dec. 23 until it reopens in late January. A grand opening celebration is planned for Feb.1.

Charleston-Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Tennille & Co., a business that began in 1992 as The Plantation Shop in Atlanta’s Buckhead district, is opening a new retail store at 1644 Highway 17 North in Mt. Pleasant. Owned by Cassandra Tennille, the store carries home décor, furniture, antiques, ladies fashion accessories, children’s clothes and gift selections. Prior to the shop’s official opening in its newly remodeled building, Tennille & Co is operating an introductory “Holiday Under the Tent” shopping event Dec. 1-22.
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Greenwich, Ct. -- Designers Pat Healing and Dan Barsanti have brought their store, HB Home, to East Putnam Avenue in Greenwich. “Business in our Westport store has more than doubled in the past year,” Barsanti said. “We found that many of our clients were traveling from Greenwich and we wanted to bring our “prêt-a-habitat’ concept to this discerning clientele.” 

Palm Beach, Fl. – Floral sculptor and designer Emilio Robba opened his second U.S. boutique in Palm Beach at 333 S. County Road. Robba has had a shop in Coral Gables since January, and has more than 75 boutiques worldwide. 

Colorado retailer HW Home announces the opening of its fourth store, in Greenwood Village. The store's offerings include new designs from Dwell Studio, Bliss, Shine, Thomas O'Brien for Hickory Chair, and additions to HW Home's Nocturne bedding and Asian Modern accessories collections. HW Home also has locations in Boulder, Broomfield and Denver.

Raleigh, N.C. -- Darleen Johns, owner of Gecko’s Corner, a Raleigh home accessory, design, furniture, and gift store, hosted a grand opening event on December 4th at the store, located at 7416 Creedmoor Road. Gecko’s Corner offers high-quality, luxury home accessories, furniture and gifts, and an interior-design service. 

Rockdale, Il. -- TimberWolf Candles recently opened at 1840 Moen Avenue, stocking candles, home fragrance items, home accessories and jewelry.

Wickenburg, Ariz. -- Lisa Olson has doubled the size of her two-year-old store, Home Solutions. The store offers home accents, lamps, rugs, seasonal gifts and furniture, in traditional, Western, Southwestern and Tuscany styles.

Toronto, Canada -- Lowe's opened its first three Canadian stores Dec. 10 in the Greater Toronto Area, marking its first international expansion. The home improvements retailer opened stores in South Brampton, Brantford and Hamilton with three additional stores slated to open February 1. More than 15 additional Canadian sites are in various stages of development.

Ontario, Canada – Bed Bath & Beyond held a ribbon cutting for its first store in Canada Dec. 7. The new store is located at Bayview Glen Shopping Centre in Richmond Hill, Ontario. 

Lancaster, Pa. -- Stauffers garden center and supermarket of Kissel Hill recently broke ground on an $18 million transformation of its Rohrerstown location. The new location will offer more selections in the family-owned retailer’s product lines of nursery plants, food, casual furniture and home accents. The new facility will also include additional greenhouses, covered walkways, a 7,000-sq.-ft. showroom for casual furniture, a bank branch, pharmacy, photo center, bistro and catering service. The first phase will open this spring.

CLOSING: Ft. Wayne, In. -- Hoffman Collection, which sells home accents and furniture, will close by the end of the year. The business is 31 years old and is owned by John Hoffman. Charleston-Mt. Pleasant, S.C. -- Low Country Home Furnishings, located in Mount Pleasant Towne Centre, will close by the end of the year. Frances and Dennis Ward started the business in 1978.

Posted by Susan Dickenson on December 18, 2007 | Comments (0)