HOM's new Sioux City home will triple its space
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, March 31, 2008
Sioux City, Iowa — HOM Furniture will triple its space here when it relocates to the former Younkers Department store this summer.
It's one of four stores the Top 100 company is opening this year after about a three-year break in expansion.
HOM is leasing 60,000 square feet on two levels at the busy corner of Fourth and Pierce streets. HOM will move from its current 20,000-square-foot showroom on Nebraska Street.
With the move, the retailer will expand its offerings in all key categories and will add departments that that have been successful at its other stores, including the World Rugs department and The Passages Gallery of Fine Furniture, HOM's take on high-end looks at moderate prices.
HOM's bedding department will become a Sleep Express area, with mattresses from Serta, Tempur-Pedic and Comfortaire, as well as an exclusive line for toddlers to teens called Kid's Life, which HOM will show with youth bedroom collections.
Wayne Johansen, owner of the Top 100 company along with his brother, HOM CEO Rodney Johansen, and Carl Nyberg, wouldn't release projected sales for the store, but said the retailer is looking to double its business in the market.
With this and the opening of a 70,000-square-foot showroom in Rochester, Minn., this week, Coon Rapids, Minn.-based HOM will have a total of 13 stores: six in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area and one each in Sioux City; Sioux Falls, S.D.; Fargo, N.D.; Eau Claire, Wis.; and Duluth, Rochester, and St. Cloud, Minn., the latter opened in January. A 14th store is planned for Little Canada, Minn., later this year.
Johansen wouldn't disclose sales for the past year, saying only that same-stores were up and noting that he believes HOM has picked up market share, partly as a result of the now-bankrupt Wickes pulling out of Minneapolis in 2007.
"That helps us, and we've increased our advertising and are just executing at a higher level," he said.
One of the advantages of taking a breather from expansion for the past three years was the time it allowed HOM to work on becoming a better company.
""We've done a lot in sales training and in the last couple of years focused on how to make the experience for the customer just that much better," said Johansen.
