City Furniture Opens Midtown Miami Showroom
Furniture World News Desk on
12/18/2017
The new 26,000-square-foot showroom at the District 36 complex in Midtown Miami is part of an estimated $100 million expansion.
City Furniture recently announced the first step in its largest-ever expansion With the opening of a sleek, new 26,000-square-foot showroom at the District 36 complex in Midtown Miami.
The estimated $100 million expansion is slated to create four new or renovated showrooms in South and Central Florida by year-end 2019, according to City Furniture Vice President of Operations and Marketing
Andrew Koenig.
“We see tremendous demand and growth potential in prime markets here and in the Orlando area, as populations grow and young families establish new households,” said Koenig. “We’d been searching for
the right location to open the largest modern furniture showroom in the heart of Miami’s fashion-focused areas. Creating this flagship store on the edge of Miami’s Design District and steps from Midtown’s shops is the ideal opportunity,” he added. Now open, the new store located at 3635 NE 1st Avenue is just a few blocks east of the I-95/195 exit.
“We’re able to bring shoppers what hasn’t been available in small furniture stores nearby – a deep selection of quality, on-trend Miami Modern furniture at amazingly affordable prices, delivered to their home by the next day,” Koenig added.
From its array of clean-lined furnishings, to the trendy KC Café and Wine Bar, plus City Furniture’s first-in-the-industry technology, the showroom’s customer experience will give shoppers a preview of the furniture industry’s brick-and-mortar retail future.
“Creating a relaxing, effortless customer experience drives our team,” said Koenig, who introduced and leads _kaizen _lean processes for continuous improvement throughout the company’s 29-store network
and its 909,000-square-foot distribution center and corporate headquarters in Tamarac. “Our customers want to relax while they’re here, and with the wine bar, they’ll be able to sip a glass of wine or a craft beer as they shop.”
Accented with mercury glass and brass, the Midtown Miami showroom’s wine bar is the company’s first. Shoppers at the Midtown showroom can enjoy happy hour with light menu from 4 to 8 p.m., and a KC Café barista will be on hand to make coffee drinks. As a long-time Miami-Dade community steward that supports Camillus House, Habitat for Humanity and other area non-profit organizations, City Furniture plans to make the wine bar available for local charities’ informal events and meetings. Koenig noted the wine bar concept will gradually be rolled into all City Furniture locations that currently have a KC Café.
Less visible, but key to the customer experience, is the innovative point-of-sale technology City Furniture developed in partnership with Apple and IBM and adopted in its stores earlier this year. When a
customer browses the showroom, the sales associate walking with her has instant access via iPad to all relevant information, including product availability from the vast inventory at the company’s massive distribution center.
“Answers to customer questions about colors, materials and fabrics, care and delivery scheduling are all at their fingertips,” Koenig said. “The customer and associate can complete her purchase with the
iPad, eliminating the inconvenience of sitting at a dedicated desk to make the purchase,” Koenig explained. “That unnecessary process is still standard practice in furniture retailing nationwide.”
“Staying a step ahead of change has kept City Furniture growing for more than four decades,” said Koenig, noting that the company’s team of more than 1,400 associates is adding 35-40 members in connection with the Midtown store, with dozens more expected by the end of 2019. The company’s Sawgrass showroom on its Tamarac campus is being renovated as the firm’s first Generation 3 location, set for completion in early 2018. Miller Construction Company has handled both build-out projects.
City Furniture expansion plans include additional showrooms in Miami-Dade County, Orlando and Altamonte Springs.
More about City Furniture: Ranked among Furniture Today magazine’s Top 100 U.S. Furniture Stores, City Furniture leads the industry in its trading area by providing shoppers with an outstanding array of styles and choices at great values. The company has 17 City Furniture stores in its network, which stretches from Miami through Vero Beach in southeast Florida, as well as Naples and Fort Myers on the state’s west coast. As the Ashley HomeStore licensee in southeast and southwest Florida, it owns and operates 12 Ashley HomeStore locations. For information, visit www.cityfurniture.com.