Gabberts Introduces Nation's First 'Lifestyle' Home Furnishings Retail Store in Dallas

Furniture World Magazine

Gabberts Furniture and Design Studio introduced Dallas to the first "lifestyle" home furnishings store in the country when it completed a two-year, $4 million head-to-toe renovation. Located at 13 342 Midway Road, the 100,000 square foot retail showroom has been retooled to create a shopping experience that is both inspirational and simple. Wrapped in the theme "Living Dallas Style," the store's main level features 13 distinctive lifestyle areas in four different "stores" within the store - The Grand Salon, The Skyline, The Crossroads and The Great Escape. Each area has its own entry portal and signage explaining its theme and the lifestyles shoppers will find there. "Our new store design is all about our guests and how they want to shop. We've created an environment that is luxurious, relaxed, inspiring and simple to navigate," said Kevin Hobbs, vice president of Texas stores. "Every person has his or her own personal design style, and they usually need to traverse an entire store to find items that match their tastes. In our Dallas showroom, we've created lifestyle collections, made up of similar-style furnishings and accessories, that let our guests enjoy one-stop shopping." In The Grand Salon, the store's traditional furnishings storefront, guests will find six distinctive lifestyles, including Classic Traditional, Continental, Grand Elegance, Vintage, Updated Traditional and Ralph Lauren. "Lifestyles includes items - furniture, accessories, lighting, area rugs, artwork - for every area of the home. It's all in one place," Hobbs said. "And all similar lifestyles are grouped together, making it easy is to blend like design styles. The result for the customer is a custom-tailored personal style." The Skyline is the store's contemporary area, which houses the Penthouse lifestyle. In The Crossroads guests will find transitional lifestyles called California and Casual Elegance. The lifestyles in The Great Escape, including Country Living, Texas Ranch, Arts & Crafts and Euro Country, all cater to casual living. The second level of the store is home to seven specialty shops arranged in a mall-like format, including Casual Dining, City Lights, Floor Decor, Drearnscapes, Gabberts Kids and The Retreat. Also on this level are the store's trademark Garden Court refreshment area and children's play center - complete with a cow table and an oil derrick outfitted with computers. The award-winning Design Studio of Gabberts, The Inspiration Center for custom design, and the Community Learning Center, where Gabberts hosts more than 300 education classes each year, complete the second level. Other unique store features include a multi-media "immersion" show at the main entryway that is designed to get customers in an inspirational frame of mind. Questions like "What inspires you?" and "How do you want to live?" flash on the walls as guests pass through the circular walkway. In The Great Escape area, a large custom-made oak tree appears to grow up through the ceiling, and The Grand Salon features a working lion-head fountain and an oversized clock. Gabberts began developing concepts for a retail showroom that would transform the way consumers shop for home furnishings in the spring of 1999. Research found that people were looking for stores that were inspirational, inviting and easy to shop. Under the guiding hand of company CEO Jim Gabbert, who is widely recognized as a retailing and design innovator, the company selected its Dallas showroom to be the flagship store for its new design concept. Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Minneapolis, Gabberts Furniture and Design Studio was named the "Best Home Furnishings Retailer in America" by House Beautiful magazine. The company opened its Dallas showroom in 1973 and its Forth Worth showroom in 1987. The Dallas store was recently named "Best Tried and True Interiors Store" in D Home and Garden magazine, and the Fort Worth store was named "Best Furniture Store" in Fort Worth, Texas magazine. In addition to housing the largest collection of home furnishings and accessories in the Metroplex, each store offers comprehensive interior design services through the award-winning Design Studio of Gabberts. Staffed by many of the area's most talented interior designers, services are complimentary with purchase. The company also operates an outlet store in Dallas. For more information, visit www.gabberts.com.