Kimbrell opens new store at North Carolina

Published on : Monday, October 14, 2019

Kimbrell welcomes guests to their new and largest store at North Carolina to cater to the eastern NC market. The new store is crowded with unique collections that are yet to be seen in any other stores. This is the first of the three new-format showroom made in 45,000 square foot store at 1370 Western Boulevard is one of three former Toy R Us buildings the Charlotte, N.C.-based Top 100 company acquired earlier this year for this new round of expansion.

With the larger space — which compares to a roughly 25,000-square-foot average for Kimbrell’s stores — the promotional to midpriced retailer introduced a few new lines and new architectural and other elements that take the company in new direction, appealing to a broader consumer base, including younger consumers, said Carol Faircloth, Kimbrell’s area supervisor for Eastern North Carolina

“We’ve improved the customer experience,” she said, noting special new features, including a Kimbrell’s café, serving coffee and cookies; a charging station for customers’ smartphones and tablets; and a newly designed and modern customer service area that has become a hub, she said, where customers can sit comfortably while waiting on, or going over, quotes, financing and other information.

Kimbrell’s also made lighting improvements in Jacksonville, adding grids that drop from the high ceiling and help define furniture vignettes. The exterior features a new logo, too — Kimbrell’s Home Furnishings — that plays up its core category. Previous logos have included the tagline “furniture, bedding, appliances, electronics,” but Faircloth noted furniture and bedding account for the majority of its business, and the retailer wanted to be sure to be recognized as a furniture store first and foremost in this new market.

kimbrells metro modern

The retailer created its first Metro Modern area featuring product from Urban Chic, Jackson and Ashley, among others. Kimbrell’s also took advantage of the larger space to bring on a few new vendors, including Riverside, Kingsdown for mattresses and Jackson stationary furniture. Other key brands include Ashley, including its Sierra Sleep bedding line, Corinthian, Liberty, Steve Silver, Klaussner, Homelegance, Home Insights and Catnapper. It has added more goods at the top end of its price spectrum but didn’t abandon the promotional to middle prices it’s known for, Faircloth said.

Kimbrell’s plans to use the same design in Greenville and Wilmington, also new markets for the chain with stores with 27 stores in the North Carolina, 23 in South Carolina and one in Georgia. All told, the retailer will invest roughly $15 million in the three new store projects, including remodeling, and if they perform as well as the Jacksonville store has started out, Faircloth said the company will eye additional expansion into New Bern, N.C., and other eastern North Carolina markets.

Tags: furniture industry, furniture retailing, Kimbrell, North Carilina