Broad River Retail’s newest store look, unveiled in Southern Pines, North Carolina, emphasizes an open shopping environment, features video walls and is designed to appeal to a variety of consumers.
The retailer’s 31st Ashley store in the Carolinas and Georgia spotlights what the company calls its “first 7.0 store design,” one that Charlie Malouf says will be a template for store designs to come.
“We intend for future store designs to follow the new 7.0 model,” says Malouf, chief executive officer of the company. “Southern Pines has been a big hit with our guests.”
Broad River Retail, based in Fort Mill, South Carolina, is one of the fastest-growing Ashley licensees in the country.
The Southern Pines store has a 32,000-square-foot showroom that includes an expansive Sleep Shop featuring the Ashley Sleep, Bedgear, Purple, Sealy, Stearns & Foster and Tempur-Pedic brands.
Malouf says the new 7.0 Ashley store design includes home furnishings that represent a variety of lifestyles and appeal to a wide range of customers. The displays are intended to be inspirational, giving customers the ability to envision how the furnishings could look in their homes.
He describes the new store as “our most beautiful showroom to date.”
Broad River officials recently opened the store with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“This store provides residents with another option to shop closer to home and created several new jobs with the majority staffed locally,” says Manny Rodrigues, Broad River’s chief operating officer. “Broad River Retail is familiar with this lively region of North Carolina. With an Ashley store in Fayetteville, our Memory Makers (Broad River’s term for its employees) have supported customers from the Sandhills for years.”
Janet Leimkuhler, director of visual impact for the retailer, says the new store “showcases a design to allow the products to shine. With the open plan and unique sightline features, our customers can easily navigate their shopping experience.”
Broad River has partnered with two Sleep in Heavenly Peace chapters in North Carolina as part of its commitment to give back to the communities where it operates. Sleep in Heavenly Peace is a group of volunteers who build, assemble and deliver bunk beds to children and families in need.
In recognition of the new store opening, Broad River will make donations to both of those chapters.
In addition, a portion of all mattress sales from the new store will be donated to Ashley’s Hope To Dream program, which provides beds to needy children.
