by Jerome’s Furniture is launching two outdoor furniture superstores situated inside the company’s San Diego Morena Blvd. and San Marcos locations.
Together, the superstores offer 17,000 square feet of space and this is a brand new category for the retailer. Jerome’s stores range from 30,000 square feet all the way up to 90,000 square feet in size, and the company chose larger showrooms to display these outdoor stores within stores.
Previously, they carried smaller outdoor pieces and one-off items in all Jerome’s stores, but the new outdoor shops will have a full selection of outdoor furniture and accessories.
In an interview with Casual News Now, Jeromes’ Executive Vice President Jim Navarra said the outdoor category makes up about two percent of their total sales, which is a small piece, but they’re expecting that to grow.
The company started working on the concept over a year ago and Navarra said it took longer than it would normally take because of supply chain issues and because they wanted to create spaces that facilitate the display of outdoor furniture
“Especially starting in the summer of last year we saw the outdoor category take off,” Navarra says. “What the industry saw was the attention on people to furnishings their home, including the outdoors, and we haven’t seen that trend slow down this year. It’s absolutely part of a larger trend of people paying more attention to their outdoor spaces.”
And being in San Diego, the retailer doesn’t have to worry about outdoor off seasons because they’re in a unique market where “any time of year is a good time for outdoor furniture.” Navarra said.
In the future, the company plans to use its location to its advantage while it continues to focus on the category.
“You’d think there would be a dominant player in our market for outdoor, but the way we see it, it’s fragmented and there’s no destination,” Navarra says. “And that was the big part of the opportunity we saw. I see it continuing to expand, and not only the footprint within our showrooms, but online as well.”
Grand opening celebrations for the stores, which open this Saturday, Oct. 9, will feature an array of family-friendly entertainment at San Diego’s 1190 W Morena Blvd outlet and San Marcos’ 780 Los Vallecitos Blvd location.
