For years, Murrieta residents have had to travel to Temecula, San Marcos, Riverside or other cities to find a selection of furniture to fill their new homes.

But that shopping challenge is a thing of the past thanks to a fledgling furniture row, formally known as the Home Center, east of Interstate 215 south of Los Alamos Road.

The 230,000-square-foot Home Center includes national furniture chains such as Wickes Furniture, which has been open since August, and Thomasville, which opened in January. Other stores in the center include Wacky Wicker, Basix, Sit ‘n Sleep, Salmo’s Custom Sofas, Arizona Leather and Easy Life Furniture and clearance center.

Plummers Furniture is expected to open a store in the center next to Thomasville, city officials say.

Murrieta has several other furniture stores, such as Ashley Furniture Homestore, but they are not part of the Home Center.

Furniture sales will play a strong part in the city’s future income, Deputy City Manager Teri Ferro said. Sales taxes from furniture retailers have dramatically increased in 2005 compared to last year, Ferro said. The increase is mostly due to new furniture stores opening in the city, she said.

Furniture store managers say one of the reasons they like Murrieta is the plethora of new homes in the region, which makes it ideal for furniture sales.

New homeowners want to fill their homes with new furniture, said Rebecca French, assistant manager at Thomasville in the Home Center.

French said she likes the draw of a furniture row because it attracts more people looking to buy furniture to the retail center. Customers who are having a tough time making up their mind can look around and compare quality, she said.

“It’s an advantage to be in a furniture row. I prefer it,” French said.

But one problem retailers at the Home Center have is that most people are not aware that they are open, some merchants say.

Looks are deceiving

The center’s parking lot, a maze of fences and construction zones, can be deceiving. Signs say stores are open, but construction equipment, workers and inaccessible parking areas may give potential shoppers a different impression.

“Customers say they have a hard time getting here,” French said.

The project that has half of the parking lot next to Thomasville blocked off is the future Plummers Furniture store.

Merchants say potential customers are confused by the mix of stores that are open, about to open and those still under construction.

Jim Mancaruso, manager of Wickes, said the store has a 4,200-square-foot showroom at the southern end of the Home Center —- in full view of I-215 —- but people still don’t know the store is open for business

“A lot of people who come here said they did not know we were open,” Mancaruso said.

City Manager Lori Moss said the city is planning to market the Home Center with something like a “Shop Murrieta” campaign. The campaign would make homeowners in the region aware of the selection of furniture retailers in the city, Moss said.

The center’s marketing strength is its location next to I-215.

Lorna Munoz, who was coming out of the Wacky Wicker furniture store recently said she stopped by because she saw the store from the freeway.

Munoz, who has lived in Murrieta for three years, said she is still shopping for furniture for her home.

“I’m always looking for a good deal,” she said.

Projections of success

According to a report on the city’s fourth quarter 2005 sales taxes, home furnishings brought in $207,000 in sales taxes from October to December, an increase of more than 90 percent over the year before. Furniture sales were the fourth highest sale tax contributor in the city, following discount department stores, lumber and building materials, and electronics and appliance stores.

Although she could not give details on specific stores, Ferro said furniture stores such as Ashley and Wickes were among the city’s top 25 sales tax producers.

Murrieta can expect strong tax revenues from furniture sales if its Home Center follows in the footsteps of another furniture row to the south.

San Marcos in North San Diego County has a successful furniture row, generally north of Highway 78, which City Manager Rick Gittings said brings “easily over” $2 million in sales taxes annually. The furniture row, which has about 50 retailers including carpet and tile stores, has been around since the 1970s, Gittings said. But San Marcos’ furniture row really started to take off in the last 15 years, he said.

Gittings attributed the success of the retailers somewhat to the booming housing market but, he said, furniture sales have been more consistent than home sales.

Source: nctimes.com

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