Lifestyle Enterprise Puts Planned High Point Showroom on Hold

May 29, 2008  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in High Point on May 2008 Lifestyle Enterprise has elected not to move ahead with a showroom expansion, and the City of High Point has agreed to buy back a 1.5-acre site the fast-growing importer purchased two years ago.

Lifestyle Managing Director James Riddle said Friday morning that the company determined that it has adequate showroom space in its Forbidden City Complex on Commerce Street and space it leases a block away in the Centennial Station building. The building would have signficiantly expanded the size of its Commerce Street Forbidden City complex, which has been a distinctive landmark that has attracted streams of buyers since it opened five years ago.

“We didn’t want to make a $20 million to $30 million investment in a new showroom right now,” Riddle said, adding that Lifestyle saw its sales rise significantly in 2007. “Obviously, the home furnishings business, overall, is in the pits, and I don’t see it getting a whole lot better any time soon.”

He said Lifestyle remains solidly committed to High Point, but noted it is one of 20 Markets worldwide where the company is an exhibitor. Riddle also said Lifestyle has no plans to add a showroom in Las Vegas “at this time.”

High Point City Manager Strib Boynton said the 2006 agreement to sell a municipal parking lot to Lifestyle included a provision that the city would buy the land back for the original purchase price of $1.6 million if Lifestyle opted not to move ahead.

“Whether Lifestyle continues to lease showroom space or build here is a business decision only they can make. We’re happy to have them here in High Point, and we’ll do all we can to support them,” Boynton said.

Boynton said Lifestyle has “changed the face of High Point with its Mini-Market in January that has opened showrooms to more buyers during another time of the year.”

Lifestyle began hosting its January event in High Point three years ago, and it draws upwards of 700 retailers to the city each year for a three-day event in which it offers special deals, entertainment and the chance for at least two retailers to drive home in luxury sports cars.