Groovystuff expands

Cinde W. Ingram -- Casual Living, 11/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

Dallas-based Groovystuff, known for its rustic reclaimed Thailand teak designs, moved Nov. 1 into a 42,000-sq.-ft. standalone facility.

Its new headquarters are more than triple the size of Groovystuff's past facility, which co-owners Jeff Singleton and Chris Bruning opened six years ago.

Started in 1997 as a gift company, Groovystuff doubled the size of its original 800-sq.-ft. facility after Bruning joined and accent furniture was added. It began with two warehouse workers and an accountant, but now employs six in the warehouse and three office workers in addition to Singleton and Bruning. Because of the move, they will have space to add staff.

"At last, a little breathing room," Bruning said. "Our current space is stuffed tail to gills with product in a 12,000-sq.-ft. facility that has 2,000 square feet of office, leaving only 10,000 square feet of working warehouse."

Groovystuff has experienced 30% growth for the last three years, Singleton said. More of its retail customers now are asking for Just-In-Time delivery, which requires more efficient warehousing to fulfill orders from retailers and catalog customers. They will also have a bigger area to stage displays in preparation for each year's two High Point Markets, Las Vegas markets, the International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market in Chicago and a billiards show.

"It's not an economic problem; it's an efficiency and space problem," Singleton said. "We're going to have to build up our stock level to support the retailers because the majority of them can't afford at this time to go deep. They want to get rid of their multiple warehouses and storage units."

The new facility also will allow more space for Bruning to work on new designs, Singleton said.

"This will make things much easier for all of us," he said. "Most importantly to the customers we serve."

Bruning