Steve Lush
NAPLES, Fla. --- With a year of sales under its belt in nearby Fort Myers, Fla., Robb & Stucky International is set to open its second, 60,000-square-foot store here with an expanded vendor mix.
In addition, the upscale retailer has acquired the 68,000-square-foot former Robb & Stucky location in Sarasota, Fla. - currently a Bacon's Furniture showroom - where it plans to open its third store around Sept. 1.
In Naples, Robb & Stucky has invested more than $10 million in the project, building from the ground up a showroom reflecting the style preferences of today's consumers, said Steve Lush, president of the Fort Myers-based retailer, now owned by the family of Samson Holding CEO and founder Samuel Kuo.
The old Robb & Stucky exteriors were more Mediterranean in style, while the new Naples store on Ninth Street has a more casual feel - what Lush described as "transitional West Indies."
The showroom interior is more open, too, with a racetrack walkway in tile that circles the perimeter of an open floor with nine grids of display featuring six lifestyle points of view.
"You can walk the entire perimeter of the store and not miss a single setting," Lush said.
There also are new vendors added to the lineup since the Fort Myers opening, including Hickory White, Lillian August and Ferguson Copeland, along with more tropical looks and an expanded assortment in its "Retropolitan" lifestyle, featuring architectural forms in natural finishes and fibers.
"We had the benefit of a full year to study what was working, what wasn't and what voids we had in our original lineup," Lush said. "There is still a big market in southwest Florida for domestic, highly customizable product, and Hickory White and Ferguson Copeland deliver that."
Lush said the retailer is sourcing more goods made in America than from any other country, tough he didn't know the exact breakdown offhand.
Other suppliers included Century, Hancock & Moore, Hickory Chair, Hooker, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, Ralph Lauren, Stanley, Thayer Coggin, Theodore Alexander and Vanguard.
In a release, Robb & Stucky said their Fort Myers store has exceeded traffic and sales expectations, although the company wouldn't disclose sales numbers for the stores or projections for the new Naples location.
Lush said the Naples store will have a soft opening this Saturday and a grand opening Jan. 17.
