One Emporia business has taken advantage of an opportunity to move its business and expand at the same time.
Mattress Outlet, formerly located at 2914 West Highway 50, Suite C, has moved to occupy the former Hill’s Appliance location just around the corner. The expansion includes picking up where Hill’s left off and combining the mattress store and the appliance store.
“We felt the building was a better fit for us from where we were at with the mattress store, and to expand on our business we thought we’d bring the appliances and TVs back in there,” said owner Brad Hase.
Also included in the combined business will be Hill’s service department, which is now called AAA Appliance Service.
“We still have a great service department back there, and they’ll take care of all the service, parts and supplies,” Hase said. “We’re just trying to build the business. We’ve got different sales people, and our delivery guys are contracted out, so we don’t actually hire people for delivery.”
The name of the business will change, too, becoming the Mattress and Appliance Outlet.
“It’ll be a good business, and we just want to try to get some of that market in there,” Hase said.
When Hill’s announced its closing in February, Hase said he talked to them about taking over the business. That deal fell through.
“Things just didn’t work out for them, and when they sold out, we just figured it would be a good fit,” he said.
The appeal of the new location was the design and setup of the floor. Another plus was the added visibility of the corner spot.
Despite the state of the economy, Hase is looking forward to nurturing the business into a success story.
“We’re doing all we can to try to show people that you can build a business in this economy,” he said. “There’s still people out there buying, there’s still people shopping, there’s still things going on.”
One key factor in that success will depend on the ability to encourage people to shop locally.
“That’s one thing, is trying to compete with the outer realm,” he said. “We say that all the time. If you can shop locally, please do instead of driving somewhere just to save 20 or 30 bucks.
“It just doesn’t make much sense.”
lilynutt0202 (anonymous) says...
I have a store in the KC area. I sell appliances, furniture and mattresses. I've known for awhile that all three sell really well, even in bad times. For all you small business owners, just hang in there, we still serve a purpose to the public. It's been 15 years and still going stong. Good Luck in all you do!
March 13, 2010 at 5:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
Very good news.
I'm glad to hear that parts will still be available.
I hope it is a huge success.
March 13, 2010 at 5:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
barefootin (anonymous) says...
I m glad to hear we will still have a small appliance store in town. Hills was a great store with a practical selection and great service so I was disappointed to see them leave.
March 13, 2010 at 10:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
reddog (K. B. Thomas Jr.) says...
This is great news for highway 50 and believe me the best is yet to come.
March 13, 2010 at 11:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
solong (anonymous) says...
Well reddog, don't keep us in suspense, what's yet to come?
March 14, 2010 at 8:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
reddog,
Don't tell us I want to be surprised.
March 14, 2010 at 9:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
should be a period between us and I on above post
March 14, 2010 at 9:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
March 14, 2010 at 9:15 p.m. ( permalink )
seriouslyfolks (anonymous) says...
This comment was removed by the site staff for violation of the usage agreement.
March 14, 2010 at 9:16 p.m. ( permalink )