Having outgrown its outlet store, Rochester, NY-based housewares cataloger Home Trends closed it down and opened a new location on Sept. 15. The two locations are within a complex that includes the company’s warehouse and headquarters. The outlet offers discounts of up to 75% on cleaning, bedding, and home outdoor maintenance products. Home Trends opened the first outlet store in July 2003. The company plans for an Oct. 1 grand opening of the 4,400 sq.- ft.-store, which is four times the size of the previous outlet.
In addition to its namesake catalog that sells cleaning and kitchen products, Home Trends mails the Picket Fence (yard work, winter storage, do-it-yourself products) and Back to Basics catalogs (sleep “solutions,” such as insomnia treatments and bedding products). The outlet sells closeout products from all three titles; shoppers can also pick up copies of the catalogs at the store. The outlet attracts catalog customers who live nearby “and some who’ve never shopped in the catalog but pick up our catalog in the store and place orders,” says Home Trends copywriter Kyra Mancine.
Home Trends, which has enjoyed 15% growth over the past year, has no plans in place for additional outlet stores, Mancine says, “but that could change if we continue to grow.” The company is not interested in opening full-price stores, however.