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Bernards moving to larger facility in Greensboro, NC
Monday, February 22, 2010

Distribution center will give company room to grow

By Thomas Russell -- Furniture Today

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Case goods, occasional and upholstery resource Bernards will move to a new headquarters and warehouse/distribution facility here by early summer.

The company has signed a long-term lease with an option to purchase a 300,000-square-foot facility at 5644 Hornaday Road in Greensboro.

The building was formerly a production facility for fabric producer Guilford Mills and has sat vacant for two years, said Jordan Reece, a broker with Triad Commercial Properties, the firm that handled the lease arrangement. The building is owned by Tower Investments LLC, a California-based real estate investment and development company.

For the past 10 years, Bernards has leased as much as 220,000 square feet in Archdale, N.C., just outside of High Point. That lease is up in August and the company said it found a more suitable arrangement at the Greensboro facility.

Officials said the building is larger and more suited to bulkier products such as bedroom and upholstery, which the company added to its line last April. Bernards also carries occasional and KD dining products, which can be warehoused and shipped in a flat-pack format.

"It is a larger facility so it gives us more room for growth and makes it a little more efficient to work out of," said Dale Ward, president. "In this economic climate, we are looking for any way we can be more efficient and boost our profits."

Bernards plans to move into the facility by July 1 and has a 10-year lease with an option to buy the building during that period. The facility, which has about 20 delivery doors, is being upfitted for the planned move.

Ward said the company initially will use from 80% to 90% of the facility, giving it opportunity to expand.

"We maintain on average about $8 million in inventory at all times," he said. "We can up that to $10-$12 million if we need it."

The building primarily will serve accounts east of the Mississippi. Most accounts west of that are served on a container-direct basis.

In addition to the warehouse and distribution space, about 10,000 square feet of the Greensboro building will house the company's administrative offices, which also are now in Archdale.