IKEA

[Luke]

Those of you familiar with the hip, economical, environmentally friendly home decór and furniture store will be pleased to hear what one of the Frisco IKEA customer representative told me on the phone today. I had to order a spare part for one of the products I purchased there last week and while talking with one of the service reps I said that I think IKEA should consider putting a location in Oklahoma City. She said that IKEA is planning to put one in OKC, but no time frame was set yet. I double checked and asked again to confirm. "So, they're going to put one here?" And she said yes, but that she didn't know when.

This is great news. As competitive as OKC's furniture market is, IKEA would fit right in out on Reno. If you get a chance to go to the one in Frisco (30-45 minutes north of Dallas) then go! Their stores are massive...I mean, huge. If you follow the walkway through the whole store, it's seriously close to a mile long. It's a ton of fun though.

Check out www.ikea.com to get an idea of what kind of cool stuff they have.

[OklaCity_75]

Those of you familiar with the hip, economical, environmentally friendly home decór and furniture store will be pleased to hear what one of the Frisco IKEA customer representative told me on the phone today. I had to order a spare part for one of the products I purchased there last week and while talking with one of the service reps I said that I think IKEA should consider putting a location in Oklahoma City. She said that IKEA is planning to put one in OKC, but no time frame was set yet. I double checked and asked again to confirm. "So, they're going to put one here?" And she said yes, but that she didn't know when.

This is great news. As competitive as OKC's furniture market is, IKEA would fit right in out on Reno. If you get a chance to go to the one in Frisco (30-45 minutes north of Dallas) then go! Their stores are massive...I mean, huge. If you follow the walkway through the whole store, it's seriously close to a mile long. It's a ton of fun though.

Check out www.ikea.com to get an idea of what kind of cool stuff they have.

I agree that IKEA is a good thing for OKC I just see them adding a store on Memorial before moving to furniture row. They would need almost as much room as Gardenridge if not a larger parcel.

Who knows they may by the land White Water is on.

I think once IKEA comes to town, OKC might see some of the larger chains move in.

[mranderson]

I agree that IKEA is a good thing for OKC I just see them adding a store on Memorial before moving to furniture row. They would need almost as much room as Gardenridge if not a larger parcel.

Who knows they may by the land White Water is on.

I think once IKEA comes to town, OKC might see some of the larger chains move in.

Will this company have a location here? It is hard to say. I have had people in stores I wanted to see here tell me they were planning Oklahoma City locations because most people insist on telling a person what they want to hear instead of the truth. As it turns out, usually, no location comes here.

This one in particular? I doubt it. Why? With the domination of the brothers Mathis, Bob Mills, et al, major chains will not invest in Oklahoma City because they know they can not make a profit here.

Do not hold your breath.

[floater]

I would love for that to happen, but I am a little skeptical too. IKEA has a selective location process that relies on a very large market area. They won't put a store in Cleveland because it's two and half hours away from Pittsburgh. We're three hours away from Frisco, so we'd be at the edge of the market area. My guess is that we wouldn't get a store, but who knows -- OKC could represent the Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas markets. There's not even one in Missouri! You'd think there'd be one in KC or St. Louis before OKC.

[BDP]

I probably wouldn't get our your hex wrench set just yet, but IKEA could be reaching the point of model shift to reach more intermediate markets. Companies usually have to do this as they max out their sales growth potential in the major markets.

I think there is room in the furniture market here for an IKEA. Despite the glut of square footage on Reno dedicated to furniture, none really sell stylish furniture at good prices, which is what IKEA does almost exclusively. The cheap stuff at those places looks cheap and their assembly required furniture is as ugly as it gets. We have a large furniture presence here, but pretty much if you want style at a price, it's near impossible to find.

A location on Memorial in the turnpike system would easily serve Tulsa and the rest of Oklahoma as well. Again, it's not as big as they're used to, but I think there is a void in this market wide open for them if they want it.

[metro]

Yes, I'd love to have an IKEA here. We're thinking about going down to the Frisco store and dropping a bunch of money on new stuff but I'd rather keep that money in state if we're getting one here. I don't think Reno Ave. will give IKEA a run for it's money. It caters to a certain market niche not previously catered to in Oklahoma. The closest thing we have is Suburban and Directions in furniture. Both that can get pricey fast, especially Suburban. IKEA serves more of the "Target vs. Wal-Mart" type customer.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Perhaps IKEA can move into the Bass Pro Building after their deal runs out of steam. That would be a great spot for IKEA and much more in keeping with the area.

[John]

This one in particular? I doubt it. Why? With the domination of the brothers Mathis, Bob Mills, et al, major chains will not invest in Oklahoma City because they know they can not make a profit here.

Do not hold your breath.

IKEA attracts a totally different demographic than any of the stores currently in place in the Reno area.

I could see them setting up somewhere north on Broadway Extention or even in the infill area between the current and new I-40.

[BDP]

Perhaps IKEA can move into the Bass Pro Building after their deal runs out of steam. That would be a great spot for IKEA and much more in keeping with the area.

YES, ODG! Now we're thinking. We could even loan them the money for the remodel and to get rid of that fishy smell.

[fromdust]

This one in particular? I doubt it. Why? With the domination of the brothers Mathis, Bob Mills, et al, major chains will not invest in Oklahoma City because they know they can not make a profit here.

Do not hold your breath.

i actually read about that, cant belive pier 1 manages to survive.

[okcpulse]

Only because Pier 1 has been in Oklahoma City since the early 1980s. They have built a loyal following, albeit not that large.

[BDP]

When did "Mathis Bros., Bob Mills, et al" arrive?

Pottery Barn is here too.

[The Old Downtown Guy]

Mathis Brothers goes back decades and was started by the grandfathers of the present front guys Bill & Don. Their first store was on Reno Street, near downtown; "The $588.00 Factory Home Pack" and "Those Fire Blazin' Prices". There were three active brothers then that were Bill & Don's Fathers and Uncles. That Mathis bunch had their own TV C&W Music show for many years. A C&W music team of Jude and Jody was involved with the Brothers for years, and later went out on their own with a similar low end operation on Soutwest 25th or SW 29th Street that I think is still in open. There's also another brother or cousin, Roger Mathis that has a seperate bedding and furniture operation on Reno.

The original Bros. made most of their money financing the furniture bought in their store, and I'm guessing that a major chunk of current Mathis Brothers profits come from the same place. Big Red Furniture, later Evans had the same look and approach with different lines. I thought I heard that Evans was bought out by Mathis.

Bob Mills is a more recent entrant into the furniture game at price points just below Mathis. Mills is also relying on owner personal appearance advertising in massive quantities and long term financing to make money. Mills is now also in the Amarillo market.

As Mathis Brothers added to their Designer Gallery Lines, like Henredon, Thomasville etc. they have increased their market share at the expense of smaller operators like Bruno's, Mr. Robert in Norman, Locke (now closed),Housley Brothers, Ballenger's etc. Mathis Bros. sells lots of furniture around OKC and the entire state, but I don't see that they would be in competition with IKEA. If IKEA doesn't choose to open in OKC, I would guess it would be based on total demographics, not the size or players in the traditional furniture market.

Most all OKC furniture operations have followed the Mathis Bros. and moved to the I-40 - Reno - Portland area, but there are still some operations that havn't opted for a presence in Furniture Land, Bruno's most notably still at 36th and Western. Also, I noticed that Housley's has reoccupied their building on NW Expwy. just west of Classen.

I think there is plenty of market here for an IKEA and also good potential for a Modern Furniture Store like Smink in Dallas or S.R.Hughes in Tulsa, which has outfitted the Grant Humphrey's Block 42 showroom on Broadway.

[SoonerDave]

The original Mathis furniture store was on Western just south of I-40. The original Evans was farther south on Western, just north of the bridge near the softball parks. There was also a furniture store called "House of Ideas" just south of Mathis on the east side of Western. The area has deteriorated and obviously nothing furniture-related is there any longer. The original Mathis site, after housing everything from boats to trailers and everything in between, was renovated about five (or fewer) years ago and is now an industrial/manufacturing site.

Jude and Jody's Furniture store still quietly hums in what is an increasingly bad area at SW 29th and Walker. Jude Northcutt passed away some time ago, and I believe his son now runs the store. Scuttlebutt is that the store has rather substantial contracts with various local hotels/motels to provide modest-quality (to be generous) bedding, mattresses, and related amenities. That's why J&J has virtually no advertising presence and maintains only a token floor/display space. No offense intended to any J&J customers here, but what little they do display for retail sale is abominable.

I've understood that the two Mathis guys we've all come to have etched in our heads aren't, in fact, brothers; they're actually cousins that endeavor to propagate the notion that they are siblings because of the Mathis' name/heritage in the city. I don't know for a fact if that is true.

Mathis did, indeed, acquire Evans about three years ago and promptly shut them down. They retained the name for the large Evans showroom on Reno under the moniker of "Evans Rooms Today," which I still don't understand, because their stock appears to be just about identical to Mathis Bros' stock, and I think everyone and their dog knows its really Mathis Bros' furniture.

I, for one, am glad to see traditional names like Ethan Allen making a comeback in the area. After a dubious flirtation with trendy, pop designs with lots of glass and chrome (which predictably failed and has been discontinued), they're returning to their roots and going back to high quality traditional furniture which was their stock in trade...

-SoonerDave

[BDP]

Wow. You guys sure know your OKC furniture retailer history. Thanks. I'm starting to wonder what you guys know about me....

Anyway, it still seems to me that there's not much behind the idea that the Reno furniture nation precludes an IKEA successfully locating here. Yes, Reno cheap stuff and they have some high end stuff, but they don't have tredy or stylish furntiture at affordable prices. I think IKEA would fit in nicely with our current furniture mix.

And I'm not even a huge IKEA fan, but I don't see where that market is being served here. The only question is whether that market exists here.

[rxis]

My parents bought a lot of furniture from Mathis Brothers. Hate the service and the hassle of multiple returns. Anyway, my so buys most of her furniture from Pottery Barn. They normally have to get shipped in.
I agree with John. It's a different market segment.

[mranderson]

The original Mathis furniture store was on Western just south of I-40. The original Evans was farther south on Western, just north of the bridge near the softball parks. There was also a furniture store called "House of Ideas" just south of Mathis on the east side of Western. The area has deteriorated and obviously nothing furniture-related is there any longer. The original Mathis site, after housing everything from boats to trailers and everything in between, was renovated about five (or fewer) years ago and is now an industrial/manufacturing site.

Jude and Jody's Furniture store still quietly hums in what is an increasingly bad area at SW 29th and Walker. Jude Northcutt passed away some time ago, and I believe his son now runs the store. Scuttlebutt is that the store has rather substantial contracts with various local hotels/motels to provide modest-quality (to be generous) bedding, mattresses, and related amenities. That's why J&J has virtually no advertising presence and maintains only a token floor/display space. No offense intended to any J&J customers here, but what little they do display for retail sale is abominable.

I've understood that the two Mathis guys we've all come to have etched in our heads aren't, in fact, brothers; they're actually cousins that endeavor to propagate the notion that they are siblings because of the Mathis' name/heritage in the city. I don't know for a fact if that is true.

Mathis did, indeed, acquire Evans about three years ago and promptly shut them down. They retained the name for the large Evans showroom on Reno under the moniker of "Evans Rooms Today," which I still don't understand, because their stock appears to be just about identical to Mathis Bros' stock, and I think everyone and their dog knows its really Mathis Bros' furniture.

I, for one, am glad to see traditional names like Ethan Allen making a comeback in the area. After a dubious flirtation with trendy, pop designs with lots of glass and chrome (which predictably failed and has been discontinued), they're returning to their roots and going back to high quality traditional furniture which was their stock in trade...

-SoonerDave

Actaully, the ORIGINAL Mathis Brothers store was on Reno somewhere near what is now Myriad Gardens. They moved to 301 S Western in the early 60's. Bud and Don Mathis were the founders and ran the store until Bill and Larry bought it some years later. Bud and Don are the one's who built the current location, however, it was subsantually smaller.

How can Jude be dead when he is still doing commercials? You may be thinking of a relative of Jude's named Pervy Northcutt who died in 1968 or 69. Pervy's widow was my quazi Grandmother, and to this day, is the one elderly woman I think walks on water. Pervy lived next door to me from the time he and Bea were married until his death.

The information on Evans is correct, however. BTW. The reason it is "Evan's Rooms Today" is because Mathis owns it now and they also want the Evans name associated with that location. They may drop the Evans in the near future, however.

[metro]

Ikea

[The Old Downtown Guy]

I believe that the Evans location just off the tracks on Western started out as Big Red Furniture and Larry Evans was either the store manager or the son of the owner. I think they also tried a location at 23rd and Walker which wasn't successful. I think there was quite a rivalry between Mathis and Big Red for a while, but Mathis left them in the dust.

[mranderson]

Although it was replying to other people's posts, we are off track. can we either move these posts to a thread called Oklahoma City furniture history or get back on topic, please?

[SoonerDave]

mranderson

Sorry for the confusion re Jude Northcutt. I was thinking of his wife, whom I believe died from cancer a few years ago.

Just to keep it officially "on thread" so the topic police don't get twitchy, I don't care one way or the other about IKEA

-SoonerDave

[MadMonk]

I've never been in one, but it seems like an interesting store.

[BDP]

Please don't move or rename the thread. An examination of the furniture market here, past and present, is entirely relevant to the possibility and potential success of a new entrant to the market.

[Luke]

IKEA has a unique market on which no current furniture store has the corner. Directions in Furniture or Dane Design may be somewhat comparable. But IKEA's pricing and wide product range cannot be compared to anything in the current market.

[metro]

Yes, I disagree as well. It is irrelevant because it is an underserved demographic, and barely served at that, especially at their price range.