Dekor sets its sights on Nashville

Home Channel News, March 20, 2000

ATLANTA -- Dekor, the specialty dealer founded by former Home Depot executives Jim Inglis and Herb Biggers, has leased an eight-acre plot of land in Nashville, Tenn., on which it plans to build one of its first stores. Construction on the 80,000-square-foot unit is expected to begin this summer.

The site is located in Nashville's 100 Oaks area, near the 100 Oaks Mall and across the street from a Home Depot. Nashville-based developer H.G. Hill Realty is in charge of building the store. H.G. Hill's vp-development, Jim Granbery, told NHICN that the project would cost $10 million.

"It's a terrific location -- it's in an area with many other big-box retailers and easy interstate access," Granbery maintained. He added that the Nashville site is the only one so far where Dekor plans to build a store from the ground up. "The other sites they're negotiating for are all remodeled Wal-Marts and the like."

Inglis, Dekor's chairman and CEO, confirmed that the company is working on a number of deals for second-use facilities. He said some of those stores could open sooner than the one in Nashville, which is targeted for a late fall 2000 opening.

"Nashville is indeed our first build-to-suit store," Inglis told NHCN. He declined to discuss any other details of Dekor's plan. As previously reported in NHCN, Inglis and his partner, Biggers, plan to open a chain of home decor stores that cater to baby boomers and female customers. A Web store, www.dekorstore.com, is also slated for a late 2000 launch.

According to the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Dekor has been busy looking for sites in the southeastern United States. The newspaper reported last month that the company was eyeing a number of former Uptons stores in the Atlanta market.