[caption id="attachment_32756" align="alignleft" width="360" caption="Hudson Street Design of Marin expanded into the former Brueners furniture store in San Rafael."][/caption]
SAN RAFAEL -- Just more than a year after Healdsburg Lumber Co. acquired glazing and door retailer The Window Warehouse in Corte Madera, the Marin County business has undergone a major operational overhaul in the past several months.
It has a new name -- Hudson Street Design of Marin -- and a new, much larger location in a long-vacant furniture store in San Rafael. The name, similar to that of a residential design center the company started in Healdsburg, reflects a long-term plan for wider selection of home remodeling items and more corporate or franchised design showrooms, according to President Eric Ziedrich.
The sales goal for 72-employee HLC Inc., which encompasses five companies, is $23 million this year. That would be 15 percent growth in Marin and 10 percent for the company, which includes Healdsburg Lumber, the two design centers, Healdsburg Door & Sash and Gualala Building Supply. The company now has a design consultant each in San Rafael, Healdsburg and Gualala.
"In times like this we want to be more aggressive and get a bigger share of the market," Mr. Ziedrich said.
Sales of lumber and other supplies for new construction have been weak for the past five years. However, there is “seriously modest improvement” in demand recently for interior projects, more so in Marin than in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, according to Mr. Ziedrich. Subsidies under various climate protection programs have helped to propel sales of energy-efficient windows and doors.
From doors and windows, HLC expanded the Marin lineup beyond windows and doors to kitchen and bath cabinetry and fixtures as well as countertops from various materials.
Just after HLC acquired what is now Hudson Street Design of Marin in January 2010, Mr. Ziedrich started planning to consolidate the warehouse in the Canal District of San Rafael and a showroom in Corte Madera. From 7,000 square feet, the Marin store in January moved to 16,000 square feet of usable space at 3773 Redwood Highway, a Brueners furniture store that closed four years ago.
The store now employs 14.
Jerry Angel and Jerry Suderhoud of Cornish & Carey Newmark Knight Frank represented the owner of the San Rafael building in the lease. Jim Brush of Healdsburg Sotheby's International Realty represented the Ziedrichs.
For more information, call 707-431-9663 or visit www.hlc-inc.com.
