Ashford Court supersizes showroom

By Cecile B. Corral -- Home Textiles Today, 3/18/2002 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK —

Ashford Court, which has experienced "booming" growth since it opened its doors two years ago, is more than tripling its real estate at 295 Fifth Avenue for April market with a new 3,300-square-foot showroom in suite 310.

The old space, suite 1603, was 1,000 square feet and could barely accommodate one-fourth of Ashford Court's decorative pillow line, Neil Zuber, president, told Home Textiles Today.

"Instead of 600 pillows, we'll have 2,500 pillows on our shelving and fixtures," Zuber said. "We'll add six beds in there to show our bed coverings for the first time. And instead of showing swatches and fabric cap sets, we can show our entire line in a showroom setting. Just to have room to move around and show our whole line is exciting."

Ashford Court has already begun renovations at the new space, including the tearing down of three walls and the addition of a new window and front door, track lighting, fixtures, shelving and phone system. The bulk of the space, 2,300 square feet, will be dedicated to product displays. The remainder of the square footage will be made into three individual offices for the company's executive team — Zuber, design director and executive vp Amy Bell and partner Michael Day.

In its brief existence, Ashford Court has already doubled the size of its Richmond, VA, factory to 100,000 square feet and jumped from two to seven loading docks for product distribution. Fifty-percent of the fabric Ashford Court uses for its product is imported, but 95 percent of its product line is made domestically.

Aside from its main line, Ashford Court, which services all levels of retailers from discounters to upscale department stores, also produces special order items upon customer request — such as dog beds and window treatments.