A store that sells floor and window treatments has doubled its space in Howard County to a more visible location that will hopefully boost business.
The Vertical Connection moved last month to a 13,000-square-foot store in Columbia. The new shop at 8895 McGaw Rd. gets foot traffic from customers who are also shopping at one of several neighboring home goods stores, Vertical Connection Owner Steven Joss says. Those stores include Indoor Furniture, Sofas Etc. and Botanica Home.
Joss says he hopes that Vertical Connection will get more traffic next year when Wegmans Food Markets opens at the intersection of McGaw Road and Snowden River Parkway in Columbia.The business had spent 30 years at an industrial office park at 9510 Rumsey Rd.
"It was time for a really good location," Joss says. The sour commercial real estate market made it possible to get rents for about half of what they were during good economic times.
"If you want to grow this is a good time to do it if you are not in debt," Joss says.
Sales at the store grew 30 percent last year, says Joss, who runs the store along with his wife Kathy and son Adam.
The shop employs eight, though Joss says he may hire several additional workers this year.
Writer: Julekha Dash
Source: Steven Joss, Vertical Connection