By Danny Massey
In an area already heavily populated by furniture retailers, a massive Macy’s furniture gallery has opened along Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst.
The 60,000-square-foot store joins 21 independent and chain furniture stores in a five-block area and officially opened Aug. 4.
Charles Torres, the manager of the new Macy’s, said the size, quality and variety of selection will distinguish his megastore from competitors in the area.
“We are a full-line furniture gallery with 20 to 30 manufacturers,” he said “We appeal to all types of customers from those seeking moderate prices to designer-type merchandise.”
Many of the other furniture merchants in the area were undaunted by the prospect of competing with a sprawling new neighbor. The overwhelming sentiment among the street’s retailers was that Macy’s would help, not hinder local business.
“It’s good that they opened,” said Nissim Iugi, manager of Styling Furniture. “Competition is a good thing. It brings more people into the neighborhood.”
John Andretti, the general manager of Meran’s Furniture, was not worried. “If anything, they’ll bring customers to the area,” he said.
Ary Gomez, the owner of five small Elmhurst furniture shops, said the store that would have to adjust the most was Macy’s itself.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal,” he said. “Their stuff is too expensive for the average customer.”
Gomez said his store caters to low- to middle-income residents. He predicted the new furniture gallery would have to change its merchandise within six months.
Steven Tromboli, executive director of the Elmhurst Economic Development Corporation, said that the high population of immigrants in Queens would help keep the smaller retailers in business.
“We have a lot of newly arrived immigrants who need furniture,” he said. “They bring their kids and most have no furniture.”
According to figures compiled by the City Planning Department, some 240,000 immigrants arrived in Queens between 1990 and 1996.
“My biggest customers are Chinese, Indian and from Spanish-speaking countries,” said Gomez. “A lot of them don’t have the financial power to buy stuff at Macy’s.” ”
Torres said Macy’s would not target sales to any particular ethnic group. He said the department store chose the Queens Boulevard site because of the high volume of traffic in the area and the success of Macy’s nearby store in the Queens Center. He said the Queens Center location offers a limited selection of recliners and mattresses.
Although Macy’s began selling furniture in stand-alone locations in the 1980s, the success of the Carle Place store, which opened on Long Island in 1999, led Macy’s to build other large-scale furniture galleries, Torres said.
“The concept has been very successful in New Jersey and Long Island,” he added.
And if the reviews by the customers browsing through Macy’s furniture store earlier this week are any indication, the Queens Boulevard location should do just fine.
“The furniture is beautiful,” said Roseanne from Middle Village, who declined to give her last name. “It’s all in good taste. I think the store is going to do well here.”
Reach reporter Daniel Massey by e-mail at timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 155.
