Mathis Brothers plans second California store

By Tricia Pemberton
The Oklahoman

Mathis Brothers Furniture has bought property for $8 million from the city of Ontario, Calif., with plans to build the company's largest furniture store and the second in the Golden State.
Bill Mathis, part-owner of the Oklahoma-based furniture chain, said the $22 million, 150,000-square-foot showroom and 230,000-square-foot warehouse were planned based on the success of the company's first California venture.

In 1999, Mathis Brothers opened a $3.4 million, 50,000-square-foot store in Indio, Calif., in the Palm Springs area. The company recently doubled the size of that store and added a 125,000-square-foot warehouse, spending an additional $12.6 million.

"That first store has been highly successful, and the economy is growing at such a great pace out there," Mathis said.

Despite the size of the population -- about 400,000 full-time residents in the resort town of Indio, and upwards of many millions in the Ontario region, an eastern suburb of Los Angeles -- Mathis said the area is underserved by furniture retailers.

"There are a number of new homes being built, and the economy is extremely diverse," he said. "There's a fantastic climate year-round and a great varied industry and business base to serve. Still, most furniture stores are splintered into smaller stores.

"So we felt this presented a tremendous opportunity to build one huge store with many great brands under one roof."

It's the same concept the brothers have honed in Oklahoma. Mathis Brothers has a 130,000-square-foot showroom and attached warehouse in Oklahoma City, which Mathis said draws customers from the entire state and bordering regions.

The company also has a recently expanded store in Tulsa and owns Evans Furniture, Thomasville Home Furnishings, Drexel Heritage Home Furnishings and Factory Direct Furniture and Beds, all in Oklahoma City.

In all, the company has about 1,300 employees, Vice President and General Manager Calvin Worth said. Ontario will start with about 280 to 315 employees and grow over time, he said.

Worth said the Ontario store is just now in the architectural development stage. Construction should start by June, he said, with an expected completion by summer 2006.

The property is about a mile from the Ontario airport, at the crux of Interstate 10, between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, and Interstate 15, between San Diego and Las Vegas. It's about an hour from the coast.

Worth estimated the company sells about 1.4 million pieces of furniture a year, but he chuckled when asked the question.

"We never think of it in pieces," he laughed, "we think in dollars."

However, since the company is privately held, Worth would not disclose sales figures. He said, to date, the Indio store sells about 50 percent of the volume of the Oklahoma City store. Now that the expansion is complete, he expects that to increase to about 75 percent. The Ontario store should match the Oklahoma City store in sales, he said.

Mathis said one difference in the markets is the fact the Oklahoma City store has to draw from miles away to do the volume it does. In California, the market is much denser, he said.

Mathis said the brothers are looking at other locations in California.

One area of interest is Thousand Oaks, north of Los Angeles on California's Highway 101. He also said he wouldn't rule out building anywhere in the "Sun Belt" -- Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or California.

"Anywhere there's a great climate, great business conditions and an underserved market," he said.

Still, he said he and his brother Larry will always maintain an Oklahoma presence.

"We love Oklahoma. We're here. Oklahoma is where our business began, so why wouldn't we continue operations here? But we just see such an opportunity in California."

Bill Mathis, 47, and his brother Larry, 52, grew up in the furniture store their father, Don, and uncle, Bud Mathis, started in the 1950s.

"In high school, we did everything from filling the Coke machine to picking up rocks in the parking lot," Bill Mathis said.

Both went to the University of Oklahoma, where they earned business degrees before returning to work in the family business. Don Mathis retired in 1988, when the company had just one store.

"As we grow, we will be talking about the fifth and sixth locations," Bill Mathis said.

Yeah, my future father-in-law told me about this being a possiblity a few months ago (he's a salesman for Mathis.....check out the Mathis Brothers thread in Best and Worst). Anyways, I'm kind of curious why they keep expanding in the California market.

its an untapped market in furniture dude

It's nice to see an OKC company expand. That $$$$ coming in!!

Man, imagine how much $$$$ Bentonville, Arkansas has coming in...

Whew...

Bentonville severely owes OKC solely it's headquarters, and not it's crappy playground.

Wal-Mart is a reason why I don't think Arkansas can be pushed around as much as we have done in the past. Product marketers are establishing outposts in NW Arkansas just so they can quickly work with Wal-Mart in their product placements. There is A LOT of wealth in NW Arkansas because of Wal-Mart -- a couple of the richest Americans (Sam Walton's heirs) live there.

They also have the nation's highest poverty rate, and a cost of living a little bit higher than ours, despite Fort Smith having the nation's lowest. This means Little Rock & the rest of Arkansas must be high enough to counter Fort Smith, Ark - Okla.

Little Rock is actually a very beautiful city, very hilly and green. When I'm back I'm planning on taking a pilgrimage to the Clinton presidential library . Anyway, it's far from perfect, but Arkansas deserves some respect for being home to the World's Biggest Corporation.

Arkansas, with it's beautiful capital that isn't as beautiful as OKC, Tulsa or Lawton though, is a respectable state. They don't compare to us though. We have less respect than them, proof you don't need success to do well.

The library looks like a damn trailor!

No, ah do believe it's our bridge to the twenty-first century

And guess what is on that bridge? It's coming up in the rear back there, that guy is driving fast!

"The library looks like a damn trailor!"

what do you expect from Arkansas, and the first sleezebag President.

I spoke with my future ffather-in-law this evening (in case you weren't paying attention he works for Mathis Bros). He said the reason Mathis is choosing California is because of population density. So that somewhat ties into what metro said....an untapped market.

I also think that many places in California, like Indio are expecting major population booms, and because it is far enough out of LA, land values and cost of doing business should be considerably lower, but not quite half as cheap as Oklahoma however. I think Mathis Brothers should consider entering some areas of the Dallas, Houston and Miami markets too.

They FINALLY opened their new store in Ontario.

Believe it or not, I just saw a TV ad here in L.A. for them.

I think they will do very, very well there. Surprisingly, there are very few large furniture stores in California.

Hopefully those stupid butt flea salesmen don't pounce like they do here. I refuse to even go in Mathis Brother's anymore because i can't shop in peace. I used to walk right by that area near the escalators and completely ignore the salesmen, but they still follow you around. They'd ask a question and I just keep walking and ignore them. I hate that place with a passion! They do have some good stuff sometimes, but honestly, I've had a much better experience at Galleria. It's a little priceier, but worth it to not be hounded or be in the mob of people.

Pick one salesperson and ask for them every time you go in. Refuse to deal with anybody else. It doesn't solve the problem, but it attenuates it somewhat.

Have you been helped? Have you been helped? Can I help you? Can I follow you? Can I hit on your wife?

I played an interesting game with them once...

I let a guy follow me around for about 45 minutes or so before making an actual selection. When it was time for the purchase, I went downstairs, grabbed another sales person (the first guy never spoke to me, just followed), then asked another sales person to help me with the transaction. The first guy was pretty p.o.'d, but I explained that I don't appreciate being stalked and have the right to choose what I will buy and who will sell it to me. He had no argument so just walked away.

Another time I point blank told them (the chum-hunters) that if anyone followed me, I would turn around, walk out of the store, and not buy a thing. That actually seemed to work pretty well.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA THE GERBIL!!!!! Now that's a Mathis Brother's statement for sure. Hopefully everyone knows the story!

Wow! It's nice to know I'm not the only one who's ever been creeped out by the salespeople there. Last time I was there, a quite scary, female salesperson ran up to me at the door and said: "My name is ... Let me know if you have questions. I WILL BE WITHIN 10 FEET OF YOU AT ALL TIMES!" I didn't say anything to her. So, I started to look around and she scurried behind me, never breaking her stare. I mean, she was like a jungle cat readying to pounce on its prey. Somehow, I lost her - I think I ran. And I did run.. out the store... and I haven't been back since. God that was scary!!!

The gerbil story, I dont think I have heard the whole thing, can anybody shed some light on this gerbil.. It seems to be the mathis brothers mascot? or could it be something else, I havent heard the whole thing..

okay i notice someone else posted what happened about this issue on another post.. first kinda eww or i mean really eww, but i hope its just a urban legend right?