2 stores new to Valley opening soon
Betty Beard
Arizona Business Gazette
A large center of furniture and home décor stores being built next to Ikea will get its first tenants soon, offering southeast Valley


residents more than Swedish furniture they have to assemble.

Emerald Design Center, being built in three phases, eventually will have 395,000 square feet, exceeding Ikea’s 342,000 square feet. The first phase is done, and store signs are up.

Stores are expected to begin opening in September, including two that are new to the Phoenix area: Norwalk – the Furniture Idea and EQ3.
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Home-oriented businesses, in particular, are flocking to the region near Interstate 10 and Warner Road to capitalize on Ikea’s success. Emerald is just east and southeast of Ikea.

“The traffic flow is going to be huge, close to 700,000 people (a year) with Ikea,” said David Sellers, vice president of LGE Design Build, which is developing the center.

Sellers likened the area to a furniture row.

The Norwalk company chose its location to be the closest to Ikea.

“If people walked out and looked over, Norwalk is the first store they will see,” said Jill Fehrman, a publicist for the store. “The (Ikea) cafeteria windows look directly at Norwalk.”

Norwalk, a 104-year-old company based in Norwalk, Ohio, offers styles, fabrics, leathers and colors and lets customers create their own furniture.

It has furniture designed by Candice Olson, host of HGTV’s Divine Design show, and Joe Ruggiero, a furniture designer also affiliated with the show. The company also has stores in Tucson, Prescott and Kingman.

The EQ3 store chain offers contemporary furniture with a European flavor. Officials with the company could not be reached for comment, but its Web site says its store also will open in September. It has three stores in Tucson.

Construction has started on the second phase of the Emerald Center.

It will include Eurway, Painted With Oil, Nevada Leather, Diamondback Spas and Barbeques, and two stores in Scottsdale, Thingz and Holland Boone.

The first phase of Emerald is 75,000 square feet, and the second two are 160,000 each. Work on the third phase is to begin in December and should be done in about October 2014. Tenants are being lined up.