GENEVA – After 16 years on State Street in Geneva, Les Tissus Colbert is moving to another, smaller warehouse design studio in the city on Route 31.
Co-owner Kathy Hanley said the custom-home design company does not need three full floors for its stock anymore, and moving makes more sense.
"We have a huge space, " Hanley said. "We are not stocking the hundreds of rolls of fabric anymore. We no longer import 40-foot containers of furniture from Europe. We're buying on a smaller basis."
The company, which imports fabrics from France and England for custom draperies, bedding and other aspects of home design, antiques and accessories, also has locations in LaGrange and Michigan. Hanley said the Geneva location is the company's biggest store and the only one moving.
The store will close at the end of June, then reopen at its new location on 600 S. First St. in July.
"It's not so much the economy, it's that there's so many places you can order from easily," Hanley said. "I think everybody's doing the same thing. They're shrinking inventory and being more cautious. We can order fabrics by the yard, we do not need to stock big rolls."
Les Tissus Colbert has been in its current location for 11 years and five years before that also on State Street. Leaving the high visibility of Geneva's main thoroughfare will mean doing business differently, such as by notifying customers of special events such as design seminars and sales through e-mail and postcards.
"We'll miss the downtown foot traffic, but foot traffic is down," Hanley said. "Now it's not random traffic, but appointments. It takes a little bit more time and effort, but we will be doing things like weekend events."
The store has marked its current stock 40 percent to 70 percent off because it is cheaper to sell it than move it to the new location, she said.
"We are moving so we can continue to do business in Geneva," Hanley said. "We just don't want to leave it. We love doing business there. This will allow us to continue business in a smaller venue and a tighter ship."