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Coming In Spring '09: Crate & Barrel

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By MICHAEL SASSO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 9, 2008

Updated: 02/08/2008 09:11 pm

TAMPA - Crate & Barrel, the contemporary home goods and furniture store, will open its first Tampa area store at International Plaza in spring 2009, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Crate & Barrel will build a two-story freestanding store on mall property, but won't be attached to International Plaza.

The first floor will have home goods such as dishes and flatware, and the second floor will have furniture, said Crate & Barrel public relations representative Bette Kahn.

The store will be between 30,000 and 35,000 square feet, she said.

Kahn could not say Friday exactly where the store will locate on mall grounds.

However, it may be on land at the northeast corner of West Shore and Boy Scout boulevards.

In April, the mall's owner told the Hillsborough County Aviation Authority, which owns the ground that the mall is on, that it was negotiating to bring a "major home design store" to that site.

Elizabeth Vocke, spokeswoman for International Plaza, said Friday that she had no information about Crate & Barrel.

Crate & Barrel is known for its high quality home goods that appeal to young professionals, said Love Goel, chairman of a Minneapolis-based firm that invests in retailers, Growth Ventures Group.

It carries higher quality items than Ikea, the Swedish furniture chain that also is planning its first Tampa store in 2009, he said.

"It's a smaller, more upscale version of Ikea," Goel said. "What Apple stores are to Best Buy, Crate and Barrel is to Ikea."

Kahn, the company spokeswoman, said prices at Crate & Barrel run from 95 cents for a juice glass to $2,500 for a sleeper sofa.

Crate & Barrel has grown slowly over the years. This year, it will open nine stores, which is fast growth for the company, she said.

The Northbrook, Ill.-based company operates 160 stores across the country, with its nearest store in Orlando.

Items on its Web site include bone china and Calphalon cookware.

At International Plaza, Crate & Barrel will be just a stone's throw from another furniture store, Robb & Stucky, although Crate & Barrel has more home goods.

Their proximity might help each company because it could draw more furniture shoppers to the area, said Patrick Berman, a retail real estate broker with the Cushman & Wakefield firm.

"I see it as being a big plus for everyone, a big plus for the mall," Berman said. "I bet Robb & Stucky's sales actually go up."

Reporter Michael Sasso can be reached at msasso@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7865.

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