SHARPER IMAGE WILL OPEN FIRST STORE IN VALLEY.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer ENCINO - Sharper Image, the upscale electronics retailer known for its $200 robot vacuum cleaners and $1,800 massage chairs, signed a 10-year lease in the Plaza de Oro - the chain's first full-sized store in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . With a $1 million investment, the San Francisco-based chain took control of a 4,237-square-foot site on Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east-west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real (the trail between Spanish missions), Ventura Boulevard is the oldest route in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S. near Louise Avenue in one of the Valley's wealthiest neighborhoods. The store is expected to open in early June. ``This was quite a coup for us,'' said Richard Leyner, a senior vice president for NAI See Network Associates. Capital Commercial, the real estate firm representing the deal. ``They're a national concern, very highly regarded, and it'll bring a lot of traffic to that center.'' Sharper Image Corp. representatives did not return calls seeking comment, but analysts who follow the firm said it has set its sights on robust expansion in coming years. Buoyed by strong quarterly profits and consistent same-store sales Same-store sales is a business term which refers to the revenue generated by one of a retail chain's specific outlets during a certain period of time (often a fiscal quarter or a particular shopping season), compared to an identical period in the past, usually in the previous year. growth, the chain has potential far beyond its current 135 locations. ``The company's been very successful at opening new stores,'' said Ozarslan Tangun, director of research for the Dallas-based brokerage Southwest Securities Inc. ``They're accelerating their new store growth - originally it was 10 percent to 15 percent growth each year, now it's 15 percent to 20 percent growth. The new stores are offering more products, which brings in a broader customer base.'' Though Tangun owns no shares, he disclosed that Southwest served as an underwriter on Sharper Image's May 2 public offering. This will be the chain's first full-size San Fernando Valley location, alongside locations in Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. and Glendale. It also operates a kiosk in the Northridge Fashion Center Northridge Fashion Center is a large shopping mall located in Northridge, California. It opened in 1971. It was severely damaged during the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, but renovated extensively in 1995 and 1998. , selling its Ionic Breeze air purifiers. Encino's wealthy population makes for an attractive market for its pricey goods. ``That's definitely a good demographic for them,'' said Anthony Lebiedzinski, an equity analyst for the New York-based independent research firm Sidoti & Co. ``If you look at Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , they have seven stores, so given the population density, that's not that many.'' CAPTION(S): map Map: Sharper Image |
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