Heath, OH, December 7, 2005 -- Rite Rug hopes to attract a more regional customer base and offer shoppers a wider variety of flooring products when it moves to its new location in Heath, according to the Newark Advocate.
The Columbus-based carpet and flooring retailer plans to relocate its store at 570 Hebron Road to the former Salvation Army Thrift Store, 1175 Hebron Road, which closed in November 2004. The move will allow Rite Rug to stock a wider variety of products, as well make more available for order, helping customers get what they want quicker, said Erin Appleman, Rite Rug's advertising director.
"It's going to be a lot more products, the variety, the depth of categories we'll have compared to what we have now," Appleman said. "You'll be able to purchase it that day, take it home and install it."
The new location will serve as a "regional superstore" for the company, which expects to draw customers not just from Newark and Heath, but from Johnstown, Mount Vernon and as far east as Zanesville and Cambridge, Appleman said. "We realized that the Newark-Heath area is a growing portion of this region," Appleman said.
Rite Rug will use nearly two-thirds of the 27,000-square-foot building and lease the remaining space to an as yet undetermined tenant, Appleman said.
The new store will offer more hard-surface products, a growing portion of the flooring business, including a greater selection of tile, laminates and hardwood. Also, more carpeting and vinyl will be in stock and available for special order, Appleman said.
Rite Rug, a family-owned company in business for 71 years, operates 17 stores in the state, mainly in Central Ohio. In addition to the Heath location, Rite Rug has other nearby stores in Reynoldsburg, Lancaster and Sunbury.
The new location is undergoing renovations and should have a "soft," or unannounced, opening sometime this month, with an official grand opening held after the new year, Appleman said.
