Housing slump brings down creative furnishings concept

Imagine That! was launched as a furniture store for those not content to merely furnish a home, for those who wanted to engage in custom designing with creative flair. Two years later, the concept enacted by Greg Hughes and Jake Gordon became a casualty of the slow housing market.

Imagine that.

The store's liquidation sale wraps up this month as the last of the hand-painted headboards and high-end sofas get carted away.

Of the experience rolling out a new concept, Hughes says, "All you can do is give it a shot."

In the process, the business partners learned some lessons.

"Retail is a tough business," says Hughes. "Everybody told me it was. And while we both had business experience, we lacked furniture experience."

If he had it to do over, Hughes adds, "I'd scale it back, test the model before going out there full-bore."

The store opened in November 2005 now called the apex of the housing boom and rode it down.

"If we'd started three years earlier, it may have survived the downturn," says Hughes. "Timing is everything, but I don't know how you anticipate that."

Creativity was key to Imagine That!

"The concept maybe would have done better in a bigger city," Hughes says in hindsight. "We tried to help and push along creativity and got local artists to help."

The store's best-seller turned out to be not the custom finishes for wooden furniture, but rather, custom upholstery.

"Most people need the help in determining what they're doing in decoration. That's expensive experience. It cost us quite a bit to find that out," Hughes says.

The partners also fine-tuned their sales process during their last year in business, developing expertise in finding what customers want and need.

But it was too late. Gordon has since moved to Portland, while Hughes is president at Equity Lending Partners of Reno.

The company's 12,400-square-foot location at 9425 Double R Blvd. is on the market for sale or lease, says Lance Faulstich, a principal in Trinity Commercial, which has the listing.