Palm Coast furniture store expands south, boosts U.S. 1 corridor

Ormond Beach Observer
Business

Three properties on South U.S. 1 have been bought in the past year.

BY WAYNE GRANT | STAFF WRITER

After opening a furniture store in Palm Coast a year ago, the Nikzad family plans to open a sister store in Ormond Beach this spring in the building previously occupied by Discount Furniture Mart.

“I understand that area is called furniture row,” said Jackie Nikzad, daughter of owner Mike Nikzad. “We want to be where people shop for furniture.”

Nikzad said she was the first family member to move to Palm Coast when she relocated in 2004 from the Washington D.C. area, where her family had been in the furniture-sales business for 35 years. Her dad, Mike, came down to visit, and they say they saw a need.

So, Mike Nikzad built the Nikzad Plaza in Palm Coast in 2011, and their store, Home Design and Furniture, at 85 Cypress Point Parkway, opened a year ago. The plaza is also home to a dental group and a restaurant.

“We had been looking to expand," Jackie Nikzad said.

And when they found out that the family that owned Discount Furniture, at 589 S. Yonge St., was planning to retire, they bought the 27,540-square-foot building for $600,000.

“We’re going to improve the building and ... update the facade,” Nikzad said.

They plan to create 15 jobs.

It’s a family business. Jackie Nikzad works in sales, marketing and advertising, while her brother, David, is store manager. Her sister Sarah does the billing, and her son, Tristan, helps with deliveries.

Joe Mannarino, economic development director for the city, said there has been a resurgence along the South U.S. 1 corridor with three former furniture store buildings now occupied.

Duvasawko completed renovation of the 30,000-square-foot building at 298 S. Yonge St. last year. The company, a billing and practice management firm for emergency physicians, spent $2 million on the project.

The 45,000-square-foot Kitty Scott Furniture store was sold in 2013 to investors and is now leased to a discount appliance and furniture store.

The third property is the new Home Design and Furniture.

“These properties will be generating substantially higher property taxes and many high-wage jobs resulting from the capital investment,” Mannarino said. “Economic investment into a city or section of a city draws additional investment.”