The owners of Interiors Marketplace say the multi-merchant home furnishing store will close its doors for the last time on Friday, Jan. 6, as the Harris Teeter at Providence Road and Queens Road will soon demolish the building.
John Vieregg, co-owner of Interiors Marketplace, said he and his wife Kelley will now focus on their second store, Post & Gray. They had originally searched for a new site to relocate Interiors Marketplace.
"We really weren't able to find another location that was suitable," said Vieregg. "That doesn't mean Interiors Marketplace is going away." He said that eight merchants currently featured at Interiors Marketplace will move to Post & Gray, and that the newer store will offer many of the same goods.
The Viereggs opened Interiors Marketplace in Atherton Mills in 19 years ago. At first, they sold lots of antiques, and Vieregg said they were one of the first stores to help revitalize the South End.
Three years ago, the Viereggs moved from their 16,000 square-foot space in Atherton Mills to their current 4,500 square-foot space at Providence and Queens. At the same time, they opened Post & Gray, which is about 7,000 square feet, as a secondary location for overflow inventory.
They also opened Post & Gray to shoppers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Vieregg said. Since then, they've started opening the store on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as well, and starting in January, they're adding Sunday.
When Harris Teeter announced they would tear down Interior Marketplace's building to expand the Harris Teeter Express in Myers Park, Interiors Marketplace temporarily extended its lease and prepared to move.
But Vieregg said they couldn't find the right place. The closest they came, he said, was the Mecklenburg Furniture building on Providence Road, but the 40,000 square-foot space was too big.
"It's hard to move from the corner of Queens and Providence," he said, but Vieregg said the Post & Gray location has benefited from the burgeoning population of young professionals around South End. The store will offer a wider range of goods, Vieregg said, as well as more private label products such as candles and upholstery manufactured exclusively for Post & Gray.
There will be a sale at Interiors Marketplace, and all merchandise that's not being moved to Post & Gray will be discounted, Vieregg said.