Business Spotlight: Right at Home

Clive Gray and Ryan Rosenquist are the first to admit the style of their Grayson Home storefront isn’t for everyone.

In the 3,000-square-foot space at 2814 S. Fremont Ave., the co-owners and sole employees have curated a unique collection of antiques and modern furniture alongside an assortment of limited-quantity goods.

“We’re not market guys,” Gray says. “We want our stuff to be unique.”

Taxidermic mounts look down on a showroom with a vintage peanut-sheller standing between a four-figure-priced sofa set and a natural-finish dining table. Nearby, a chest of drawers originally designed to house maps and carrying a roughly $2,000 price tag is adorned with PF Candles priced under $20.

Established downtown in July 2013 at 404 W. Walnut St., Gray and Rosenquist moved the home decor, furniture and gift store from the 1,750-square-foot space to the south side Aug. 2 to increase store traffic and sales. They say the gamble is working.

“The first two weeks here we sold 12 sofas,” Gray says. “There were days downtown I didn’t see a person all day and weeks we were doing $80 a week.”

The owners also offer design services that meld two sensibilities of style. Rosenquist, who also works full-time for Bass Pro Shops as an imagery specialist, leans toward minimalist modern, and Gray, a former salesman and designer for Pine Merchant and Gatehouse Antiques in Ozark, is the rustic picker.

“We have a few things we try to stick with handmade,” Rosenquist says, adding the store’s gift lines include locally made soaps and Brick & Mortar Coffee, along with the Molly Jogger and Shinola brands. “We talk directly to the craftsmen who are making it, and get it directly from them.”

Rosenquist says the duo’s favorite modern furniture line – from Toronto, Canada-based Gus Design Group Inc. – is Grayson Home’s most popular product and has drawn customers from as far as Kansas City.

“We’ve even had people who moved here from California who know it. When you’re the only place in a 200-mile radius that sells it, they come here,” he adds.

Dante LaCivita, co-owner of handcrafted wood products company The 1906 Gents, says the customer network and product styles at Grayson Home led to a recent sample wholesale order of six shaving brushes, which retail at The1906Gents.com for $75-$125.

“For us, the exposure alone of people coming in from out of state is incredible,” LaCivita says, adding his company is wholesaling to five Springfield-area stores until its own retail storefront is ready next year. “They have a great apothecary line, and it was a really nice fit.”

Gray and Rosenquist say the second year in business improved roughly 66 percent over the first, spurred by sales resulting from design services. Declining to disclose annual revenues, Gray says in the quarter before design work picked up the company sold $22,000. The next quarter’s revenues nearly tripled to $60,000 once word spread.

Although the design work is primarily for residences, businesses have called on Grayson Home to create displays and fixtures. The owners of former downtown neighbor Modern Society dialed Grayson Home when they moved to South Glenstone’s Brentwood Shopping Center.

“They brought a new design element to Springfield that had that modern rustic vibe to it, and it fit our style,” says Modern Society co-owner Andrea Pena. “We said, ‘This is what we have to spend and work with,’ and they ran with it from there.”

Still, Rosenquist says the store’s product segments move in cycles, so it takes all facets to make Grayson Home a profitable venture. The first half of the year is heavy on furniture and decor sales, while gifts make up the bulk of holiday season purchases.

“Believe it or not, there have been times that candles paid our rent,” Gray says.

The business partners also host a monthly flea market-style meeting for vendors, called Schofield and Gray, held on Gray’s property in Fordland. The outdoor Saturday events are cross-promotional for the Springfield store, a property shared with FM Stores outside of Battlefield Mall.

And they are leading the company into new territory.

“We’re looking at (hosting) farm-to-table dinners and weddings and events,” Rosenquist says, adding the company is also building its own webpage for an online storefront. “That’s on the scope of things.”