I.O. Metro Opens Third Store

I.O. Metro LLC opened its third import furniture and accessories store on May 5 in Fayetteville. The 7,000-SF store, called I.O. Metro Home, is located at 2826 E. Joyce Blvd.

Jay Howard of Rogers and Bill and Helen Benton of Jonesboro are partners in the corporation. They opened their first store, a 6,000-SF Interior Outlet, in Bentonville in March. Then they opened a 13,500-SF I.O. Metro store in Little Rock in November.

The stores sell eclectic home furnishings and accessories imported from 14 different countries.

Howard, 25, graduated from Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., in 2002 with a degree in entrepreneurship. He went to work for Jimco Lighting Co. of Jonesboro, where for two years he was assigned to the Target Corp. account.

“That’s where my interest in importing came from,” he said. “From there, I decided to go out on my own.”

The Bentons, Howard’s next door neighbors in Jonesboro, decided to go into business with him.

They bought 1.5 acres of land in Bentonville that included a 13,000-SF strip center. The Interior Outlet store is housed in part of that building. As leases expire there later this year, the company will take over the remaining part of the strip center. About 2,500 SF will be used as the corporate office, and the remaining 10,500 SF will be renamed as an I.O. Metro store.

Howard said he wanted to change the name to reflect a more upscale environment, but prices will often be about half of manufactured suggested retail price.

The Bentonville store has been very successful since opening a little more than a year ago, he said.

“We turn our inventory there about 70 percent a week,” Howard said.

Howard said the company did $2 million in sales during the part of 2005 that the stores were open. He’s predicting $7 million in companywide sales for 2006.

Howard travels to India, China and Indonesia to buy items for the stores. Everything is imported through the company’s 20,000-SF Bentonville warehouse before being shipped in the original packages to the stores on one of JMH LLC’s three trucks. Howard also owns the delivery service.

By cutting out the middleman, Howard said he can pass savings on to his customers. Every day, the stores have new merchandise, and it’s often items that won’t be on the floor again.

“There’s such a sense of urgency [among shoppers] because it’s a one-time buy from overseas, or it could be an antique sample we have decided not to go with or it may be 60 to 90 days before we can get another one,” Howard said.

Howard said I.O. Metro LLC plans for the Fayetteville location to be the last corporate store. The company has seen “a lot of interest in franchising.”

I.O. Metro LLC also plans to partner another company to launch a wholesale distribution company to import goods from India.

Howard said the company is donating $10,000 worth of furniture that will go in a 1,200-SF Habitat for Humanity house in Little Rock.