News

Excentricities Manager Diana Myers, inside the recently expanded showroom

on Northeast Fifth Avenue in Delray Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Jane Smith

    Excentricities recently expanded its Delray Beach showroom by more than 25 percent, store manager Diana Myers said.

    But the two months of construction did more than just add space, she added. 

    “Walls were torn down, unused rooms opened up, giving us room for more merchandise.”

    The casually elegant home furnishings store also offers design services to give home and condo owners a Florida feel. 

    “We get so many condo owners coming in who brought their dark, heavy furniture from up North,” she said. “They tried to make it work, but now they are ready for a change.”

    They want sofas with white slipcovers that can be easily washed, pillows with bright colors, and whimsical lamps and chandeliers that create a beachy feel, she said.

    The store features work by Delray Beach artist Tiffany Cant. Shell-framed mirrors also are available, along with bleached starfish for $1. A shell-covered side table, basically a conversation piece and made locally, sells for $1,200.

    This branch caters to the younger vibe of Delray Beach and the closeness to the beach, Myers said. The North Palm Beach location offers more traditional home décor because of the age difference of its customers.

    Owner Carol Adams echoed that sentiment when she chose to open the Delray Beach showroom for Excentricities in 2003: “I love the area — it’s bohemian and fun.”

    As to the spelling of Excentricities, Adams hopes that customers will take it to mean unusual but functional items for their homes in the four-store chain. 

    “We’re not a box store,” Myers said. She tries to obtain “different and unique things” on her semiannual buying trips to High Point, N.C. She’ll go next in October.

    During the real estate slump, Myers noticed that customers were scaling back on what they purchased. Instead of a $600 pillow, customers would go for a $150 pillow.

    She is cautiously optimistic about the coming season, pointing to a 39 percent increase in sales last year over 2011. With the expansion, she expects the store to top that increase this year.

Excentricities, 117 N.E. Fifth Ave., Delray Beach, 278-0886; 1400 Old Dixie Highway, North Palm Beach, 845-3250; 1810 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, 249-6000; and 89 Main St., Westhampton Beach, N.Y., (631) 288-0258; www.excentricities.com.