Decorating someone else’s new home comes naturally to Christy Brant and Caitlin Marsh.
And after the mother-daughter duo moved their furniture and decor business from the Wellshire neighborhood to Greenwood Village, it was their turn to decorate their own new home.
The owners of Lulu’s Furniture and Decor plan to open their new 4,200-square-foot space on July 8 at 5910 S. University Blvd. in the Cherry Hills Marketplace.
“It’s been an unsettling year, so we’re excited to finally open up our doors again,” Brant said. “Having a store is like hosting your own party every day.”
Lulu’s offers in-house design services and sells vintage finds, custom upholstery and furniture, art, jewelry, lighting and rugs. It sells upholstery brands such as Norwalk, Rowe and CR Laine, and furniture brands such as Noir and Arteriors.
The new, larger Lulu’s shop offers more space for a showcased fabric wall, where people can customize upholstery for furniture pieces in the store.
Brant originally opened the furniture store in a strip mall at 2553 S. Colorado Blvd. in 2007.
“I grew up in the furniture business,” Brant said. “My dad was a furniture salesman, and so was my brother, brother-in-laws, and uncles. I mean, there’s like 30 people in the business in the family, and my sister had opened a store with her daughter in California. So I was always like worst case, I’ll open the store. And I couldn’t find a job, so I signed the lease on my 50th birthday.”
“She opened it in the middle of the recession by herself, and the fact that she’s survived ever since is pretty amazing,” said Marsh, who joined the business in 2010.
Lulu’s has moved around a bit since its first spot. The business spent nine years at 2050 W. 30th Ave. in LoHi, before moving in 2018 into 2,600 square feet on the corner of University Boulevard and Hampden Avenue in Wellshire.
The pair said they got a new landlord when COVID hit, and taxes went up, so they decided to start looking at other options.
They closed the store in February after working out a deal with the landlord, and in the meantime opened up a small interim location at 1071 S. Gaylord St. in Wash Park.
The company also leases a 2,000-square-foot warehouse near the I-25/Alameda Avenue interchange, where they store inventory.
Sales have been tough over the past year, since they’ve been closed part time due to the move and the pandemic, the pair said.
There’s also a nationwide furniture shortage thanks to congested shipping ports, staffing shortages in factories, and the Texas deep freeze in February that has since delayed chemical plants that provide necessary components to make foam.
“Our best-selling chairs aren’t available until February, so the hardest part is trying to convince people that it’s worth the wait,” Brant said. “Although we want people to be able to sell things on the floor, we just can’t.”
But Brant and Marsh are hopeful that the new Greenwood Village location will help bring back a sense of normalcy.
“We felt like more of our customers at the other shop were coming from this area, so it made sense to go where the people are that like us,” Brant said. “And this is a great shopping center because you have a good mix of everything, like Trader Joe’s and all the restaurants.”
Decorating someone else’s new home comes naturally to Christy Brant and Caitlin Marsh.
And after the mother-daughter duo moved their furniture and decor business from the Wellshire neighborhood to Greenwood Village, it was their turn to decorate their own new home.
The owners of Lulu’s Furniture and Decor plan to open their new 4,200-square-foot space on July 8 at 5910 S. University Blvd. in the Cherry Hills Marketplace.
“It’s been an unsettling year, so we’re excited to finally open up our doors again,” Brant said. “Having a store is like hosting your own party every day.”
Lulu’s offers in-house design services and sells vintage finds, custom upholstery and furniture, art, jewelry, lighting and rugs. It sells upholstery brands such as Norwalk, Rowe and CR Laine, and furniture brands such as Noir and Arteriors.
The new, larger Lulu’s shop offers more space for a showcased fabric wall, where people can customize upholstery for furniture pieces in the store.
Brant originally opened the furniture store in a strip mall at 2553 S. Colorado Blvd. in 2007.
“I grew up in the furniture business,” Brant said. “My dad was a furniture salesman, and so was my brother, brother-in-laws, and uncles. I mean, there’s like 30 people in the business in the family, and my sister had opened a store with her daughter in California. So I was always like worst case, I’ll open the store. And I couldn’t find a job, so I signed the lease on my 50th birthday.”
“She opened it in the middle of the recession by herself, and the fact that she’s survived ever since is pretty amazing,” said Marsh, who joined the business in 2010.
Lulu’s has moved around a bit since its first spot. The business spent nine years at 2050 W. 30th Ave. in LoHi, before moving in 2018 into 2,600 square feet on the corner of University Boulevard and Hampden Avenue in Wellshire.
The pair said they got a new landlord when COVID hit, and taxes went up, so they decided to start looking at other options.
They closed the store in February after working out a deal with the landlord, and in the meantime opened up a small interim location at 1071 S. Gaylord St. in Wash Park.
The company also leases a 2,000-square-foot warehouse near the I-25/Alameda Avenue interchange, where they store inventory.
Sales have been tough over the past year, since they’ve been closed part time due to the move and the pandemic, the pair said.
There’s also a nationwide furniture shortage thanks to congested shipping ports, staffing shortages in factories, and the Texas deep freeze in February that has since delayed chemical plants that provide necessary components to make foam.
“Our best-selling chairs aren’t available until February, so the hardest part is trying to convince people that it’s worth the wait,” Brant said. “Although we want people to be able to sell things on the floor, we just can’t.”
But Brant and Marsh are hopeful that the new Greenwood Village location will help bring back a sense of normalcy.
“We felt like more of our customers at the other shop were coming from this area, so it made sense to go where the people are that like us,” Brant said. “And this is a great shopping center because you have a good mix of everything, like Trader Joe’s and all the restaurants.”
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