Custom Home, a Wilmington-based furniture company founded by brothers John and Kevin Gray, recently announced the expansion of its facilities with a 50,000-square-foot distribution center in the Leland Innovation Park.
 
The company will use the facility to store and distribute furniture for Custom Home’s four businesses, which include Custom Home Staging & Design and Custom Home Furniture Galleries at 3514 College Road, niche. Decor & Gifts at 3501 Oleander Drive in Wilmington and Custom Home Furniture Outlet at 2062 Olde Regent Way in Leland.
 
The Custom Home team began storing inventory in the new facility this week, John Gray said on Tuesday, and the employees from the company's three former warehouses are now working out of the Leland site. They plan to hire more employees to staff the distribution center, he said.
 
In 1995, Custom Homes opened its first storefront, Custom Home Furnishings, according to Custom Home officials. After opening the three other stores across the greater Wilmington area in the following years, the Custom Home team wasn't able to handle all the business it received from customers efficiently, he said. They had two separate warehouses, so they built their “dream facility,” in Leland Innovation Park.
 
“We can maximize efficiency on our delivery trucks and our routes to make sure we're doing it the best possible way that we can to serve the customers,” John Gray said.
 
The Gray brothers were able to design the facility to their exact specifications, they said. The distribution center spans 100,000 square feet with 50,000 square feet used by Custom Home. They plan to lease the other half of the space to other companies, but the Custom Home team can also use that additional space as they expand, Kevin Gray said.
 
“(The facility) increases our capabilities because we'll be able to handle even more business and we don't have to push out delivery times,” Kevin Gray said. “So, the customers will get their furniture much more rapidly than if we did not increase the space and the efficiency of how we were doing business.”