By late September, the “Miracle Mile” will once again extend beyond the Apple Store at 1900 Northern Boulevard, as the computer retailer’s strip mall will once again be filled and fully furnished.
Gold + Williams, a North Carolina-based luxury furniture manufacturer, will open its first location on Long Island adjacent to the Apple Store as the company approaches its 25th anniversary next year.
“We want our stores in all the best shopping areas in the country, and that area is one of the most prestigious environments in America,” said Mitchell Gold, who founded the company with Bob Williams in 1989. “People compare it to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and we are fortunate to have gotten a great location with a lot of great parking near the retailers we want to be near.”
The company’s furniture is designed by Williams and his staff and ultimately okayed by Gold, and the two also design the showroom’s furnishing displays of 20-25 fully-formed rooms. Customers work with Gold + Williams associates to determine the kinds of pieces they’d need to transform their home furnishings, Gold said.
“What people tend to like with our line is they feel it’s easy to decorate with it,” Gold said. “Some people look at our line and feel it’s more traditional but with a modern vent, and some more traditional-minded people look at it and liken it to having a modern vent. We cross a broad range. There’s a very young, modern spirit to the line.”
With stores in most major cities throughout the country, including one in the SoHo area of Manhattan, Gold said the company’s future Manhasset location would allow its Long Island customers to continue to receive the same quality and service they’ve often traveled a long way to acquire.
It doesn’t hurt that the Americana Manhasset is only a few storefronts away, either.
“We’ve noticed that people who shop in those stores tend to go into the other stores nearby,” Gold said. “It’s not a very long walk from Chanel or Prada or Ferragamo, or even the Gap or Apple, into our store.”
Gold + Williams staff members, who Gold refers to as “design associates,” each have backgrounds in furniture design and are taught the “DNA of the company” from the founders themselves, Gold said.
Prior to the opening of each Gold + Williams location, design associates are sent to the company’s Taylorsville, N.C. headquarters for a month-long training tutorial educating them on every aspect of the business, from how each piece of furniture is conceived and manufactured to how to best interact with customers and market the business.
“We invest a lot of time in making sure our design associates can sell properly and help make your house a home,” Gold said.
Gold said the company also prides itself on manufacturing its products in an environmentally-responsible manner. Gold + Williams uses soy-based foams that do not emit chlorofluorocarbons into the air, recycled and recyclable packaging, recycled fabrics and woods taken from quick regrowth forests.
“We started with those practices long before they became fashionable,” Gold said. “Everything is put to good use.”
Gold + Williams stores also offer on-site day care facilities and offer education programs for its employees, and Gold said the company’s spirit is to be a good member of the community.
The company also plans to formally introduce itself to the Manhasset community in October with a grand opening event at the store in which it will partner to raise funds for a local charity.
