Room & Board

We originally started the business in Northeast Minneapolis in a tiny little 1,000 square foot facility. And we've moved a few times. I think this is our fourth space. When were looking at the different proposals for this new facility, location obviously was a key piece of that. Our existing facility was in Rogers, Minnesota. We had a 85,000 square foot warehouse. And the biggest challenge that we have is that we're growing about 30 to 50% a year. Went out to the market. A lot of the proposals that came back were basically developers and landlords that were saying to us, here's a 200,000 square foot building. You move in day one, you need 85,000 feet, but you're going to pay me for 200,000. Well, that doesn't make a lot of sense for me. Duke Realty basically came up with a really creative solution which allowed us to come in and pay for the space that we sort of need today, but also having a way for us to grow into the space that we need in five to seven years. Rubin Board was founded in 1980. We are a national retailer of modern home furnishings with a timeless design. And our focus has always been to provide outstanding quality with a great value for our customers. Our goal has always been to really help them create a home that really speaks to their individual style and how they choose to live. This Ostego Rubin Board Distribution Center serves as one of two in the country. We currently have a distribution center just a few miles away from here. It's a 250,000 square foot facility that quite frankly we've outgrown. This is key to our operations because we have all of our inventory centrally located here. So we serve the entire nation through this facility here. And really we need this amount of space devoted to be able to take good care of our customers. The operational side of the business, I believe, is where you make a break from your profit. That's the truth behind it. So you have to have the right facility set up with the right situation that's going to really allow you to make your operation successful. Gateway North Business Center is a 100 acre master plan industrial park by Duke Realty. Located within the Northwest Suburban Metro, there are two main access points on the north and south ends of the park that allow direct access to Highway 101 and on any force just a few minutes away. In partnering with Duke Realty, we found that a confidence level knowing that the young product was going to be the right thing for us. Not only were they just incredibly thorough, but they took the time to really understand Rubin Board's business. They really took the time to understand our operations. And in the end, the time that they spent up front obviously resulted in a first class building that allowed us not only to meet our needs, but obviously save us money. I enjoy getting to know the owners of these companies or decision makers or whomever, myself and all of us in Minneapolis, truly just enjoy the relationship side of things. We enjoy real estate very much. We're very passionate about what we do. And so I do think it's about being able to listen to what they're looking for, not always look at it from our perspective, but more so from theirs and what makes sense economically and business-wise for them. We obviously have land here where we can expand another 200,000 square feet if need be when ready. We wouldn't hesitate to call on Duke Realty to help us do that as well as in future needs. Duke Realty was really good and flexible about sort of putting on the customer's hat and looking back at their business and saying, how can we accommodate Blue Dot? So having a landlord that's more of a partner allows us to focus on our business, which is making furniture. Duke Realty. Reliable answers.