Online furniture retailer Wayfair will be testing a prototype for a small-format store in Ohio as it continues to expand its brick-and-mortar footprint.
The Boston-based company said it will open a 70,000-square-foot store, roughly half the size of its existing and previously announced namesake physical locations, late next year in the Buckeye State. It's slated for 1552 Gemini Place in Columbus, adjacent to the Polaris Fashion Mall.
That store will serve as a model "designed to test new ways of bringing Wayfair's signature shopping experience to life," the retailer said on Thursday.
Wayfair is now part of two trends that have swept the U.S. retail industry: digital-native companies opening brick-and-mortar stores and chains rolling out smaller versions of their traditional locations.
Wayfair, a seller of home decor and accessories along with furniture, debuted its first large-format store in May 2024 in Wilmette, Illinois. It is 150,000 square feet. Wayfair has also announced stores for Atlanta; Yonkers, New York; and Denver. So, it's part of a crowd of online retailers such e-commerce giant Amazon, Allbirds and Warby Parker that expanded into physical retail location.
Wayfair also becomes part of a crop of retailers — including Macy's, Bloomingdale's, Kohl's and Ulta Beauty — that have opened small-format stores. They allow chains to enter more markets at a lesser expense and to have a presence in neighborhoods to get closer to shoppers.
Wayfair said its strategy is "to accelerate its physical retail footprint while testing different formats that balance scale, experience and convenience."
"As we scale our retail strategy, we are focused on both expansion and experimentation," Liza Lefkowski, Wayfair vice president of merchandising and stores, said in a statement. "We are excited to see how customers respond to our efforts to provide a comprehensive home shopping experience in a smaller footprint."
Despite its smaller size, the Columbus store will offer a wide assortment of goods across multiple departments, including furniture, housewares, appliances, mattresses and decor, along with curated Wayfair Verified products hand-selected by the company's experts, according to the retailer. And complimentary design-service areas will offer shoppers personalized support.
Wayfair said it will use the Columbus store "to evaluate how a smaller footprint can drive customer engagement and efficiency while maintaining inspiration and convenience."
Many products will be available for immediate take-home, with larger items such as sofas, dining sets and outdoor furniture delivered through Wayfair's logistics network.
The retailer is bullish on the Columbus market itself.
"Columbus' diverse population, strong retail heritage and role as home to a major university make it a natural choice for Wayfair," the company said. "With a thriving community and central position in the region, Columbus offers the perfect environment for Wayfair to pilot its new smaller-format store and learn how to best serve customers across the Midwest and beyond."