Turners Furniture One has confirmed it will relocate to brand-new premises at the Homemaker Centre when the rebuilding of the former Spotlight is complete.
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Steve and Nat Turner, with Forbes manager Mylessa Ryan, were on site with Forbes Shire Council this week and confirmed the good news.
Mayor Phyllis Miller said it was exciting to see a local business expanding into the Homemaker Centre, and growing in a great retail area on the Newell Highway.
"We're really excited that the Turner family has got confidence in the Forbes economy and we're very excited about them going into a brand new shop," Mayor Miller said.
The building that was home to Spotlight and Cafe Aglio e Oglio was destroyed by fire in March 2022, and replacement - to be built like-for-like under insurance - started late last year.
Work on site has accelerated since Christmas with external walls and roof now in place, and at this stage it's expected Turners Furniture One will be able to make the move from the current Lachlan Street location mid-year. They'll keep us updated!
The new space will be a significant expansion for the local Furniture One store and Turners will be able to add to the lines of furniture and bedding they stock.
"We're going to do something a bit special, it will definitely be a showroom that you haven't had in town," Mr Turner said.
He paid tribute to Forbes Shire Council for its work and voiced his confidence in Forbes as a choice for expansion.
The Turners have a number of stores including Cowra, Cootamundra, Temora and Young, Orange and Bathurst.
"The way the town is going and growing ... it's a confidence in Forbes," Mr Turner said.
"We think (Forbes is) going to grow out of sight in the next 10 years."
"Forbes is a great town," Nat Turner said, adding their business has a great team here too.
Furniture One is a well established business in our community: under Turners for 14 years now and Priests before that.
Manager Mylessa Ryan has been with the business since the Priests' days in Rankin Street and is looking forward to offering the local community a new shopping experience.
"It will be quite an impressive store - it will be completely different," she said.
It's anticipated the current staffing of four will need to expand as well.
The whole team is looking forward to being part of the Homemaker Centre as it grows, and delighted to have the restaurant / cafe venue next door being rebuilt as well.
There'll be more news to come as the development progresses and the move gets closer but Ms Ryan says customers and community can look forward to continuing to find the brand names they love in the Forbes store with exciting new lines as well.