224 South First St.
Neighborhood: Walker’s Point
Founded: 1968
Owner: Dan Mahlik
Employees: 18
Service: Furniture and design firm
What brought you to Walker’s Point from Vliet Street?
Kim Melka, senior creative design director: “It was a three-year renovation process for us and it was an important step for the business as well. We were on Fourth and Vliet before, but it was just one of those locations that didn’t get a lot of visibility, so this is doing exactly what we wanted this to do.”
Mahlik: “We work closely with the (art and design) community, and a lot of that A&D community is in this part of the city, so we thought it was really important to be as closely located to them as we could to open up our space for innovation, collaboration and community.”
What market trends are you seeing?
Mahlik: “Right now, with so much stimulus funding in the educational space, especially K-12 and a lot of referendum work in that segment, that’s probably where we’re seeing the most strength in our company, followed by corporate. We’re involved in a lot of conversations around what workplace should be, what it was pre-pandemic, what it is moving forward. We’re in that dialogue daily.”
How has the business changed since it was founded?
Melka: “The business has really morphed over the years. We started as a manufacturers’ rep agency for different furniture manufacturers and then … with the business turning over to Dan in 2004 and especially in the last 10 years, we’ve turned into the full-service furniture dealership model with installation, interior design and then also project (management).”
