Ferguson plans Sugar Land store

By Katherine Feser, Houston Chronicle

Ferguson, a major supplier of plumbing goods as well as kitchen and bath products, has leased space for a showroom in Sugar Land as the national chain expands in the Houston market.

"Ferguson has been making investments and expanding in the Houston area," Christine Dwyer, the company's public relations manager, said in an email. "We view it as a growth opportunity and want to be the supplier of choice in the Houston market."

The Newport News, Va.-based company plans to open a 13,000-square-foot Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery showroom with plumbing, lighting and appliances in the Sugar Creek Village Shopping Center at U.S. 59 and Sugar Creek Boulevard. The location is scheduled to open in about 10 months.

The design will be similar to the Katy showroom at 24425 Katy Freeway, which opened in February. Grand opening festivities there featured cooking demonstrations by chef Martin Yan and a meet-and-greet with DIY Network and HGTV show hostess Amy Matthews.

Nathan Wynne and John Nicholson of DTZ represented Ferguson in the leases. Kristen Cavanaugh represented the landlord, United Equities, in the Sugar Land lease.

"A number of aspects ultimately attracted Ferguson to Sugar Creek Village: strong demographics, accessibility and visibility off a major thoroughfare," Wynne said in an email.

Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery has operated in the Houston market since 1988 and has locations at 4245 Richmond inside Loop 610, Conroe, Humble and Katy.

When selecting new locations, Ferguson said it "looks for areas with significant market potential with the affluent consumer coupled with robust activity with remodeling and new construction."

The showrooms feature high-end finishes to display products to professional contractors, builders and designers as well as homeowners. Products can be viewed and ordered at the showroom, but not taken on-site.

Ferguson is building a 120,000-square-foot "mega hub" on Airport Boulevard west of Texas 288 to distribute products to Ferguson locations and service next-day customer deliveries within a 100-mile radius. It will be similar to the company's first "mega-hub," which recently opened in Secaucus, N.J.

Founded in 1953, Ferguson has 270 locations, with 90 in Texas, and 12 distribution centers across the U.S. The company is part of the Wolseley Group of Switzerland.