Stylecraft Home Collection, a leading provider of lamps and other home accessories, will locate its headquarters at Hillwood’s DeSoto Trade Center in Southaven.
The company has leased 251,053 square feet in DeSoto Trade Center Building 3, the new 552,106-square-foot building from Hillwood.
Hernando-based Stylecraft, founded in 1968, will employ 200 workers in the new facility, which also will serve as the company’s distribution center.
“Stylecraft is preparing for expansion,” said Stylecraft president Charlie McCaffrey.
Stylecraft imports home decor items and then assembles them in Mississippi, which made DeSoto Trade Center’s status as a Foreign Trade Zone appealing.
Certain types of merchandise can be imported into an FTZ without going through formal U.S. Customs procedures or paying import duties.
Customs duties and excise taxes are due only at the time of transfer from the FTZ for U.S. consumption. If the merchandise never enters the U.S. market, then no duties or taxes are paid on those items.
“The foreign trade zone was critical to them,” said Dan Wilkinson, chairman of Colliers, Wilkinson & Snowden, who represented Hillwood.
Richard Burnette of The Burnette Co. and T. Preston Herold, vice president of Hillwood Investment Properties, also represented Hillwood in the deal.
The Stylecraft facility is one of three buildings recently completed by Hillwood in DeSoto Trade Center, located on the west side of Interstate 55 between Church Road and Star Landing Road.
Stylecraft’s announcement is the latest sign of DeSoto County’s growing strength as a distribution market.
Almost 2 million square feet of a key product — bulk Class A space — was absorbed last year in DeSoto County, compared with 500,000 square feet in Southeast Memphis, the third time in four years that DeSoto outpaced the Southeast submarket for bulk Class A space, according to Memphis-based Commercial Advisors LLC.
About 2.4 million square feet of industrial space is under construction in DeSoto County, while Southeast Memphis is expected to see only 500,000 square feet completed this year.
Stylecraft is the second major announced industrial lease signing of the year.
Earlier this month, Ohio-based Terminal Warehouse, a third-party provider of storage and distribution services, signed a lease for 316,000 square feet at Shelby Air Park at Malone and Shelby Drive in Southeast Memphis.
“There is a lot of activity and interest,” said Wilkinson. “It’s just been hard to get people to make decisions.”
— Amos Maki: 529-2351
Stylecraft Home Collection
What: A leading provider of lamps, wall decor and home accessories
Where: The company will locate its headquarters at Hillwood’s DeSoto Trade Center in Southaven
President: Charlie McCaffrey