Store With Style Expands Custom Concept from Garages to Entire Homes

Though clientele for their garage makeover business had been growing, the Wallaces knew additions would be needed for things to stay that way.

"For us, it's all about being as diverse as we can be," Store with Style co-owner Tony Wallace said. "Also, offering to our customers exactly what they're looking for. Not something close or not something like "oh, we can kind of make this fit."

Store with Style, 8250 Tyler Blvd. Suite E, used to be Garage Outfitters on Mentor Avenue. The previous business specialized in custom storage designs for garages. Now, the Wallace family has expanded that concept to a customer's entire home.

The full-time additions of Tony and Kathy's sons, Aaron and Alex, allowed the business to incorporate custom cabinetry for kitchens and storage units in bedrooms and living rooms into its profile. The brothers previously worked in a shop in Brunswick.

"So much of our referral work was coming from store-style work, that it just made sense to get all of us grouped together," Aaron said. "It really expands all of our capabilities."

The business constructs cabinets, media centers, desks, makeup stations and more based on customer's design requests and provides installation. The new location also houses a showroom.

Tony conducts initial assessments at customers' homes to gauge how the storage design will fit in the desired space. Clients can come to Store with Style to view the showroom and get a feel for the products, including the Red Line Closet System line the Wallaces began using around the time they transitioned their business.

"The customers get so much more out of our showroom space," Kathy said. "They can take their time, they can open all of the drawers, pick material samples, look at computer pictures and drawings. It's a shorter cycle now."

Tony said he and Kathy realized that finding a way to do more business with their garage clients was their best opportunity to grow the company in an ailing economy.

"We began to look at other alternatives," Tony said. "What we're doing to the garage is exactly what we're doing in the other areas of the home. We're taking a space that needs organization, updating and a change in function.

"It doesn't matter if it's the garage, or the home office or the laundry home. We now have that answer."