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DRAPER — Utah's economic outlook is encouraging businesses to invest in the Beehive State, including furniture company RC Willey.
The company will join competitors Ashley Furniture, Denver Mattress an IKEA on Furniture Row in Draper. Construction will soon begin on a two-story, 160,000 square foot store that will bring at least 130 jobs to the state. RC Willey currently employs 2,500 people. Though it is Utah's largest furniture company, RC Willey has not opened a store in Utah in 20 years, according to the company's CEO, Scott Hymas.
But, he says, Utah's economic outlook is trending the right way to support a new store. The state added 28,800 new jobs in May, and its unemployment rate is 6 percent.
"I think we're about at the bottom of housing and things are going to come back," Hymas said. "We're very bullish on the state of Utah long term. People are going to move here and want to live here."
RC Willey is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year. The home-grown company opened its first store in 1954. Now there are six operating in Utah and five others in Nevada, Idaho and California.
This new store is yet another "feather-in-the-cap" for Draper City, which is one of the fastest growing areas of the county.
Draper Mayor Darrell Smith says business and residential growth has exploded since he first took office in 2002. The location is prime, as it is adjacent to I-15 and the Bangerter Interchange, which is a big draw for businesses.
"That's the thing we all recognize, because it's a domino effect with the good that comes from this," Smith said. "It's not just draper that benefits, but the whole county and the whole state."
RC Willey will break ground and begin construction later this year.
