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player ready...After working in France for two years for one of Europe`s largest home-improvement retailers, Andy Rashkow, 24,came home to Chicago last year to help with the family business.
His assignment: to open and head up X-tra, a home-decorating store, the first opened by the Schaumburg-based Handy Andy Home Improvement chain.
Located near the firm`s large, 6-year-old River Front Plaza home center, 2659 N. Elston Ave., the new store features dining sets, ready-to-assemble wood and wicker furniture, rugs, draperies, shades, wall art, space-organizing equipment and shelving, artificial and live flowers and plants.
Once scrunched in a corner of Handy Andy, moving the home decor to a separate store allows bigger, better display and makes it easier for customers not interested in buying lumber and hardware, says Ronald Rashkow, Handy Andy chairman and father of X-tra`s manager.
Furniture, for example, has three times as much area as before, with continued emphasis on low prices such as $12.99 for a barstool or $259 for a hefty country-style dining table.
Aiming to eliminate the picture perfect ”museum” atmosphere intimidating to many consumers in furniture display, Rashkow claims sales have been good since the May opening, but declines to give figures. More stores, he says, are under consideration. They would join the 95 Midwestern home improvement stores operated by Handy Andy and Central Hardware with combined sales of $850 million in 1991.