England Piano recently purchased a 50,000 square foot facility with visibility from Interstate 85 and within one-half mile of the major Atlanta intersection of I-85 and I-285. The company reports an average of 425,000 cars pass the showroom daily.

"We plan to use 25,000 square feet for showroom and warehouse," said Ron Nicholson, senior vice president of sales. "This facility allows England Piano to enjoy over two times the display area compared with its previous Atlanta location. More important, this facility will be able to enhance its support of our numerous university sales, outside promotion sales, truckload events, institutional business with school systems and universities, and offers the music community a 200-seat concert hall. It will also improve our quick distribution to the three retail stores we operate in Metro Atlanta."

"We prefer to own the buildings we occupy," said David England, president and CEO. "We believe the investment in such facilities places us in a much stronger position in the marketplace. It's no secret that in many industries the profit is to be made in the appreciation of real estate as opposed to daily operating profits. While both are very important, properly managed, one has no negative effect on the other."

England added that the facility has two other leasing tenants to help pay for the investment.