Furniture parts distributor Lioher has wanted to expand its American presence beyond its office near Miami.
The problem: Getting the product out West.
“Logistically speaking, it is a nightmare,” spokesman Miquel Rifa Bofill said.
By the end of January, however, the company’s new North Las Vegas plant should be running and staffed by about 15 people, Rifa Bofill said.
The city licensed Lioher in December to transact business at 4060 Frehner Road, city records show.
The company leased about 64,000 square feet on a 63-month term around October, said Donna Alderson of commercial real estate firm CBRE.
The location houses custom machinery to make panels that decorate rooms and furniture such as kitchen cabinets. It will hold half the staff of Lioher’s office in South Florida, Rifa Bofill said.
This machinery helps Lioher, founded in 2010, sell goods at a competitive price. It is not currently hiring for its North Las Vegas branch, he said.
“We decided to make this factory in the way that they should be,” he said.
He credited his company’s growth to Americans’ growing interest in European kitchen designs, for which Lioher’s panels are designed.
Lioher’s parent company, Spain-based furniture parts maker Alvic, employs about 700 people internationally.
The North Las Vegas plant will add finishing touches to the cabinet panels. There are no plans yet for another location.
The company at first considered opening the plant in the Los Angeles area, Bofill said. But North Las Vegas proved to have lower costs and easier permitting.
“We tried to (evaluate) all of these bullet points,” he said. “It was difficult, but I think we made the right decision.”