DAILY BRIEFING
ully, seller of standing esks, opens Maryland base An online furniture company that sells tanding desks, ergonomic chairs and other ares has opened its first East Coast ocation in Baltimore County. Portland, re.-based Fully opened a showroom and 00,000-square-foot distribution center on ranklin Square Drive in Nottingham in ecember, said Ben Oh, director of marketng.
The firm employs about eight people ull time at the Baltimore location.
Fully has showrooms in Portland and San rancisco. The Baltimore site will allow the irm to speed up delivery to customers on he East Coast, where many of its clients are ased, Oh said. It also gives them a spot to ry out the products and cuts down on hipping costs and carbon emissions. Fully as founded in 2006 as Ergo Depot, witching to its current name within the ast year. It is a certified B corporation, a designation that means the company formally makes social good one of its missions.
Oh said the retailer, which employs about 60 people, is focused on e-commerce and doesn’t have any more immediate brickand-mortar expansion plans. But knowing that some customers will drive hours to test their chairs, it’s tinkering with its strategy.
—Natalie Sherman SIG in Pikesville among 24 firms to create Alera Group SIG, an employee benefits firm in Pikesville, is among 24 insurance firms uniting under the name Alera Group.
Through the deal, SIG will maintain its local independence while gaining access to a national network of resources and expertise for clients, founder and president Richard Silberstein said in a statement.
“Our new partnership with Alera will allow SIG to elevate its client services, grow its expertise, and offer more thought leadership to the local market — all while staying true to our values and cornerstones of being trusted advisors in our community and providing an exceptional client experience,” he said.
—Sarah Gantz Hickory Ridge center redevelopment advances A plan to redevelop Hickory Ridge Village Center could go before the Howard County planning board as early as April, as Kimco Realty continues the county’s multistep approval process for the revitalization of Columbia’s village centers.
The $70 million project, which has drawn community opposition and mixed reviews in public meetings, would add a 230-unit, four-story apartment block and reorient retail in the village center, which opened in the early 1990s. Kimco’s design and architectural choices got a green light last week from the county’s Design Advisory Panel. In response to community opposition, Kimco reduced the size of the apartment block — from 300 units and five stories — and the orientation of retail nased on the feedback from nearly a dozen community meetings over the last 18 months. The latest plan scaled back the apartment building by 75 feet, boosted setbacks on Freetown Road by 18 feet and matched the current Giant Food facade to match the surrounding community in response to recommendations by the design panel in late December. The plan also brings the nearly 105,000 square feet of retail closer together. The existing Giant store will stay, and retail facing the current courtyard will shift toward the parking area. The proposed apartment block sits next to land owned by the Columbia Association, which is envisioned as a park.
—Fatimah Waseem, Baltimore Sun Media Group
The firm employs about eight people ull time at the Baltimore location.
Fully has showrooms in Portland and San rancisco. The Baltimore site will allow the irm to speed up delivery to customers on he East Coast, where many of its clients are ased, Oh said. It also gives them a spot to ry out the products and cuts down on hipping costs and carbon emissions. Fully as founded in 2006 as Ergo Depot, witching to its current name within the ast year. It is a certified B corporation, a designation that means the company formally makes social good one of its missions.
Oh said the retailer, which employs about 60 people, is focused on e-commerce and doesn’t have any more immediate brickand-mortar expansion plans. But knowing that some customers will drive hours to test their chairs, it’s tinkering with its strategy.
—Natalie Sherman SIG in Pikesville among 24 firms to create Alera Group SIG, an employee benefits firm in Pikesville, is among 24 insurance firms uniting under the name Alera Group.
Through the deal, SIG will maintain its local independence while gaining access to a national network of resources and expertise for clients, founder and president Richard Silberstein said in a statement.
“Our new partnership with Alera will allow SIG to elevate its client services, grow its expertise, and offer more thought leadership to the local market — all while staying true to our values and cornerstones of being trusted advisors in our community and providing an exceptional client experience,” he said.
—Sarah Gantz Hickory Ridge center redevelopment advances A plan to redevelop Hickory Ridge Village Center could go before the Howard County planning board as early as April, as Kimco Realty continues the county’s multistep approval process for the revitalization of Columbia’s village centers.
The $70 million project, which has drawn community opposition and mixed reviews in public meetings, would add a 230-unit, four-story apartment block and reorient retail in the village center, which opened in the early 1990s. Kimco’s design and architectural choices got a green light last week from the county’s Design Advisory Panel. In response to community opposition, Kimco reduced the size of the apartment block — from 300 units and five stories — and the orientation of retail nased on the feedback from nearly a dozen community meetings over the last 18 months. The latest plan scaled back the apartment building by 75 feet, boosted setbacks on Freetown Road by 18 feet and matched the current Giant Food facade to match the surrounding community in response to recommendations by the design panel in late December. The plan also brings the nearly 105,000 square feet of retail closer together. The existing Giant store will stay, and retail facing the current courtyard will shift toward the parking area. The proposed apartment block sits next to land owned by the Columbia Association, which is envisioned as a park.
—Fatimah Waseem, Baltimore Sun Media Group
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