Examples of Growth in Valley Despite Rough Economy

After doing business in the desert for the past six years, Bill Nicholson is celebrating with a brand new 20,000 square foot showroom at his Flooring Innovations store in Cathedral City.

Nicholson says he doubled his space for half the money.

A great deal — thanks to the tanking economy.

“The value of commercial real estate has gone down so much, we were able to purchase this building for half of what my rent was in my previous location,” said Nicholson.

He says with the extra space and money — he’s been able to create a few extra jobs.

Nicholson says he’s cautious, but confident.

“I think with the number of foreclosures, people are getting good deals. So they’re re-flooring, re-tiling houses which is very good for us,” said Nicholson.

Speaking of foreclosures, it’s created new opportunities for new-home construction in Indio.

Phase two has just been completed at Whittier Ranch — a development that will include 137 homes.

“This project, we purchased it because it was a foreclosed project. And we purchased it right. Otherwise, we couldn’t build,” said project manager Jeff Fidler.

But they are building — and that also means putting more people to work.

“We see the opportunity. Perhaps the jobs we help create by building this phase and subsequent phases will be a little to help the domino effect of helping the economy in the Coachella Valley and beyond,” said Fidler.