Family Leisure Chief Operating Officer Noah Williams views Carmel as the perfect spot for its second Indiana location.
The store is set to open in April at 2150 E. 116th St. in the Merchants’ Square shopping center.
“Carmel is a fast growing and thriving area, 116th (Street) and Keystone (Parkway) is easily accessible from I-465 and centrally located for the neighboring towns of Fishers, Noblesville, Westfield and Zionsville,” said Williams, a Fishers resident. “We are also excited to have Harvest Market as our new neighbor. With the draw that both of our companies have, we think it should make a great addition to Merchants Square and hopefully add foot traffic and lift the commerce of the shopping center.”
At approximately 10,000 square feet, the store will be the first smaller-scale Family Leisure. Most Family Leisure stores are between 20,000 and 60,000 square feet.
“Traditionally, we have always been of the belief that we don’t like to dabble in anything,” Williams said. “If we are going to be in a category, we like to go all in and show every model, every possible option and price point. For this location, we took a different approach and hand selected only what we know is popular and trending in these areas, from our top brands and essentially did the shopping for our clients ahead of time. Although it is a smaller footprint than our flagship superstore in Indianapolis, it still will show a large selection of patio furniture, hot tubs, saunas, swimming pools and all of the chemicals and accessories as well.”
In addition, Williams said there will be a fully operational fiberglass in-ground pool on display to showcase the new rapidly growing category. The store will also have a sampling of game room offerings, such as pool tables, arcades and massage chairs.
Williams said the store is being opened as a satellite location of the flagship and largest store at 11811 Pendleton Pike.
“We plan to continue this model throughout the state of Indiana as well as other markets that we currently have stores throughout the U.S.,” Williams said.
Family Leisure was originally named Watson’s but was rebranded in 2009. Watson’s opened in 1967 in Indianapolis. The company eventually expanded to Tennessee, Texas, Kansas, Arkansas and Alabama.
Williams said it’s vital to have a presence on the north side of the Indianapolis area.
“A large part of our customer base is in this area, and we have been asked for years to open up a store in Hamilton County,” Williams said. “So, we wanted to make ourselves more easily accessible and convenient for these communities and hopefully be able to reach those that simply choose not to travel the distance to our main location.”
