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| The Tai Pan Trading store in St. George, Utah. |
Efforts to reach Jon Lee, the company’s chief information officer, have been unsuccessful. Local sources in commercial real estate confirm that the store is likely to come, that people from the company have scouted the area. But a final leasing deal hasn't been reached and no one wants to say anything definite until papers are signed.
According to the company's Web site, Tai Pan Trading started in 1979 as a wholesale floral supplier, in a small space with two cash registers and very few parking stalls. As the business expanded into home decor, the owners decided to open a showroom and offer merchandise directly to the public.
In 2005 Tai Pan opened its first retail store in Sandy, Utah. It now has five stores in Utah, one in California and one in Idaho, in Boise. The Boise store opened in September 2011 after the company leased 30,000 square feet where the Borders book store had been, in Milwaukee Marketplace, near Barnes & Noble and JoAnn Fabrics. The space had been vacant for five years.
One last thing: The arrow on the map on the Facebook link would indicate the store is going in at the corner of Park Avenue and Broadway. Krisi Staten, executive director of the Downtown Development Corp. said she would love to have Tai Pan Trading in the middle of town, but added that anytime someone gives an address no more definite than "Idaho Falls" that's where the arrow ends up landing.
