More Space Place

She left rat race to fight the war on clutter
Ex-Tyco worker wanted to follow her dad's lead

By GARY HABER / The News Journal / 07/20/2006

NEWARK -- To Cheryl Dubecq, clutter has always been the enemy.

Former lawyer Cheryl Dubecq, sitting on a hideaway bed, will be opening More Space Place in Stanton on Aug. 1.

During Dubecq's days as an intellectual property lawyer with Tyco Electronics, the papers on her office desk were always stacked into neat little piles. At home, the shirts in her closet hang grouped by color and sleeve length. So, when Dubecq began thinking about exiting the corporate rat race to launch a business, the idea of a store playing to her passion for organization kept coming to mind. Cheryl, 37, knew she wanted to build her own business instead of jumping to another corporate job. Buying a franchise, which would provide marketing support and a proven concept, seemed the best way to go. So, the Newark resident searched the Internet for franchise ideas and found More Space Place, a Clearwater, Fla.-based chain that sells space-saving furniture such as Murphy beds, wall units and closet organizers. She signed on to become a franchisee, and on Aug. 1, she'll open the chain's 40th location, at 1257 Churchmans Road, in the Center Pointe Plaza II shopping center in Stanton.

Dubecq's store is the chain's first in New Castle County. Another franchisee has a store in Rehoboth Beach. The store has 17 vignettes of space-saving products on display. The beds, which include a mattress and a variety of shelving options, range from about $1,200 to between $8,000 and $9,000 depending on size and options.

Today's decorating trends favor Dubecq's venture, experts say. "People want to make the most of their living spaces", said Ray Allegrezza, editor in chief of Furniture Today magazine. "The average house size is getting larger, but people are filling their spaces with more things, so the idea of rooms that do double and even triple duty as offices, dens and guest bedrooms is becoming increasingly popular", Allegrezza said.

Neither Dubecq nor her husband, Fabrice, 36, a sales executive, has ever run a personal business. But Cheryl Dubecq grew up in an entrepreneurial home. Her father, Fred Henry, was co-owner of an auto body shop in Stanton. After he died in 2005, Dubecq began thinking she wanted to build a business, too, as her father had. "I knew it was time for a change," she said. "I didn't want to be 60 and say I wish I'd had the courage to do that." She plans to run her store with the same focus on customer service she learned from her father. "I hope to have life-long customers like my dad did," she said. She's already cultivated a couple of satisfied customers. John Storb and his wife bought a Murphy bed from Dubecq. The couple live in a two-bedroom unit in a retirement community in Warminster, Pa., and wanted to be able to use the second bedroom as a guest bedroom and a den. "We're very well satisfied with it," Storb said.