By 2017, U.S. consumers will spend $9.4 billion on home organization products. With its specialized designs, Closet & Storage Concepts is looking to capture a significant portion of that growing equation.

The home improvement industry is booming. It’s so popular, in fact, that homeowners are expected to spend nearly $325 billion on remodeling and repairs this year alone.

This staggering sum includes the business of creating or optimizing space, too. In the last 10 years, this industry in particular has grown substantially, and it’s expected to continue its upward trend. U.S. demand for home organization products will increase four percent annually to $9.4 billion in 2017, according to industry forecasts. That’s good news for companies like Closet & Storage Concepts. Since 1987, this fast-growing franchise has specialized in designing, manufacturing and installing custom closets. To date, Closet & Storage Concepts has installed more than one million closet systems in their customers’ homes and offices.

But over the years, the brand realized another unmet need—they found other areas throughout the homes they served that needed organization just as badly. Places like garages, pantries, laundry rooms, basements and home offices. As Closet & Storage Concepts expanded, their line of products and services grew along with it. Today, the brand offers closet organization systems, garage storage systems, office storage solutions, kitchen pantry storage and custom-built entertainment centers and wall beds.

“The potential for the company’s future is only growing—we’re seeing more and more downsizing trends in the housing market. Baby Boomers are looking to use their spaces more creatively as they make arrangements to age in place, while Millennials are flocking to smaller dwellings in urban centers. Ultimately, this is expanding the market for space-saving solutions,” said Bob Lewis, president and CEO of Closet & Storage Concepts.

As demand for the company’s services increased, so too did the need to expand beyond their headquarters in West Berlin, New Jersey. As a result, in 2000, Closet & Storage Concepts announced they would be opening up their business model to franchising. By 2013, as the brand steadily grew, they announced another major milestone—Closet & Storage Concepts would be acquiring More Space Place, America’s No. 1 retailer of Murphy beds. Combined, they have more than 41 locations and more than 400 employees throughout 17 states (Closet & Storage Concepts alone boasts 12 locations in 10 states). According to Lewis, the sound business move positioned the two brands to become one of the largest companies in the space-saving home furnishings and improvement industry.

Since then, the company has been on a fast development track. In 2016 alone, they opened three new stores, which helped to expand Closet & Storage Concepts’ and More Space Place’s retail locations by 7.9 percent. This recent development also snagged them a spot on the Franchise Times “Fast and Serious” list of the smartest growing brands. Closet & Storage Concepts ranked 16^th among franchises with system-wide sales over $40 million. The organization was also the only representative from the home improvement category.

In May 2016, Closet & Storage Concepts added a third weapon to its arsenal—the Closet & Storage Concepts showroom model. The showroom model forgoes the product manufacturing component that a standard Closet & Storage Concepts store would have, allowing new franchisees to get started more quickly with lower startup costs. The option also opens up new revenue streams for the owners of full Closet & Storage Concepts models, who will benefit from the manufacturing business of the new showroom model sales. In addition to the showroom model, the company will continue to offer the full manufacturing option to qualified prospective franchise owners.

Now, with a laser focus on smart growth, Closet & Storage Concepts looks to continue its nationwide sprawl by carefully screening prospective franchisees, new markets and new opportunities. In doing so, Lewis believes they’re setting new store owners up for the best chance at success as possible.

“We’re adapting the business model to the marketplace and the skill sets of the owner,” Lewis said. “It allows us to grow much faster because we can offer franchisees a new option that’s less costly and faster to open. Along with out More Space Place stores, franchisees now have three options to choose from, depending on their market, their demographics, the initial investment they’re interested in making and their own long-term objectives.”

To learn more about franchising with Closet & Storage Concepts, click here.