New store aids growth surge

Jim Miller's multimillion-dollar e-commerce Amish furniture business, JMX Brands, took a big step right before Christmas: After 12 years of being exclusively online, the Sarasota-based company opened a brick-and-mortar location.

The 12,000-square-foot building, on Lockwood Ridge Road in Sarasota, is also a high-tech showroom/learning center, where customers use iPads to shop and create wish lists. Turning the building into the sales center, JMX Brands co-founder Jim Miller said in an interview last summer, was a $1.3 million project. “The showroom will give us credibility and tangibility,” says Miller. “We want it to be engaging and interactive.” 

The facility opens during a growth surge for JMX Brands. Sales are up 230% since 2012, to $6.04 million in 2014. The company has 25 employees, and was named a finalist for GrowFL's 50 Florida Companies to Watch list for 2015.