O’Malia in Carmel Buys Its Long-Term Showroom – Indianapolis Business Journal

Local outdoor furniture company O’Malia’s Living purchased its Carmel showroom after 21 years, hoping the acquisition would lead to further growth.

O’Malia spent $2.3 million to purchase its current facility at 115 Medical Drive, near the northeast corner of 116th Street and South Ranglon Street. The purchase came after the company obtained a $1.8 million loan through the US Small Business Administration’s 504 program.

The company has leased the 18,000-square-foot building since 2002—previously to two other Carmel locations—and is exploring ways to further commercialize and expand its offering in the coming years.

“All of this is intended to help us continue to grow the business,” said owner Scott Horvath. “We started as a fireplace shop knowing and doing everything from a fire. But we’ve since expanded into patio furniture and barbecue grills. We eventually see ourselves diving more into outdoor living spaces, and that can include stonework and design-building opportunities like outdoor kitchens.”

O’Malia’s Living has a 15-person payroll. Horvath said improvements to the showroom are expected in the next three years. The company quietly closed on the purchase of the building late last year.

O’Malia’s Fireplace Shop opened in 1966 as a sister company to the defunct local grocery store chain with which it shared the family name, which began in the 1940s.

The company’s SBA loan was arranged through the People’s State Bank and Indiana Statewide Certified Development Corp. , which handles small business loans throughout the state by working with local lenders.

SBA loans allow for long-term, fixed-rate financing much like what is found in deals for larger companies. But the loans also allow for low down payments and are only available to businesses that meet federally defined small business criteria.

“We knew this was a one-time opportunity to own our building,” said Horvath. We sought to conserve cash flow, and SBA 504 allowed us to invest only 10 percent for the down payment. This was a key piece of the 504 that we loved. Buying the building was a daunting task for us, but we are confident that we made the right decision and chose the right loan program.”

Originally, Horvath had hoped to purchase the building in early 2020, but the deal was derailed by the pandemic. When former owner Riley Real Estate Holdings LLC — a holding company for Recreation Unlimited operators Brad and Carey Riley — approached the company back in 2022 about buying the property, it was the perfect time for the purchase to move forward, Horvath said.

“We’ve been here for over 20 years,” he said, “and we don’t want someone else to come in and buy the property and say, ‘Hey, you should move in.'” “We wanted to make sure we could stay in the place that we call home, and do that for the long term.”