More than half a decade since first considering the move, a company that imports and sells upscale glassware, table settings and other home decor is relocating its headquarters to North Charleston.

Juliska, founded in 2001 by husband and wife David and Capucine Gooding, will invest $1.9 million in offices, a distribution center, a design studio and an outlet store for local sales.

The company is moving from Stamford, Conn., and plans to hire 51 workers at its new location at Palmetto Commerce Park.

The distribution center will open next month and the outlet store will follow in November.

David Gooding said he and his wife have been visiting Charleston for years "and always dreamed of one day relocating our company here."

"The historic architecture, natural beauty, growing business community and abundant sense of 'family' here are the perfect fit with our European heritage and brand values," he said. "Juliska is about gratitude and making those family gatherings unforgettable. We believe we don’t just make stuff, but fuel for the beautiful blaze of togetherness. What better place than Charleston to build our next chapter."

Local officials first contacted Juliska about bringing its mix of high-end furnishings to the Charleston area in 2014, said Mike Graney, vice president of global business development for the Charleston Regional Development Alliance. The move was put on hold because Juliska couldn't find the right place for a combination headquarters and distribution hub.

"With new real estate options available, early in 2020 the conversation restarted," Graney said, adding that it took a group of advisers from the real estate, legal, staffing and government sectors to make the deal work. "Charleston’s professional services capabilities are second to none and the community showed the company it could get the resources here needed to succeed."

The couple formed Juliska after visiting a trade fair in Paris, where she was impressed by the Bohemian glassware on display. That led to a trip to Prague a couple years later.

"They introduced us to the glassblowers in the Czech Republic," Capucine Gooding said, explaining how the company got its name. "The woman who introduced us was named Juliska."

The company represents a continuation of the work David Gooding has done most of his life, having grown up in a family that owned a thriving import business in London that sold high-end tableware from the European continent to retailers.

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"I worked my way up in the company, starting from the warehouse and ending up selling my family's product line to the finest upscale clients we had at the time," he said during an interview with the New England Journal of Entrepreneurship. He moved to the United States to attend college and because he liked this country's "sky's the limit" attitude toward business.

The company's most recent catalog features more than 900 items —from bowls, plates and glassware to linens, bar tools and silverware — with the tag line "no one lingers wistfully over a paper plate."

Juliska imports its products through the Port of Charleston, which has seen a surge in home furnishing imports during the coronavirus as consumers spend more time and money on their residences.   

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Juliska's new location at 7991 Palmetto Commerce Blvd. is part of the Palmetto Trade Center project developed by SunCap Property Group.

Charleston County Council's finance committee is expected to discuss tax incentives for Juliska during a meeting Thursday and the state Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved tax credits based on the number of jobs that will be created.