Plug into Power

December 4, 2015  by in Business Strategy, Industry   

Welcome to the fifth annual Home Furnishings Business Power 50 retail ranking. The ranking — our take on how furniture retailers should be ranked — takes into account retail sales volume, social engagement and market share and industry involvement.

In an effort to continually improve, this year we made several changes in our methodology, especially in the social engagement component of the scoring. We have also eliminated the corporate entities from the individual retailers in the vertical manufacturers category.

Here’s the insider’s look at how we sliced and diced scores to develop the 2015 Power 50 ranking.

Revenue, of course, is important because it provides the retailer with the foundation to accomplish specific objectives.  However, market share measures how a retailer performed based on the potential of the markets in which it has a presence.

Social engagement is a debated topic; however, without the consumer there is no business.  While many will debate the short-term impact of social engagement, in the long-term building a retailer brand is critical to performance.

Industry involvement is key in achieving top-tier performance. The demand of immediate needs of business often eliminates the need to give back. The frequently used phrase, “You need to work on your business, not in your business,” is the foundation for creating high performance companies.

The key methodology looks like this:

Market Share — 46 percent

The estimated industry sales from various published sources for each retailer is divided by the estimated retail volume for furniture and bedding sales in each of the markets in which they participate whether Metropolitan Statistical Area, Micro Statistical Area or Rural.  Sales of appliances, electronics and housewares are excluded.

Revenue — 20 percent

This category is based on estimated industry sales for each retailer based upon public published records or estimates based on certain retail parameters.

Industry Involvement — 9 percent

Participation in industry associations and buying groups are considered to improve performance.  Rosters of each of these organizations are used to measure involvement.

Social Engagement — 25 percent

This year’s index considers social signals, website metrics, and third party scoring platforms to arrive at a ranked list of home furnishings retailers with the strongest online engagement.

First, we pulled data from Alexa, Facebook, Klout, MOZ, OpenSEO, and Twitter for the retailers in our database. The following table shows specific measurements.

 

Source                     Metric

Alexa                         US

Facebook                 Check Ins, Likes, Talking about

Klout                         Score

MOZ                         DomAuth, External Links, MozRank

OpenSEO                 Google BackLinks, Google Page Rank, Google+ Likes

Twitter                      Followers, Likes, Tweets

 

From that data, we used a basic ranking methodology, assigning a numerical value to the ranked list of each metric.  We assigned a one for each record within a specific metric, with one being the “best” score for the highest number of Twitter followers or the highest number of backlinks or the highest Klout score.

For all measurements except Alexa, the highest values resulted in a lower score, i.e. the highest Google Page Rank would result in the lowest score.  Alexa ranks websites globally and nationally based on estimated website traffic, and the lower the score, the more popular the site.

Thus, we arrived at 14 individual scores calculated for each metric. The highest two scores for each retailer were dropped to eliminate any outliers and then, we took the statistical average of those 12 scores. Ranking the scores from lowest to highest created the Power 50 Online Engagement Index for 2015.

Enjoy the lists.

 

Power 50 Rank 2015	RetailerName	Location
1	R C WILLEY HOME FURNISHINGS	Salt Lake City, Utah
2	NEBRASKA FURNITURE MART	Omaha, Neb.
3	MATHIS BROTHERS	Oklahoma City, Okla.
4	AMERICAN FURNITURE WAREHOUSE	Englewood, Colo.
5	MISKELLY FURNITURE	Jackson, Miss.
6	FURNITURELAND SOUTH	Charlotte, N.C.
7	ART VAN FURNITURE	Warren, Mich.
8	GRAND HOME FURNISHINGS	Roanoke, Va.
9	LEVIN FURNITURE	Greensburg, Pa.
10	STEINHAFELS FURNITURE	Wausheka, Wis.
11	RAYMOUR & FLANIGAN	Liverpool, N.Y.
12	DUFRESNE SPENCER GROUP/ ASHLEY FURNITURE	Memphis, Tenn.
13	SHEELY'S FURNITURE & APPLIANCE	North Lima, Ohio
14	JORDAN'S FURNITURE	East Taunton, Mass.
15	GARDNER WHITE FURNITURE CO.	Auburn Hills, Mich.
16	URNERS	Bakersfield, Calif.
17	JOHNNY JANOSIK	Laurel, Del.
18	TURNER'S BUDGET FURNITURE	Thomasville, Ga.
19	HOM FURNITURE INC	Coon Rapids, Mich.
20	LACKS VALLEY STORES	Pharr, Texas
21	ROTMANS FURNITURE & CARPET	Worcester, Mass.
22	THE OLD CANNERY FURNITURE	Sumner, Wash.
23	SAM LEVITZ FURNITURE	Tucson, Ariz.
24	AMERICAN HOME SHOWPLACE	Dalton, Ga.
25	I KEATING FURNITURE WORLD	Minot, N.D.
26	OLUMS	Vestal, N.Y.
27	CARDI'S FURNITURE	Swansea, Mass.
28	ROOMS TO GO	Seffner, Fla.
29	WAYSIDE FURNITURE—OHIO	Akron, Ohio
30	JOHN V SCHULTZ CO.	Erie, Pa.
31	BOB MILLS FURN CO.	Oklahoma City, Okla.
32	COCONIS FURNITURE	Zanesville, Ohio
33	ASHLEY FURNITURE HOMESTORE / FURNITURE ZONE	Killeen, Texas
34	KNOXVILLE WHOLESALE FURNITURE	Knoxville, Tenn.
35	SLUMBERLAND	Little Canada, Minn.
36	GOOD'S FURNITURE	Kewanee, Ill.
37	STORY & LEE FURNITURE	Leoma, Tenn.
38	WG&R FURNITURE	Green Bay, Wis.
39	CITY FURNITURE/ASHLEY FURNITURE HOMESTORE	Tamarac, Fla.
40	FURNITURE ENTERPRISES OF ALASKA	Anchorage, Alaska
41	BIG SANDY	Franklin Furnace, Ohio
42	BAILEYS FURNITURE	Anchorage, Alaska
43	YUMA FURNITURE	Yuma, Ariz.
44	HOME FURNITURE	Lafayette, La.
45	ROYAL FURNITURE—TENNESSEE	Memphis, Tenn.
46	MCGREGORS FURNITURE	Des Moines, Iowa
47	GRAND FURNITURE	Virginia Beach, Va.
48	GALLERY FURNITURE	Houston, Texas
49	HEFNER'S FURNITURE & APPLIANCE	Poplar Bluff, Mo.
50	DISCOVERY FURNITURE	Topeka, Kan.

 

 

Power 50 Rank 2015 Independents	RetailerName	Location
1	SHEELY'S FURNITURE & APPLIANCE	North Lima, Ohio
2	JOHNNY JANOSIK	Laurel, Del.
3	TURNER'S BUDGET FURNITURE	Thomasville, Ga.
4	URNERS	Bakersfield, Calif.
5	I KEATING FURNITURE WORLD	Minot, N.D.
6	ROTMANS FURNITURE & CARPET	Worcester, Mass.
7	OLUMS	Vestal, N.Y.
8	AMERICAN HOME SHOWPLACE	Dalton, Ga.
9	WAYSIDE FURNITURE—OHIO	Akron, Ohio
10	JOHN V SCHULTZ CO.	Erie, Pa.
11	THE OLD CANNERY FURNITURE	Sumner, Wash.
12	KNOXVILLE WHOLESALE FURNITURE	Knoxville, Tenn.
13	COCONIS FURNITURE	Zanesville, Ohio
14	WG&R FURNITURE	Green Bay, Wis.
15	GOOD'S FURNITURE	Kewanee, Ill.
16	STORY & LEE FURNITURE	Leoma, Tenn.
17	BAILEYS FURNITURE	Anchorage, Alaska
18	ROYAL FURNITURE	Memphis, Tenn.
19	MCGREGORS FURNITURE	Des Moines, Iowa
20	DISCOVERY FURNITURE	Topeka, Kan.

 

Independent Rule

Independent retailers are the lifeblood of the furniture retail landscape. Well-known in their communities, owners, employees and their stores take active roles in the towns in which they operate. Here’s how independent retailers — those with less than $50 million in annual sales and operating within one state — rank.

Kings of the Jungle

Large independent furniture retailers rule the roost — all while operating in one state and generating annual sales in excess of $50 million. Consumers know these retail names, and the retailers reap the rewards of owning the lion’s share of the furniture market.

Power 50 Rank 2015 Lrg Ind.	RetailerName	Location
1	FURNITURELAND SOUTH	Charlotte, N.C.
2	GARDNER WHITE FURNITURE CO.	Auburn Hills, Mich.
3	GALLERY FURNITURE	Houston, Texas
4	CITY FURNITURE/ASHLEY FURNITURE HOMESTORE	Tamarac, Fla.
5	MISKELLY FURNITURE	Jackson, Miss.
6	EL DORADO FURNITURE	Miami, Fla.
7	KANES FURNITURE	Pinellas Park, Fla.
8	LACKS VALLEY STORES	Pharr, Texas
9	MORRIS FURNITURE	Faiborn, Ohio
10	SAM LEVITZ FURNITURE	Tucson, Ariz.
11	BAER'S	Pompano Beach, Fla.
12	JEROMES FURNITURE	San Diego, Calif.
13	FURNITURE ENTERPRISES OF ALASKA	Anchorage, Alaska
14	GRAND FURNITURE DISCOUNT STORE	Virginia Beach, Va.
15	ABC CARPET & HOME	New York, N.Y.
16	WALKER FURNITURE	Las Vegas, Nev.
17	THE ROOMSTORE OF PHOENIX	Phoenix, Ariz.
18	AMERICAN HOME	Albuquerque, N.M.
19	WEEKENDS ONLY	St. Louis, Mo.
20	MEALEY'S FURNITURE & MATTRESS	Warminster, Pa.

 

 

Killer Instincts

Regional chains are powerful forces in their markets. For our ranking, we define regional chains as retailers that operate stores in states other than their home state. Retailers like Rooms To Go and Art Van Furniture; the players who boast strong name recognition while stepping outside of their base to broaden their reach.

 

Power 50 Rank 2015 Regional Chain	RetailerName	Location
1	R C WILLEY HOME FURNISHINGS	Salt Lake City, Utah
2	NEBRASKA FURNITURE MART	Omaha, Neb.
3	ART VAN FURNITURE	Warren, Mich.
4	AMERICAN FURNITURE WAREHOUSE	Englewood, Calif.
5	MATHIS BROTHERS	Oklahoma City, Okla.
6	RAYMOUR & FLANIGAN	Liverpool, N.Y.
7	ROOMS TO GO	Seffner, Fla.
8	JORDAN'S FURNITURE	East Taunton, Mass.
9	LEVIN FURNITURE	Greensburg, Pa.
10	BOB'S DISCOUNT FURNITURE	Manchester, Conn.
11	SLUMBERLAND	Little Canada, Minn.
12	GRAND HOME FURNISHINGS	Roanoke, Va.
13	HOM FURNITURE INC	Coon Rapids, Minn.
14	STEINHAFELS FURNITURE	Waukesha, Wis.
15	HAVERTY'S	Atlanta, Ga.
16	CARDI'S FURNITURE	Swansea, Mass.
17	LIVING SPACES	Rancho Cucomonga, Calif.
18	BIG SANDY	Franklin Furnace, Ohio
19	CONN'S	Beaumont, Texas
20	BERNIE & PHYLS FURNITURE	Norton, Mass.

 

 

Upward Momentum

Manufacturing. Retailing. Retailing. Manufacturing. Those lines continue to blur, and vertical retailers are getting louder and louder in the marketplace. Vendors like the ability to control brand messaging and presentation. Retailers like Williams-Sonoma reap similar rewards for its stable of brands.

Here’s our list for manufacturers who cross into retailing, and for retailers who step over the line as vendor.

Power 50 Rank 2015 Vert Retailer	RetailerName	Location
1	POTTERY BARN	San Francisco, Calif.
2	PIER 1	Forth Worth, Texas
3	CRATE & BARREL	Northbrook, Ill.
4	AMERICAN SIGNATURE	Columbus, Ohio
5	RESTORATION HARDWARE	Corte Madera, Calif.

 

Power 50 Rank 2015 Mfg Vertical	RetailerName	Location
1	DUFRESNE SPENCER GROUP/ ASHLEY FURN	Memphis, Tenn.
2	YUMA FURNITURE	Yuma, Ariz.
3	ASHLEY FURNITURE HOMESTORE / FURNITURE ZONE INC	Killeen, Texas
4	ISH MOORE/BROAD RIVER FURNITURE/ASHLEY HOMESTORE	Charlotte, N.C.
5	Wellsville Carpet Town Inc / ASHLEY FURNITURE HOMESTORE	Weston Mills, N.Y.