Furniture Repo Man

May 14, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on May 2012

­­Before joining Home Furnishings Business, my retail experience in the furniture industry was my regular college summer job with Heilig-Meyers. Oh, how I enjoyed those days so much. I got to hang with the warehouse guys€”Buck, Cornell and Big John. They all were good people and taught me a lot.

While one of them did not know how to read or write, he was responsible for assembling everything€”and I mean EVERYTHING€”that came in the door. His skill amazed me, and although he has passed, he will always have my respect. Those were good times!

I was hired to assist in the warehouse and do in-home deliveries. I quickly learned retailers wear a lot of hats. Before you know it, I was helping Big John put product on the floor, next was tagging the merchandise, then it was monitoring the weekly deliveries from the distribution center.

I also got a lesson in life on credit and collections. Heilig-Meyers was one of the last furniture companies to provide in-house financing to the consumer. I spent many hours calling past-due accounts, trying to get them to keep the promise they made€”paying monthly and on time. To me, if you made that promise, well you damned well better keep it. Before I knew it, I was on my way to my first repo. You see, part of the in-house financing plan was if you don€™t pay for it, we will come and get it.

We made our way down the rural country roads in the €œrepo truck€, and for those who remember Heilig-Meyers, yes it was that hideous green. After a few miles in the country we came across the mailbox and long dirt path entrance. We were met by the mother of the gentleman we were chasing for payment. She explained that her son was not going to be able to make the payment and because she co-signed, she wanted us to take the merchandise back.
We were happy to oblige; it had been nearly five months since we received the last payment. She unlocked the door to his house and we went in for our items. She was hurrying us along because she expected him to be home shortly and didn€™t want us to get caught up with him €¦ to say the least, she anticipated trouble if he arrived. We snatched down a waterbed (the waterbed mattress had been replaced by a regular spring mattress so it went fast), grabbed a TV, and out the door we went. We reviewed our paperwork and noticed one additional item. I grabbed a couple of tools, crawled up an oil tank beside the house, and on to the roof I went. This was long before cable had made it to the rural areas €¦ yes, I was about to take back his TV antenna. I was okay with what my boss told me to do; he hadn€™t paid, so we needed to collect our stuff. And besides, his big floor model console TV was sitting in the pickup, so he certainly would not need an antenna!
My retail experiences didn€™t introduce me to the financing partners available today. Back then, I had no idea that any options were even available.
It kind of felt the same way when I joined HFB in April 2008; financing companies were running to get out of this industry. My discussions since still show it€™s difficult for retailers to find good finance partners. There are a few around; the most visible seems to be GE Capital. I always see Susan Barnett and her team at Markets and industry events; they have remained a constant. Use this issue to educate yourself on the options you have and be sure to select a partner that is a good fit for you and your team. Good business partners are always tough to find, so we have provided you some good insight to consider.
Making the right choice is a must, or you could always take the in-house approach. If you select the latter, give me a call to discuss my experience on handling repossessions. I€™m sure to be able to provide you a couple of pointers and tricks I learned along the way!