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Happy Holidays?
July 31,
2012 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on August 2012
If theres a time shoppers can count on seeing a wealth of furniture store advertising, its the lead-up to a three-day weekend.
Labor Day, Memorial Day and Presidents Day see a wave of broadcast and print promotions aimed at driving customers through furniture retailers doors. Its not as if furnitures the only retail sector that touts sales during long weekends, but it seems to count on them a bit more heavily.
Consumers have responded in kind. Theres no doubt that bank holiday sales pull in traffic, but is there a downside to depending so heavily on when the weekend gets an extra day? Are retailers training customers not to shop their store at other times?
Home Furnishings Business asked advertising specialists and retailers for their take on holiday sales, and while some had reservations about the practice, many say theyre an important part of their business. Interestingly, furniture promotions dont figure in much with the actual busiest shopping days of the year.
CUSTOMERS EXPECT IT
Holidays have grown exponentially in their importance to furniture retailers, according to Brad Lebow, president of Horich, Parks, Lebow Advertising, Baltimoreand largely because consumers are trained to believe thats when theyll get the best deal.
Its not just Labor Day and Memorial Day. Black Friday has become a very big day for furniture retailers, and it wasnt always like that, he said. Even with July 4 in the middle of the week, we had reports of very good sales. These lesser holidays like Columbus Day are becoming more important.
Jason Pires, principal at MVC Agency in Los Angeles, believes sales tied to three-day weekends exist for a reason, and a lot of that has to do with mood.
Theyre very effective because the decision makers in a furniture purchase are very busy with families and work, he said. For them, a holiday is a point of relief. Theres a sense of optimism with those days, and getting people into the store during those moments is very effective.
(Holiday sales) also give you an opportunity to reach out beyond someone whos moving or buying a house. Youre upselling other products, youre brand-building, getting people into the store and developing a customer base. Yes, were dependent on them, but theyre an important layer in an overall promotional strategy.
Lets not get too carried away, though. Lance Hanish, principal of the Los Angeles-area agency Sophis1234, puts such sales in the category of the way weve always done it. Mobile communications and the speed with which they disseminate information has more customers wanting to buy when they want, not wait for a sale.
If you and your wife are thinking about a new dining room, and you receive on your smartphone a message with an opportunity to create a dining room of your choice of qualityand that message comes again, maybe in a slightly different form the next day in an e-mail, then on a tabletare you going to want to wait? he asked. If Im a retailer ¦ I want you in the store now, on your terms. Why do I want to wait for the next holiday sale when I can have your business now?
All business is about depositing money today, Hanish said. Do you want the money today, tomorrow or not at all?
RETAILERS STILL LIKE EM
Still, many retailers, large and small, say consumers like shopping for furniture on long weekends.
Holiday shopping keeps growing in importance, for example, at Fairborn, Ohio-based Morris Furniture Co.
Consumers feel that it is the best time to buy since so many retailers are screaming that this is the time to buy, said Rob Klaben, vice president of marketing. When there is a buying frenzy in stores, consumers feel that these must be good deals.
While it would be great to have the traffic spread out throughout the month, we have to meet consumers shopping preferences.
Holiday sales are very effective at Chesnick Furniture Co. in Victoria, Texas, especially when major suppliers are also running specials, like Bassett and Tempurpedic, said owner Robert Leon. When coupled with financing offers, the effect is even better.
Patrick Heavner of Heavner Furniture in Smithfield, N.C., also counts on long-weekend sales, two of which ring up his stores largest numbers.
They are very effective, he said. Labor Day and Memorial Day are our two biggest sales periods.
Blockers Furniture & Appliance Center is located in the rural community of Immokalee, Fla. Out in the country, the store is a destination business, and a lot of its business is with out-of-town folks, many shopping for their vacation homes.
Owner Ken Blocker said his business tends to be an older consumer in the 35- to 64-year-old target group, and he counts on holidays for doing business because consumers shop more on holidays.
ON THE OTHER HAND ¦
Long-weekend sales do have their drawbacks.
It is tough to staff for holiday traffic when door counts are three or more times a regular weekend, noted Morris Furnitures Klaben. When customers are waiting for an available sales associate, average tickets can dip as the sales process is quickened, lessening add-on opportunities.
Some retailers believe those sales will diminish in importance.
I think there is a shift with younger customers away from holiday shopping, said Sarah Paxton, vice president and co-owner at La Difference in Richmond, Va. This is something their parents did, but it is not on their radar. A younger consumer (and I mean under 40) wants to shop when it is convenient for them.
Sales are important, but the only rationale behind putting them around a holiday weekend is because more people have an extra day off from work and might find the time to shop, she said. In my opinion, we are competing more and more with how their disposable time is used, not just income. And we are not competing with other furniture stores. We are competing with electronics, vacations, dining, theater and other life experiences for those extra dollars.
For some stores, the big weekends dont figure prominently in their promotional schedule. The Arrangement in Dallas, for example, doesnt advertise holiday sales on television, so it doesnt see much of an uptick those weekends.
Its a bonus day for the clientnot at work or taking the kids somewhereand they get to check out whats out there in the world, said Owner Katherine Snedeker. We call it scouting. They may not purchase that day, but we are now a resource for them and they typically return with both decision makers.
Fishers is located in a resort area, Sag Harbor, N.Y., so its business is much more seasonal than that of many retailers, according to Owner Jill Markowski.
The store runs sales just two times a yearColumbus Day in October and a storewide sale in March.
Sales are needed in the off season, Markowski said. Holidays, except for July 4, are fairly quiet. On most holidays, weather can be an issue because of (our) location.
ARE WE ADDICTED?
Is the industry too dependent on holiday weekend sales?
Leon at Chesnick Furniture says no.
Business is driven by promotions, he said. A retailer has to have his name out there all the time. You have to be out there when the consumer is in the market to buy.
A holiday promotion doesnt drive sales, but promotions get the consumers attention and intensify interest.
Blocker Furniture also keys on traditional family holidays, promoting gift buying at ChristmasLa-Z-Boys, cedar chests and gift-type productsand dining room at Thanksgiving.
Whether the industry is too dependent on holiday promotions or not, the public is geared to doing heavy shopping around holidays, Blocker said. South Florida has vacation homes so October to Easter is (our) selling season.
Heavner at Heavner Furniture is among those who believe the furniture industry has trained consumers to wait for a big weekend sale.
The public does not buy two weeks before or after, seeing as how they are anticipating the promotion, he said. I wish other stores would push value, customer service and availability of goods instead of just the bottom line. HFB