A Love of Retail

October 10, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on October 2012

­I love retail of all kinds. I like shopping; I like browsing; and I like buying. I dig the inspiration that can be found in great retail display, and I often shake my head in wonderment at a poorly thought-out retail display. It€™s the whole experience€”the thrill of the hunt; the rush of the find; and then, the sheer enjoyment of the new whatever once it€™s home.

I€™m one of those consumers who can get lost in a great-looking store for a good chunk of a morning or afternoon, just wandering around browsing and finding great treasures€”AND ideas.

Amazing retailers€”not just furniture retailers€”make me smile. That smile can emanate from a number of things, ranging from a great selection to helpful associates to a kind word, but always from a well-merchandised floor.

It€™s the icing on the cupcake. The thing that catches my eye and makes me want to replicate the looks I see in part or in whole.
This issue of Home Furnishings Business is dedicated to great furniture retailers. It€™s our annual Retail Look Book, the issue in which we spotlight awesome retail work ranging from merchandising to great customer service to logistics to social media. It€™s our opportunity to allow home furnishings retailers to show their plumage in whatever it is that makes them€”you€”shine in a marketplace.
This issue, like many other issues we publish, is a resource guide in which retailers can glean ideas from their peers.
Idea sharing among peers is one of the best ways we have in our industry to sustain business and keep things fresh. Often a retailer in a non-competing market may have faced down a similar challenge as the very one you€™re dealing with right now. There€™s really no need to start over from scratch on a solution. Instead, a peer€™s experience can be a great educator when an open dialogue takes place.
As we do each year, we ask our readers to share their store pictures, their success stories involving their business, and generally, the story of what makes them successful in their markets.
Inside this month€™s pages, you€™ll find short profiles of home furnishings merchants who have found success over the last year in a variety of ways. For some, the bright spot lies in their creative merchandising and outstanding displays. For others, a portion of their business plan is an inherent need to assist those less fortunate through a number of ways. Other retailers excel in back-shop operations and logistics, while others have a prowess for putting social media to work for them to churn sales.
To those of you who sent along your stories and photos­: Thank you for sharing. Here€™s to helping improve retail by sharing your ideas, strategies, and tried-and-true tactics for elevating home furnishings retail.
Without your stories, we€™d have blank pages!
So read on, friends. Be inspired so that you in turn can inspire the customers who walk through your doors each day.
Happy reading.
On another note, here€™s to a great week at the High Point Market!