Be Inspired

November 30, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on December 2012

There€™s something rejuvenating and energizing about hanging out in a roomful of smart, creative, excited home furnishings retailers. Typically, with our industry, you can plop a handful of retail thinkers in one room and just watch the powerful electricity bounce around.

Add more than five to the mix, and pure magic can happen; and that€™s what happened during the first weekend of this month in San Diego. There, tucked away in the Palomar Hotel snug in the city€™s Gaslamp district, is where the members the Contemporary Design Group and their vendor partners gathered for the annual summit.

If you don€™t know, CDG is a group of eager, creative retailers with a strong slant toward contemporary home furnishings. Everyone in the industry should be aware of the group€”it€™s filled with passionate, independent retailers who put every ounce of themselves into their individual businesses.

Retailers like Lawrence Contemporary in San Diego; Circle Furniture in Acton, Mass.; PerLora in Pittsburgh; La Différence in Richmond, Va.; Contents Interiors in Phoenix; Forma Furniture in Ft. Collins, Colo.; and Hillside Furniture in Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

The list goes on and on.

A couple dozen of their vendor partners joined the retailers in the room for an open discussion that spanned a number of topics, including protecting distribution integrity, protecting the turf of brick-and-mortar retailers, setting MSP guidelines and on and on.
I love a good, open healthy debate; especially one that advances issues toward a solution.
Every year, the first part of December, this dedicated group, convenes to do just that. Sit down, brainstorm ideas, solutions and ways in which the group can create better synergies within the group. The conversations remain civil, but they do get a little loud at times as every one is eager to participate and serve up great ideas.
The meeting is a great way to wrap up a year, and set goals and agendas for a new one. And here we are, at the end of 2012 staring at 2013, which whether we€™re ready for it or not, is coming our way€”quickly.
Are you ready? Have strategy meetings been held, and plans for competing in 2013 been mapped? True, December is a busy, busy time for retail, but laying the groundwork for a successful year ahead is imperative. Here€™s hoping the planners out there managed their meetings last month, and the procrastinators among us€”me included€”have inked a day on the calendar for big thinking.
As we close the book on this year, we€™ve brought you our annual state of the furniture industry and year-ahead outlook. I wish I could say things are going to be gangbusters and super-fantastic; sit back and enjoy the ride. If I did, my inbox would surely hit overload, and my phone would ring non-stop.
It€™s still tricky out there and will remain so for some time. The key is to get creative in your approach to your business.
Rely on shared ideas from a smart group of peers. Other retailers have similar experiences to what you€™re facing; there€™s no need to recreate the wheel all the time.
Create a network or join one€”similar to the CDG€”and be willing to share and exchange successful ideas and even the ones that weren€™t successful. We all learn from our mistakes!
Here€™s to a bright, shining holiday season and a fantastic 2013. I look forward to sharing the new year with each of you.
Enjoy!