The HFB Power 50 Rankings

November 30, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in on December 2012

Welcome to our second annual Home Furnishings Business power 50 ranking. The ranking€”our take on how the industry€™s retailers should be ranked€”takes into account retail sales volume, industry involvement, social media power through Klout scores, the popular vote and our editorial board€™s opinion.

It€™s a different look at home furnishings retail rankings, and throughout the section you€™ll see the different ways in which we€™ve sliced and diced the data.

To those who took the time to vote: Thank you. Without your input, this would likely be just another retail ranking by sales volume.

Enjoy the read.

1    Jeff Seaman    Rooms To Go (Seffner, Fla.)
2    Laura Alber    Williams-Sonoma (San Francisco)
3    Gordon Segal    Crate & Barrel (Northbrook, Ill.)

4    The Blumkins,    Nebraska Furniture Mart, R.C. Willey, Star
    Jeff Child, Bill Kimbrell    Furniture, Jordan€™s Furniture and Homemakers
    Eliot Tatelman,
    The Merschmans
5    The Wanek Family    Ashley Furniture HomeStores (Arcadia, Wis.)
6    The Goldbergs    Raymour & Flanigan (Liverpool, N.Y.)
7    Alex Smith    Pier 1 Imports (Fort Worth, Texas)
8    Kurt Darrow    La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries (Monroe, Mich.)
9    Art Van Elslander    Art Van Furniture (Warren, Mich.)
10    Jay Schottenstein    American Signature (Columbus, Ohio)
11    Lee Aaronson    Lacks Valley Stores (Pharr, Texas)
12    Mikael Ohlsson    Ikea (Conshohocken, Pa.)
13    Clarence Smith    Havertys Furniture Co. (Atlanta)
14    Steve Stagner    Mattress Firm (Houston, Texas)
15    Farooq Kathwari    Ethan Allen (Danbury, Conn.)
16    David Acker    Sleepy€™s (Hicksville, N.Y.)
17    Carlos Alberini    Restoration Hardware (Corte Madera, Calif.)
18    Niraj Shah    Wayfair Furniture (Boston)
29    Ted English    Bob€™s Discount (Manchester, Conn.)
20    Barry Feld    Cost Plus World Market (Oakland, Calif.)
21    Steve Freeman    Room & Board (Minneapolis,Minn.)
22    Bill Mathis    Mathis Brothers (Oklahoma City)
23    Shelly Ibach    Select Comfort (Minneapolis, Minn.)
24    Rob Spilman    Bassett Home Furnishings (Bassett, Va.)
25    Jake Jabs    American Furniture Warehouse (Thornton, Colo.)
26    Ed Teplitz    Thomasville Home Furnishings (Thomasville, N.C.)
27    Bill McKendry    Furniture Row Cos. (Denver, Colo.)
28    Dale Carlson    The Sleep Train (Citrus Heights, Calif.)
29    Terry Lundgren    Macy€™s (New York)
30    Kenny Larson    Slumberland (Little Canada, Minn.)
31    The Navarras,    Jerome€™s (San Diego)
    Lee Goodman
32    The Harris Family    Furnitureland South (Jamestown, N.C.)
33    The Capo Family    El Dorado (Miami Gardens, Fla.)
34    The Johansen Family    HOM Furniture (Coon Rapids, Minn.)
35    Mike Price    Badcock Home Furniture & more (Mulberry, Fla.)
36    Joe and Mike Zeiden    Z Gallerie (Gardena, Calif.)
37    John Edelman    Design Within Reach (Stamford, Conn.)
38    Paulette Cole    ABC Carpet & Home (New York)
39    E.J. Strelitz    Haynes Furniture (Virginia Beach, Va.)
40    Chris Pelcher    Levin Furniture (Smithton, Pa.)
41    The Baer Family    Baer€™s (Pompano Beach, Fla.)
42    John Reed    Arhaus Furniture (Walton Hills, Ohio)
43    Jim McIngvale    Gallery Furniture (Houston, Texas)
44    The Haux Family    Mor Furniture for Less (San Diego)
45    The Rubin Family    Bernie & Phyl€™s (Norton, Mass.)
46    Mark Stuart    Regency Furniture (Brandywine, Md.)
47    Grover Geiselman,    Living Spaces (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.)
    Sharm Scheuerman
48    Irwin Novack    Kane€™s Furniture (Pinellas Park, Fla.)
49    Keith Koenig    City Furniture (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
50    George Cartledge III    Grand Home Furnishings (Roanoke, Va.)

The Top 50 (Based on Retail Sales Volume):

People love comparisons, and companies are no different. We in the furniture industry fall in line with that. Here you€™ll find our Power 50 ranking based on retail sales volume for companies in our pool. Please note that the Berkshire Hathaway family of home furnishings retailers are grouped together, as are the Williams-Sonoma Inc. stable of companies.

 1    Ron and Todd Wanek    Ashley Furniture HomeStores (Arcadia, Wis.)    $2,686.0
 2     Mikael Ohlsson    Ikea (Conshohocken, Pa.)    $2,280.0
 3     Jeff Seaman    Rooms To Go (Seffner, Fla.)    $1,500.0
 4     Laura Alber    Williams-Sonoma (San Francisco)    $1,480.1
 5     The Blumkins, Jeff Child,    Nebraska Furniture Mart, R.C. Willey, Star Furniture,    $1,208.2
      Bill Kimbrell, Eliot Tatelman,    Jordan€™s Furniture and Homemakers
      The Merschmans
 6    Neil Goldberg    Raymour & Flanigan (Liverpool, N.Y.) $1,008.8
 7      Jay Schottenstein    American Signature (Columbus, Ohio)    $965.8
 8    Alex Smith    Pier 1 Imports (Fort Worth, Texas)    $957.0
 9    David Acker    Sleepy€™s (Hicksville, N.Y.)    $846.0
10    Steve Stagner    Mattress Firm (Houston, Texas)    $831.2
11    Kurt Darrow    La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries (Monroe, Mich.)    $820.0
12    Gordon Segal    Crate & Barrel (Northbrook, Ill.)    $717.7
13    Shelly Ibach    Select Comfort (Minneapolis)    $713.5
14    Farooq Kathwari    Ethan Allen (Danbury, Conn.)    $695.0
15    Bill McKendry    Furniture Row (Denver, Colo.)    $640.0
16    Ted English    Bob€™s Discount Furniture (Manchester, Conn.)    $638.8
17    Clarence Smith    Havertys (Atlanta)    $621.0
18    Carlos Alberini    Restoration Hardware (Corte Madera, Calif.)    $515.0
19    Art Van Elslander    Art Van (Warren, Mich.)    $470.2
20    Niraj Shah    Wayfair Furniture (Boston)    $400.0
21    Kenny Larson    Slumberland (Little Canada, Minn.)    $383.7
22    Dale Carlson    The Sleep Train (Citrus Heights, Calif.)    $371.8
23    Bill Mathis    Mathis Brothers (Oklahoma City)    $344.8
24    Barry Feld    Cost Plus World Market (Oakland, Calif.)    $332.0
25    Jake Jabs    American Furniture Warehouse (Englewood, Colo.)    $323.0
26    Mike Price    Badcock Home Furniture & More (Mulberry, Fla.)    $305.0
27    Rob Spilman    Bassett Home Furnishings (Bassett, Va.)    $268.0
28    Steve Freeman    Room & Board (Minneapolis)    $264
29    E.J. Strelitz    Haynes Furniture (Virginia Beach, Va.)    $262.0
30    Ed Teplitz    Thomasville Home Furnishings Stores (Thomasville, N.C.)    $240.1
31    The Haux Family    Mor Furniture for Less (San Diego)    $238.4
32    The Johansen Family    HOM Furniture (Coon Rapids, Minn.)    $202.5
33    Terry Lundgren    Macy€™s Furniture Gallery (New York, N.Y.)    $202.0
34    Grover Geiselman and    Living Spaces (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.)    $185.0
      Sharm Scheuerman
35    Chris Pelcher    Levin Furniture (Smithton, Pa.)    $175.0
36    John Reed    Arhaus Furniture (Walton Hills, Ohio.)    $165.0
37    John Edelman    Design Within Reach (Stamford, Conn.)    $160.0
38    The Capo Family    El Dorado Furniture (Miami Gardens, Fla.)    $159.1
39    Bruce Berman    The RoomPlace (Lombard, Ill.)    $151.0
40    Irwin Novack    Kane€™s Furniture (Pinellas Park, Fla.)    $133.0
41    The Baer Family    Baer€™s (Pompano Beach, Fla.)    $132.0
42    Paulette Cole    ABC Carpet & Home (New York)    $130.0
43    The Harris Family    Furnitureland South (Jamestown, N.C.)    $129.5
44    Gordy Wallenstein    Furniture Mart USA (Sioux Falls, S.D.)    $124.4
45    Joe and Mike Zeiden    Z Gallerie (Gardena, Calif.)    $119.3
46    Jim McIngvale    Gallery Furniture (Houston, Texas)    $115.8
47    George Cartledge III    Grand Home Furnishings (Roanoke, Va.)    $110.0
48    Gary Steinhafel    Steinhafels (Waukesha, Wis.)    $109.3
49    Humberto Garza Valdez    FAMSA (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.)    $108.8
50    The Navarra Family and    Jerome€™s (San Diego, Calif.)    $102.0
       Lee Goodman

The Top 50 (Based on Social Influence):

Just how influential is the home furnishings retail family? Thanks to Klout, that€™s not as hard to figure out as it once was.

The Klout Score, a number between one and 100, is a representation of a person€™s or entity€™s overall social media influence. The science behind the score looks at more than 400 variables on multiple social networks beyond your number of followers and friends. It examines who engages with the content and with whom they then share that information.

Klout.com features an algorithm that measures the effectiveness of your social media usage with sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn, foursquare and Wikipedia. It€™s simple to determine. Login, input your Twitter name and out comes your Klout score.

While no one comes close to President Barack Obama€™s Klout score of 99 or Justin Beiber€™s 91, furniture retailers aren€™t too shabby.

Specialty retailer Pier 1 Imports is on fire with social media with its ranking of 83, four points ahead Williams-Sonoma at 79. From there, Klout scores start to drop off rather dramatically.

Here€™s a look at how those in our Power 50 pool shake out on Klout:

 1    Pier 1 Imports    83    Online shopping, Personal Finance, Kitchen
 2    Williams-Sonoma    79    Shopping, Food, Branding
 3    Z Gallerie    68    Dining, Kentucky Derby, Frankenstein
 4    Crate & Barrel    64    Dining, Mother€™s Day, Online Shopping
 5    RC Willey Furniture    63    Dining, Camcorder, Digital Cameras
 6     Wayfair Furniture    61    Memorial Day, Recessions, Personal Finance
 7     Mattress Firm    60    Facebook, Sales, Shopping
 8     Macy€™s    57    Whitney Houston, Black History Month, Hudson River
 9    Furnitureland South    55    Customer Service, Apps, Facebook
10    Art Van    53    Furniture, The Future, Nelly Furtado
11    Rooms To Go    53    Family, Customer Service, Kitchen
12    La-Z-Boy Furniture    52    Customer Service, Facebook, Chicago
13    Nebraska Furntiure Mart    51    Customer Service, Kitchen, Fifa
14    Restoration Hardware    51   
15    Raymour & Flanigan    50    Dining, Personal Finance, Customer Service
16    Room & Board    50    Dining, Electricity, Customer Service
17    Jerome€™s Furniture    49    Pizza, Facebook, Sales
18    Sleepy€™s    49    Greenwich, Mother€™s Day, Customer Service
19    ABC Carpet & Home    48    Kitchen, Andrea Bocelli, Cookbooks
20    Gardner-White    48    Billboards, Detroit 1-8-7, Metro Detroit
21    Circle Furniture    47    Rachel Ray, Community, Facebook
22    Star Furniture    47    Sales, Retail, Law
23    Sit €˜N Sleep    47    Billboards, L.A. Times, Sales
24    The Sleep Train    47    Customer Service, Community, Sales
25    Havertys    46    Customer Service, Community, Sales
26    Walter E. Smithe    46    Facebook, Chicago, Brighton
27    American Signature    46    Customer Service, Shopping, Football
28    Ikea    44    Dining, Ikea, Burbank
29    Ashley Furniture HomeStores    43    Customer Service, Sales, Television
30    Mealey€™s Furniture    43    Furniture
31    Select Comfort    43    Customer Service, Sales, Health
32    FAMSA    43    Msi
33    Bob€™s Discount Furniture    42    New Jersey, Money
34    HD Buttercup    42    Facebook, Shopping, Money
35    Kane€™s Furniture    41    Pizza, Sales, Internet Marketing
36    Belfort Furniture    40    Internet Marketing, Social Media, Furniture
37    Walker Furniture    40
38    Mathis Brothers    38    Sales, Moms, Money
39    Miskelly Furniture    38    Coupons, Family
40    Weego Home    38    Santa Monica
41    City Furniture    37    Business
42    Arhaus Furniture    37    Prince, Raleigh, Texas
43    Homemakers    37    Carnival, Shopping, Moms
44    American Furniture Warehouse    36    Ikea, Facebook, Furniture
45    Jennifer Convertibles    36    Customer Service, Furniture
46    One Way Furniture    36    Furniture, Sales, Hurricans
47    Gallery Furniture    35    Moms, Money, Furniture
48    Weekends Only Furniture Outlet    33    St. Louis
49    Mor Furniture for Less    33    Customer Service, Sales, Furniture
50    Kimbrell€™s    31

The Top 50: "The Popular Vote":

Your input matters! Here€™s where your vote came into play with our 2012 Power 50 retail ranking. We posted the ballot online, solicited your input, which you shared in astounding numbers. Participation was outstanding; thank you to each of you who took the time. Here, the results.

 1     Ed Teplitz    Thomasville Home Furnishings Stores    33%
 2    Art Van Elslander    Art Van Furniture    19%
 3    Lee Aaronson    Lacks Valley Stores    17%
 4    Mike Huber    Belfort Furniture    11%
 5    The Blumkin Family    Nebraska Furniture Mart    10%
 6     The Capo Family    El Dorado Furniture    7%
 7    Keith Koenig    City Furniture    7%
 8    Peggy Burns    Circle Furniture    6%
 9    Jeff Child    R.C. Willey Home Furnishings    6%
10    Ron and Todd Wanek    Ashley Furniture HomeStores    6%
11    The Tatelman Family    Jordan€™s Furniture    6%
12    Farooq Kathwari    Ethan Allen    6%
13    Clarence Smith    Havertys    5%
14    Gordon Segal    Crate & Barrel    5%
15    Jake Jabs    American Furniture Warehouse    5%
16    Jeff Seaman    Rooms To Go    5%
17    The Johansen Family    HOM Furniture    5%
18    Jim McIngvale    Gallery Furniture    4%
19    Neil Goldberg    Raymour & Flanigan    4%
20    The Baer Family    Baer€™s    4%
21    The Wo Family    C.S. Wo & Sons    4%
22    The Harris Family    Furnitureland South    4%
23    Bill Mathis    Mathis Brothers    4%
24    The Miskelly Family    Miskelly Furniture    4%
25    Doug Wolf    Wolf Furniture    4%
26    Larry Klaben    Morris Furniture    4%
27    Gary Steinhafel    Steinhafels    4%
28    The Smithe Family    Walter E. Smithe Furniture    4%
29    Jay Schottenstein    American Signature    3%
30    Bill Kimbrell    Star Furniture    3%
31    Aminy Audi    Stickley, Audi & Co.     3%
32    The Navarra Family    Jerome€™s    3%
      and Lee Goodman
33    Laura Alber    Williams-Sonoma    3%
34    Rob Spilman    Bassett Home Furnishings    3%
35    Ron Werner, Jim Hering    HW Home    3%
36    Steve Freeman    Room & Board    3%
37    Eric Easter    Kittle€™s    3%
38    Kurt Darrow    La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries    3%
39    Chris Pelcher    Levin Furniture    3%
40    Mike Albert    Pilgrim Furniture City    3%
41    The Rubin Family    Bernie & Phyl€™s Furniture    3%
42    Mike Forwood    Louis Shanks of Texas    3%
43    Kenny Larson    Slumberland    3%
44    Steve and Marty Darvin    Darvin Furniture    3%
45    Joe and Mike Zeiden    Z Gallerie    3%
46    Paulette Cole    ABC Carpet & Home    3%
47    Ted English    Bob€™s Discount Furniture    3%
48    George Cartledge III    Grand Home Furnishings    3%
49    Mikael Ohlsson    Ikea    3%
50    Niraj Shah    Wayfair Furniture    3%