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Wagner's Joins Furniture First
April 8,
2013 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Furniture Retailing on April 9, 2013
Wagner's Home Furnishings has joined the Furniture First buying group.
Founded in Missoula, Mont., in 1953, Wagner Home Furnishings is a full-line retailer offering special ordering and an in-house design consultation team. Like most Furniture First members, Wagners is family-owned and operated and maintains a strong connection with their community.
The addition of Wagners Home Furnishings brings the Furniture First membership to 202 stockholders, with 423 furniture stores in 47 states.
Each new member brings a unique business expertise to the group, and Furniture Firsts strength comes from that diversity, said Bill Hartman, president of Furniture First. We aim to continually improve members advantage by building profitable programs with manufacturers and offering exclusive merchandise, rebates, discounts and networking opportunities.
Furniture First only takes on stores that are full-line independents that have been in business for more than five years, though the average age of member businesses is more than 45 years. Stores are required to have good credit and meet minimum volume requirements. Most members, whether they have a single storefront or a chain of locations, serve the solid middle market of consumers. Since the group is geographically exclusive by representation, members are not in direct competition with each other, adding to the overall willingness to share and collaborate among the cooperatives members.
Furniture First members will meet in New Orleans May 13-15 for the buying groups Symposium. Furniture First has a sold out status for both members and vendor partners.