Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
April 30,
2006 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 2006
In the past couple of years, KFI has moved into retail with the Sofa Express and More format, first with company-owned stores, now with franchises? How has that changed the company’s merchandising approach toward the entire line?
Our merchandising product managers work very closely with the merchandising team at Sofa Express and More. That gives us a retail perspective from the get-go on what the needs are in the marketplace.
The growth of Sofa Express and More into full-line stores with bedroom and dining in addition to upholstery and occasional, though, was more a reflection of Klaussner’s expansion into those other categories.
We believe our relationship with SEM benefits all our customers. The input we get from that retail merchandising team is beneficial to everyone we sell across the country.
One result of Sofa Express and More’s inclusion in our company is that we have to bring more product to the marketplace so there’s plenty for everyone and fewer distribution conflicts with our independent retailers.
Klaussner has always been a leader in custom-order upholstery and speed to the marketplace with solid custom product, but our alliance with SEM forced us to become better, with more selection, better service and ultimately, better overall value.
We have to think like retailers, and even more so, like consumers.
Dedicated stores have been known to create friction between the supplier in question and its original retail base. Has Sofa Express and More resulted in flak from existing dealers, and how do you handle it?
Yes, our association with SEM has created a certain degree of tension, especially in market areas that we share with other dealers, but we believe that we have now proved to those retail partners—over time—that our initial plans and intentions are indeed a reality.
We believe that a diligent, careful and respectful expansion, as opposed to a blitzkrieg-like approach to growth, will allow us to nurture conventional buyer-seller relationships for years to come.
It does seem there’s less friction today (with our traditional dealer base) because we’ve proved to our customers that we do have their interests in mind. When we first acquired Sofa Express, everyone took a wait-and-see approach to our position.
What I believe we proved is that we’ll do what we say we’ll do, and not do what we say we won’t do.
We did lose some business, but our single biggest customer loss, as a result of our decision, was Rhodes. People might have released a slot or two of ours on their floors in anticipation of where we might be headed, but I think we’ve gotten a lot of that back.
We have no desire to have 1,000 stores, and we don’t ever envision all our production going to our dedicated channel. That’s just not on our radar screen. Part of the strategy and diligence of every decision we make is to build our distribution through conventional channels.
As you moved into case goods, what were some of the unexpected problems that arose, and how did you handle them?
When you think about importing, you think about case goods, but there’s so much more involved, and what we went through with bringing in finished bedroom and dining is nothing new to anyone who’s made that move. Currently we import many products across the board from raw materials to all sorts of finished goods.
Everything exploded all at once, so our (import) growth and learning curve directly correspond with each other.
For the most part, product is product, merchandising is merchandising and selling is selling. Importing is about the flow of all those aspects of the business and the systems that support that flow. We’re still learning, but have already invested substantial capital resources into supply chain management. That includes the addition of a brand-new, state-of-the-art West Coast warehouse and distribution facility; and the ongoing implementation of Logility’s Voyager Solution demand, inventory and replenishment-planning software modules.
The Logility system has been in development since the first of the year, and I think it will change our lives, and our customers’, in terms of import management—it’s essentially an ERP system for the purchasing function. In April, we began turning that on module by module.
Our single biggest issue with importing—keeping the pipeline efficiently full—will be addressed by this system.
With the Dick Idol license and the World Vineyards umbrella, KFI is one of the major mid-price players in branding. How has that move changed your approach to translating the dealers’ market showroom experience to the retail floor?
You hear so much about licensed lifestyle programs, but it seems a lot of them under deliver on their promise. It’s easy for us to present that vision in our showroom, and we want to make it easy on retail sales floors.
Regardless of price points, we believe that in the middle tier of the market, this is how the consumer expects to be able to shop. Klaussner is willing, able and obligated to reproduce the lifestyle-oriented presentation in our showrooms to any retail floor in the country—all we need is an invite.
We have people beating down the door to offer us lifestyle license programs, but we’ve chosen to limit ourselves to Dick Idol and World Vineyards, which is really the same licensing organization.
The two licenses share ancillary suppliers for categories such as rugs, lighting and accessories. Our licensing approach just isn’t broken, and we can’t see why we should try to fix it.
Licensing has definitely changed our overall approach to telling our story at retail. For introduction this summer, we’ll offer Klaussner-branded rugs, lamps and accessories, anything needed to set up a retail floor the way we would our showroom.
That’s a direct out-growth of our merchandising experience for licenses. We’ll draw from the same suppliers we’re already dealing with for Dick Idol and World Vineyards, and we’ll offer retailers assistance from our own designers.
It’s still difficult to get our showroom presentation translated in the real world at retail, and it’s increasingly important to do so.
Which markets do you view as opportunities for your dedicated-store program, both company-owned and franchised? Details on plans in the next couple of years?
Company-owned stores will grow in existing markets, mainly Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee and North and South Carolina. There’s nothing on the horizon that would go beyond filling up those existing areas. Currently, our plan in the SEM corporate office in Columbus, Ohio, is to identify markets where there are existing stores that either need to be supplemented with additional stores, or re-established with new, more suitable locations, or possibly both.
Our first licensed store opened in Hattiesburg, Miss., in April, and we expect to open four more this year. We’ll be in position next year to roll out a couple (of licensed stores) a month.
Philadelphia will be the next licensed location, and that’s set to open in August. We see that market becoming a multiple-store operation over the coming years.
For licensed expansion, we’ll look first for markets that closely match our (consumers’) demographic and psycho-graphic profiles, where we are considerably underserved with regard to existing distribution and breadth of product representation. Ultimately, these markets will fall outside the scope and service radius of the SEM distribution centers currently in place.
And, a lot of the licensed growth depends on which retailers are interested. HFB
April 30,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Display on May 2006
Cherry House has built its reputation and business on great presentation that runs from the rugs on the floors to the custom-designed floral designs atop the case pieces.
The Louisville, Ky.-based retailer uses a complete lifestyle approach to display, but according to Leslie Whitehouse, executive vice president of sales and merchandising, “it’s the romance of the product that makes it sell.”
The 30,000-square-foot store features a terra cotta roof where a display of Stanley Furniture’s Chanticleer collection is shown. For the Martha Stewart Signature collection from Bernhardt, Cherry House created the look of a home’s exterior.
“We want our customers to feel as if they are in that environment—to show them how it feels and how it looks,” Whitehouse said. “We’re telling them that this is the look we’re creating and that they can have it at home, too.”
Whitehouse said the connection between sales and display is undeniable.
“Good display communicates,” she said. “Women understand that. We try to make everyone get a warm and fuzzy feeling just by looking at a room group. They may not like it, but we want to appeal to the sense that it’s put together well.”
In a store like Cherry House, Whitehouse said it definitely works better to show product as it could appear in a home.
“Women understand that approach, and they understand it a lot more,” she said. “It is a bit of a struggle because the customer has less time for shopping today. There’s no time and that’s the reality that more and more women work outside the home.
“As retailers, it’s our job to come up with creative ways to make the shopping experience better, and to show her how to create a great home,” Whitehouse said.
* * *
Strong visual display that inspires consumers and connects with them tend to pay off in huge dividends, and retailers can almost certainly see real results in sales figures.
Retailers, like Cherry House, that make the extra effort to put together consumer-stopping displays are true believers and said they can’t imagine just simply lining up sofas like soldiers.
Even in small stores, a smart, creative approach to merchandising and display makes a huge difference in consumer response.
Jodi Lyons, co-owner of two-store Bugaboo Moosetracks in Mason, Ohio, reaps the rewards of a well-merchandised floor on nearly a daily basis. The two stores are 1,500 square feet and 4,800 square feet, but both feature completely merchandised floors.
“Absolutely I see a connection between compelling display and the sales that we generate,” she said. “I don’t just plop furniture on the floor. I think the consumer looks at the piece and what’s around it to see how it could work in their home. Instead of just seeing a sofa and a chair, they can envision an entire environment.”
Lyons said she is extremely conscious about putting together vignettes on the floor to encourage consumers to buy. “Furniture sells because of how it looks, not just because of one piece,” she said.
Lyons’ stores are upscale, specialty stores with a European and French Country feel. The stores are warm and feature reclaimed bricks and timbers on the walls and hardwood floors.
Bugaboo floors a lot of wood, a lot of leather and a variety of Peruvian pieces. “It’s very rustic,” Lyons said.
The centerpiece of Bugaboo’s larger store is a dramatic, two-sided stone fireplace that serves as the focal point for two different displays. Lyons said the side that is most visible features a leather-fabric combination sectional from Vanguard Furniture that sells for $12,000. Lyons said the store sells about one a month, usually as it’s shown on the floor.
Another advantage Lyons sees from creative, compelling display is the ability to upsell the consumer. “When you sell a sofa, chair or a table, you always want to try to sell additional items,” she said. “Putting the vignettes together with coordinating pieces and accessories helps us sell additional pieces. It’s easier to convince the consumer to buy if they see it together.”
* * *
Experts in design agree with Lyons and Whitehouse that dynamic display can net sales.
Regenia Payne, creative director at Vanguard Furniture, suggests retailers start with a concept and an overall vision for the space to give it the feel there was a plan.
“You have to set the stage when the consumer walks in the door,” Payne said. “You have to have the wow factor. Sometimes it’s good to step out in style for impact. It’s the jewelry type setting that can have big impact.”
Payne pointed out that consumers’ lives are full of stimulation and entertainment, and the furniture experience needs to keep pace to hold consumer attention.
“We’re so bombarded with images and constant entertainment that we have to be force fed because of the constant images of how to dress, what to drive and where to vacation,” she said. “Retailers need to have the visual impact when they step across the threshold.”
Connie Post, founder and chief executive officer of Connie Post Cos., said throughout the industry she sees “apathy, complacency and lack of devotion to display” that leaves consumers uninspired in the their furniture shopping.
Retailers, she said, seem to forget that consumers are attracted to the latest and greatest, and not the same old things they see time and time again.
“The new things are always the things that catch my eye,” she said. “That may not be what I buy, but it definitely works to get my attention.”
In addition to ensuring the store floor is appealing, Post emphasizes that the front of the store needs to be nearly breathtaking to encourage the consumer to continue shopping.
“The first 1,500 to 3,000 square feet of a store is the most valuable space and should be constantly changing,” Post said, adding that it takes most women less than 10 seconds to size up a store, decide if it connects with who she is and whether or not to continue the hunt.
Making that change, she said, is as easy as a bucket of paint.
At Cherry House, the store floor is in constant motion, Whitehouse said, adding that the something in the store is always being painted and the front of the store is repainted about every six months to every year.
Like Cherry House, Bugaboo pays a lot of attention to the front of its stores—both inside and out, Lyons said. “Our plan was to get the customers through the door,” she said.
Outside there are two huge bronze Elk planters and an old, rustic theme that coordinates with the interior front display of leather sofa, leather-fabric combination chairs and an impressive table. “The front of our store really gets people when they first see it,” Lyons said. HFB
April 30,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on May 2006
Walking through a Domain Home Fashions store is much like thumbing through a favored, glossy home magazine in which pages are dogeared to mark favorite looks and designs.
The incredible displays and great merchandising have been hallmarks of the 30-store chain’s success since the first location opened. Cruising through the showrooms, consumers can find a wealth of decorating ideas, inspiration for creating a cozy home and walk away saying, “I could live here.” Even the formal name—Domain Home Fashions—hints at more than just furniture.
The retailer offers consumers a nearly one-stop shopping venue for all that is home. In addition to furniture, Domain sells top of the bed, decorative accessories, lighting, wall sconces and drapery panels. By the end of May, each of the stores will feature either an Aga range kiosk or presentation of the high-end ranges along with Aga cookware.
The product presentation in a Domain store is undeniably stunning, and the merchandise mix, with its European flair, offers consumers a distinctive look and feel, something Judy George believes is central to connecting with today’s furniture buyer.
“Today, in retail you have to capture her attention,” George said. “I’m not talking about the Disneyland experience, because she’ll cut right through it, but she still likes an experience when she walks up to the door from the parking lot.”
George, founder and chief executive officer of Domain and Aga Home Group, parent company of Domain, Aga and Grange, along with Gary Edge, Domain’s new vice president and general merchandise manager, are strong believers in the power of retail display.
“I’m surprised at the amount of sales that one vignette generates,” Edge said. “When we do it right, the consumer is reacting. On the flip side, we do have a wonderful staff of design consultants, and we have the tools to build on the inspiration. The key is to make it all work seamlessly.”
Edge said it’s important to help the consumer feel she’s at home in the store; it’s about how to live.
“When we go back home at night, we want to kick back and relax,” he said. “It’s all about being user-friendly. That’s what we really want to achieve. Home is the sanctuary; it should be comfortable and pleasing and always keep your attention. You should never be bored at home.”
George and Edge are unified in the belief that the combination of tools—the display, the well-trained designed consultants and compelling product—is the key to success.
Domain is in the business of building long-term customer relationships and has a variety of means for doing that. Dramatic displays are the initial attraction, but the retailer’s relationship selling goes far beyond.
If a consumer comes through the store and can’t buy at the time, the staff works diligently to gather contact information, likes and dislikes so that Domain can contact the customer if something of interest arrives in the store or goes on special.
“We try to take care of the customer,” she said. “It’s not about selling them, but about helping them achieve dreams and how they want to live their lives.” HFB
April 30,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in Advertising on May 2006
When the weather turns hot and the kids are out of school, not many consumers have furniture on the mind, and in an age when furniture retailers find competition with ever-more outlets for disposable income, getting shoppers in the door is even harder during summer months.
It might be a good time to clean house. Spring cleaning is a longtime household tradition, but for retailers, doing that chore a couple of months later could be just the fit for prepping floors for new goods ordered in the first half of the year.
Clearing the floors to make room for fall merchandise does two things, said John Egger, chief executive officer of Profitability Consulting Group. It generates cash flow during a typically slow sales period, and makes room for fresh goods for when consumers are mentally prepped to redecorate.
“In the fall, when people are getting back into their house from summer, you want your floors looking good for when they’re actually thinking about what they want to buy for their interiors,” he said.
Philip Gutsell, owner of Gutsell & Associates, counsels his clients to hold a floor sample sale at least twice a year to correspond with their major market ordering patterns for new merchandise.
“Why not hold a floor sample sale during the summer months, and make room for the new goods ordered in spring and at the same time generate summer traffic?,” he said. “Most people do those sales in only January.”
Gutsell said retailers should lay out summer sales promotions as part of an overall sales strategy well before the doldrums hit.
“You need a year’s general sales plan in advance anyway,” he said. “And I’m always planning sales events out in detail for the next 120 days.”
A good summer sale involves at least one of what Gutsell calls the “Three Rs: remerchandising, remodeling and reorganization of management.”
“Do something that gives you an opportunity for remerchandising in the store,” he said. “I like to attack the doldrums with a spectacular special event.”
Remodeling even a portion of the store can create new interest for shoppers.
“You might even hold a remodeling clearance to make room for the remodeling,” Gutsell suggested. “Do that before you begin the remodeling work since you don’t want the store torn up while you’re holding the sale.”
If a family-owned store is about to reorganize management through passing the torch to the next generation, summer is a great time to hold a sale in honor of the retirees.
“You’re having a ‘retirement celebration’ that could have a lot of appeal in the community,” Gutsell said. “I’m always looking for positive reasons to hold a special sales event.”
Egger said two particular summer events are proven winners for furniture retailers.
“The two most productive summer sales events in the country that I have seen over the years are the ‘Christmas in July’ promotion, where you can let your imagination run wild; and ‘Hot August Nights’ which is usually associated with a tent or side walk or warehouse sale depending on your location,” he said. “Neither of these are exactly brand-new, but they’re proven successful promotions.”
For the Christmas theme, Egger has seen clients run it with a lot of decorating, and actually bringing in Christmas promotions like an in-store Santa Claus.
“If you start doing that promotion, people get used to it—they look forward to it, and they know it’s a time when you’re moving a lot of merchandise,” he said. “People run summer clearances all the time, but when you think about it, July’s the half-way point to Christmas, and people enjoy that feeling.”
“Hot August Night” events—self-describedly—are best held in the evening, when temperatures fall, and even more important, potential shoppers have free time. They also bring the store to the street, as it were.
“I’ve seen retailers run open-til-midnight events like this with great success,” Egger said. “It’s a great thing to line up with a classic-car exhibit or a barbeque. The more stuff you do to make it a real event, the more business you can do.”
Those nighttime promotions are particularly dependent on a store’s location.
“If you’re in a center city area and can do the permits, you might have merchandise out on the sidewalks, or in a parking lot if you have enough space,” Egger said. “It’s also a great atmosphere for setting up a tent. You can even run it out of your warehouse if it’s conveniently located. With this, or any promotion, you have to use your store’s best physical attributes to create the event.”
A critical factor in such summer sales is having the right information at hand.
“You have to run aging reports on your inventory so you can know which goods to move,” Egger said. “It’s amazing to me how many (retailers) don’t have their aging reports available.” HFB
March 29,
2006 by in UnCategorized
By Home Furnishings Business in on March 2006
Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate is starting an international division to specialize in locating, negotiating and logistical procedures for furniture warehouses and distribution centers throughout the United States.
Steve Halper, who joined the company, has been named president of the new division. Halper was formerly chief operating officer with retailer Seaman's and Levitz.
Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate is a real estate brokerage and consulting firm specializing in the furniture industry. Since 1987, they have worked with furniture retailers and manufacturers to research and secure retail locations throughout the United States.