all about Price... all about Design...
In five short years,
the Comeaux family has grown AFD from an idea to five store locations
serving customers in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Third-generation Louisiana-based American Factory Direct Furniture, owned by
husband-and-wife team Bob and Billie Comeaux, operates five store locations
touting the largest selection of quality furniture in the Gulf South.
Many furniture retailers are either all about price or all about design, but
AFD says it’s all about both. The company offers its customers premium
delivery service, in-home design, special financing and a 60-day price
guarantee.
Furniture World interviewed Bob and Billie along with Grace Comeaux-Piro,
CFO; David Comeaux; COO, and their mascot GiGi who remained mostly silent.
Retailing Roots
Bob Comeaux told Furniture World about the family’s retailing roots in
New Orleans going back to 1937. “My dad,” he recalled,
“after the Great Depression, started selling light bulbs and roller
skates door-to-door. Then he opened a small appliance store on the corner of
Broad and St Ann Street. He eventually added furniture to the merchandise
mix and the original Comeaux Appliance Center and Furniture Mart was born.
In the 1960s, they moved to 4640 South Carrollton Avenue where he was known
as the ‘Discount King.’ In the early 1970s, they re-located to a
30,000-square-foot store in a new part of the city known as New Orleans
East.“
Bob & Billie Comeaux were married in 1974. Billie, now the
company’s CEO and corporate designer, received a romantic introduction
to the furniture industry on their honeymoon, spent, in part, at the High
Point Furniture Market. “It’s been furniture ever since,”
she said. Sadly, after Bob’s mother passed in 1991 the New Orleans
East location, started by Bob’s parents, closed.
“Half bought right, half sold—half displayed right, half sold. And, when we
combine the half bought right and half displayed right and sold, it’s sold.”
“It took us five years to get approved for an SBA loan to re-open
under the American Factory Direct Furniture name,” recalled Billie.
“After applying and getting turned down by six banks, we met with the
president of Metro Bank, who had purchased a dining room set from a
factory-direct store in North Carolina. The furniture arrived damaged and
six months later he was still dealing with problems. When presenting our
business plan, that called for ‘factory direct prices with local
service.’ Billie said, “he understood the concept first-hand and
approved our loan. The rest Is history. Today AFD Furniture continues to be
all about price and all about design. We offer quality
furniture—beautifully presented designer style that’s affordably
priced.
“The industry has changed a lot over the past 26 years,” added
third-generation David Comeaux, “but the American Factory Direct name
is just as relevant today with our current sourcing model that has scaled up
to offer AFD customers excellent value.”
Preparation Is Key
“I believe we were better prepared than most retailers for the kind of
disruption the pandemic presented,” said Grace Comeaux, CFO.
“That’s because here in Louisiana we’ve had more than our
share of natural disasters. It’s become second nature.”
As proof of that, she explained that AFD doubled its volume following
Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and then again at their Baton Rouge location
following a massive flood in 2016.
“Yes, we had been through these scenarios before,” David agreed.
“During the pandemic, we kept in constant touch with our factory reps.
AFD belongs to a KAIZEN group with other retailers, including Virginia
Furniture, so we knew early on that we were not an anomaly. That knowledge
enabled us to implement a disaster plan to position ourselves to handle
increases in sales volume.
“It was fortunate that our distribution center was set up to easily
add capacity in 12 thousand square foot increments. So, within a year of
being closed down in the early stages of COVID, we were able to break ground
on a new store.”
“AFD was forced to start buying direct containers. We got hooked, almost
immediately, on the margin potential, availability and product flow
advantages.”
Just-in-Time to Just-in-Case
“During the pandemic, AFD shifted and moved away from a conservative
just-in-time inventory model,” continued David, “that tended to
pull inventory from our supplier’s domestic warehouses to a
just-in-case model. When suppliers’ domestic warehouses ran out of
inventory, AFD was forced to start buying direct containers. We got hooked,
almost immediately, on the margin potential, availability and product flow
advantages. The experience changed our buying habits.
“Right now, AFD’s DC is 90 thousand square feet with plans to
break ground on 40,000 additional square feet.
“We tell our customers that AFD is all about price, all about design.
But on the buying side we say, half bought right, half sold—half
displayed right, half sold. And, when we combine the half bought right and
half displayed right and sold, it’s sold.“
The Comeaux family got its start in the 1930s selling items such as
light bulbs, roller skates and other merchandise. Furniture and
appliances were eventually added to the merchandise mix at Comeaux
Appliance and Furniture, shut down in 1991. In 2017, they opened their
American Furniture Direct 40,000-square-foot flagship showroom in
Covington, Louisiana.
Brand Strategy
Shoppers can read on the “about us” page of AFD’s website,
www.afdfurniture.com, that “Bob has always been about price, and
Billie has always been about design. The combination of the two,” it
reads, “accompanied by the Glory of God, initiated the beginning of
their success in the furniture industry.”
The passage is a branding promise and a statement to their customers that
American Factory Direct is a faith-based company. “Every Monday
morning, we have a Zoom meeting that includes salespeople and store
managers,” Bob Comeaux told Furniture World. “These meetings
always start with a prayer. “We play Christian music in our stores to
let our customers know that we treat people the way we want to be treated. I
believe that we’ve been blessed through the years.”
The Customer Experience
When asked why American Factory Direct Furniture has been so successful,
Grace Comeaux noted that it’s in large part due to AFD’s
employees. “AFD’s people are the heart of our company and embody
its corporate culture. They see the passion we have for this business. That
same passion is apparent in their presentations and how they treat our
customers. Many of our associates have been with AFD for over 20
years.”
“It’s also about consistency,” added David Comeaux.
“AFD works to deliver consistent customer experiences across all five
stores. We insist that our customers are treated with respect in every
interaction and that they are offered consistent pricing. The Saturday
morning Zoom calls are critical to reinforce AFD’s selling system so
that every store has the same focus, vision and pricing guidelines.”
AFD is known for its beautifully designed and accessorized displays. The
open store concept was created and executed by Billie Comeaux, pictured
above in the Covington store.
Design Excellence
Commenting on AFD’s focus on being ‘all about design,’
Billie Comeaux recalled, “Many factory reps comment we have one of the
most unique and beautiful showrooms they have seen.
“I feel that my training as a draftsman enabled me to develop our open
floor display concept rather than showing product as vignettes. The way we
present product really helps our clients envision their room style.
“Other elements that have helped ensure that AFD stays true to being
‘all about style’ are keeping our branding focused, making sure
that when customers walk through our showrooms they experience fashion
design style, and keeping a pulse on design while attending High Point
markets.
“Another important factor that contributes to the success of our
merchandising strategy is that we don’t dabble,” David observed.
“When we decide to introduce a new look, we swing for the fences. I
believe that if a furniture retailer wants to sell more contemporary
furniture, they need to let customers know that their stores are committed
to the business of selling contemporary furniture. It’s the same for
rustic, modern farmhouse or any other style category. When we commit to a
specific category or a new look, we make sure that we do it right.”
“It’s important to be able to direct
people where needed to keep staffing lean and get jobs done when they need
to be done.”
Hiring & Retention
Furniture World asked the Comeaux family what else Furniture World readers
should be thinking about as they look toward 2023. Grace Comeaux replied,
“Right now, furniture retailers need to focus on their organizational
structures to create efficiencies. It’s important to be able to direct
people where needed to keep staffing lean and get jobs done when they need
to be done. Retailers also need to think creatively about compensation
structures to attract talented, younger individuals.
“Acquiring and retaining top talent is no longer just about
compensation. We’ve started to offer flexible work schedules and
building on that where possible.
“Sometimes flexibility can be a deciding factor in attracting a
talented new hire. Whether it’s one day a week or three days, flexible
work schedules are here to stay for office staff, sales associates and sales
managers.
“Right now, AFD offers sales managers a four-day week with every other
Saturday off. Quality of life issues are essential for hiring and keeping
good people.
“Instead of using photography supplied by our vendors, we want to take our
own shots so that when a customer looks at one of our photos they
automatically know that it’s AFD.”
“We track retention and turnover rates by department and meet with
managers to see if these numbers can be improved. And we are in the process
of restructuring the onboarding of new hires and showing them where they can
grow within our organization, especially on the logistics side.”
Pictured from left to right are: Grace Comeaux-Piro - CFO, Bob & Billie
Comeaux - Owners, David Comeaux - COO.
Investing in the Future
Currently, AFD is building an executive office complex at its Covington,
Louisiana, location that will include a green room for photography as new
products arrive. “American Factory Direct Furniture has a distinct
in-store look,” Grace told Furniture World. “We feel it’s
important to project that look in the photography we use. That’s why
instead of using photography supplied by our vendors, we want to take our
own shots so that when a customer looks at one of our photos, they
automatically know that it’s AFD.”
In closing, David Comeaux observed that many independents tend to invest
more heavily in showrooms than in their warehousing, logistics and
distribution capabilities. “At AFD, we’ve chosen to invest in
our back end first,” he explained, “so those capabilities are in
place to support future sales growth. It’s the basis for creating
excellent customer experiences. A retailer can have the prettiest showroom,
the lowest prices and the easiest sales process. But if they mess it up on
the back end, they’ve burned a customer for life. That’s why AFD
is as much of a logistics-driven company as we are sales driven. It allows
us to under-promise and over-deliver. So, one might say that we are all
about logistics as well as all about price and all about design.”
“At AFD, we’ve chosen to invest in our back end first, so those capabilities
are in place to support future sales growth. It’s the basis for creating
excellent customer experiences.”