NAHFA Members Take Part in Leadership Immersion Program at El Dorado Furniture

Furniture World News Desk on 11/17/2015

NAHFA reported that Five North American Home Furnishings Association (NAHFA) members got an exclusive three-day behind-the-scenes tour of El Dorado Furniture, one of the nation’s most successful home furnishings companies, during their participation in the Leadership Immersion Program.

NAHFA members Lael Thompson, Travis Turner, Erin Donaghy, Joey Gunn and Jayson Wells also got exclusive access to El Dorado leaders who shared tips for growing their own stores back home. The retailers – all of whom are part of NAHFA’s Next Generation-NOW program-- toured El Dorado’s 105,000-square-foot Miami Gardens showroom and warehouse, and took part in nearly a dozen breakout discussions on topics ranging from marketing to operations to customer service.

This program is part of the NAHFA’s ongoing commitment to Next Generation-NOW, a community of young home furnishings professionals that are the future of the home furnishings industry. October’s event followed a successful debut of the program last spring at the R.C. Wiley headquarters in Salt Lake City.

Sharron Bradley, chief executive officer of the NAHFA, said events like the Leadership Immersion Experience is one of the many exclusive educational benefits the association offers its members. “Our training isn’t limited to just the markets and Retail Resource Center,” she said. “Whether its webinars or experiences like the Leadership Immersion program, we’re always looking for ways to help members learn and grow their business.”

Thompson, chief operations officer of Broyhill Home Collections in Aurora, Colo., was curious about what he could learn from a company that is projecting $226 million in sales this year, but by the end of the first day, he could see the benefits. “There was something in every meeting that I learned and can take back home to implement,” he says. “Everything about operations and inventory right down to the price tags and wiping down finger prints. It was amazing.”

Gunn, director of merchandising and advertising for his family’s Knight Furniture in Sherman, Texas, was impressed with the family values that permeate every aspect of El Dorado’s work. “Everything they (El Dorado) do is done without a corporate mentality,” he says. “In terms of how they run their business, how they treat their employees, the help they give them and looking out for the customer, those are characteristics you see with a family-owned business, which they are only on a much larger scale. But all of the values I saw on display I know apply to my family store, too. I can’t wait to get some of them going back home.”

Next Generation members were particularly struck by El Dorado’s unique branding strategy. El Dorado will mention mattress brands, but chooses not to mention furniture manufacturers in its advertising and direct mail programs. Instead the company likes to enhance a different brand: itself.

Andres Capo, El Dorado’s Warehouse Management Software Leader, said the changing landscape in furniture manufacturing has rendered branding useless. “The average shopper couldn’t name but maybe two or three furniture brands,” Andres Capo told Next Generation members. “We are the brand. We are what we want people to remember, not the product.”

That philosophy resonated with Gunn. “It’s something that really hit home with me,” he says. “That’s a strategy I can walk into our store today and start up. It’s a great way for us to stand out, putting our name as the focus over the furniture.”

When it was time to plan the second Leadership Immersion Experience, Bradley said it was obvious that El Dorado, a longtime NAHFA member, play host. “Everything the Capo family does is done with great thought and passion,” she says. Ela Chavez, El Dorado’s executive vice president of learning & development, said the six Capo brothers who run El Dorado’s 13-store chain in South Florida, jumped at the opportunity to help fellow retailers. "They are firm believers that when you teach others you learn, too," she said. "And when everyone is learning, everybody is growing."

Bradley said the association is already planning to add more Leadership Immersion Experience events to the calendar in 2016. NAHFA members can learn more about participating in future events by contacting NAHFA at 800.422.3778 or www.nahfa.org/next-generation-now/


About the North American Home Furnishings Association: The North American Home Furnishings Association (NAHFA), with roots dating back to 1920, is North America’s largest, most-valued organization devoted specifically to the needs and interests of home furnishings retailers, with more than 1,500 members representing more than 7,000 storefronts across all 50 states and several foreign countries. Association offices in the East, West, and Central United States provide its members with programs, resources, services, and a unified voice in government relations by partnering with home furnishings industry suppliers, vendors, affiliates, and other organizations. For more information on the NAHFA, visit www.nahfa.org.

About Next Generation-NOW: Next Generation-NOW, a hosted community of the North American Home Furnishings Association, consists of young, passionate and vibrant home furnishings professionals that are the future of the home furnishings industry. Working together, this community will develop the next group of industry leaders through educational events, social networking and guidance and give a voice to the unique needs of future generations in the furniture industry.