Furniture Industry Marketing Articles
11/23/2024,
Furniture World Magazine
Lisa Kahn designs health and wellness into homes and addresses the special needs of families. She believes furniture retailers are missing an opportunity to do something similarly wonderful.
11/23/2024,
Furniture World Magazine
Ashley’s Dufresne Spencer Group’s Lisa Fanaro and Chad Spencer believe that a new Ashley initiative will change the face of home furnishings retail by pushing the boundaries of design and technology.
Published 2004 - 2024
How Dave and Rachel Cavitt navigated Alaska’s retail challenges, positioning its mix of Sadler’s Home Furnishings and other brands for growth.
Grocery stores that sell organic produce alongside core produce
selections are an excellent model for furniture stores explains organic
mattress advocate Barry A. Cik.
Mastering the art of creating 5-star customer experiences.
Design tools, approaches, frameworks, and techniques you can use to make your retail business more sustainable.
Here’s how Pam Miller generates traffic, cuts marketing and financing costs, builds loyalty and brings dollars to her bottom line.
IKEA commits to renewable or recycled materials and products that can be reused, refurbished, re-manufactured, and eventually recycled.
This 1 ½” x 2 ¾” piece of card stock is a leading-edge 17th century
technology that is here to stay!
There are many ways to support sustainability in your business while pursuing other goals.
Catherine Trevigne of Inside/Out Showrooms, discusses outdoor furniture design trends, usage and best practices.
The Inside Out experience.
Designer, unifier, and creative collaborator Nancy Fire discusses why today’s trends can be considered lifestyle pockets representing how consumers live.
Check out both sides of the debate. Does ‘entertainment’ need to be part of a furniture retailer’s store experience?
Bo Coconis talks about growing a retail business in Appalachia on the outskirts of Columbus, the importance of building industry relationships, serving customers, and golf.
Disentangling a hairball narrative.
Kristen Moonjian of FS says consumers are rejecting the fast overturn of aesthetics, stark minimalism is declining, and there’s growth in purpose-filled items.
Furniture First’s CEO, Andrew Kauffman, outlines strategies furniture & mattress retailers should consider for better results in slower traffic 2024 environments.
Crate and Barrel is playing to its strengths, establishing a fresh vision for the brand and putting distance between it and its competitors.
Here is a close look at the six shopper aspirations that MC&Co Trend
says will define how consumers will make furniture purchase decisions in 2024.
Colorful insights into what may happen each month at retail in 2024
and what you should do to prepare.
Is there a big difference in how women and men make furniture and
bedding purchase decisions? WomenCertified’s Chief Mission Officer believes there is.
Finding inspiration in an uninspiring year.
Using data to target the right people at the right time with the right messages about the right products cuts waste and gets better measurable results.
Bill Napier and Ed Tashjian debate whether the furniture industry is headed for disaster. Bill sees the glass half empty; Ed is worried that it’s not big enough.
The retailer’s revenues rose to $2.5 billion. Now its strategy is to fill
the gaps with an emphasis on providing a whole house feel.
Heres’s how two retailers leveraged award recognition to connect with their customers and communities.
Consider the many excellent reasons to add multi-branded entries to achieve your retail objectives.
Magriñá says holistic design begins with being mindful that every shape, color and material affects people’s health, social interactions and well-being.
Is the home furnishings industry on the verge of a new way of thinking about
marketing and selling? The co-founders of Science in Design believe it is.
Getting back to basics is the secret to advertising success.
Apollo Award-winning retailer, Gasper Exterior Furnishings Studio shares its approaches and insights for selling casual home furnishings.
Richard Frinier answers questions about the present and future of outdoor
furnishings trends and design.
The roughly 100,000 square feet of showroom space, Village Green Home and garden is a casual furniture destination like no other.
It’s a perfect storm for digital marketers that threatens substantial legal exposure, increased compliance costs and reduced clarity in linking digital spending to adeffectiveness measures.
Designer, retailer, furniture industry consultant and manufacturer Dixon Bartlett shares his views on ways to improve retail merchandising and buying.
Time Capsule: History will be made at the spring High Point market.
Stay tuned for changes in home furnishing design aesthetics, customer moods and purchasing preferences that will roll out in 2023-24.
The debut of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation’s new High Point building in April signals a new focus on how consumers, job seekers and those of us who sell home furnishings see our industry.
The marketing team at fast-growing, technology-driven GAHS shares their solutions for retail data collection, software integration, analysis and more.
The Future Designers Summit, a program of High Point’s Bienenstock Furniture Library, brings together some of the best and brightest young minds for the future benefit of the home furnishings industry.
Customer decision-making is more often based on ‘store consciousness’ than engagement with a rational mind.
Design-oriented retailer shares success strategies for hiring design associates, product display creation and integrating in-store design areas into its sales plan.
How do we want our brands to make people feel?
Mark Quinn explains why It’s so much more interesting and satisfying to be in the life improvement
business than just selling mattresses.
Editor, curator and trends watcher Julie Smith Vincenti explains how she identifies and presents design ideas to retailers and designers
in advance of the High Point and Las Vegas shows.
The language of furniture styles has become nuanced and complicated. This presents a challenge for furniture retailers.
What do motorized furniture delivery trucks, furniture brand holding companies, warehouse furniture showrooms and furniture e-commerce have in common?
Research shows that more diversification in media buys can be beneficial for many furniture retailers.
How to build a retail culture of accountability and performance.
The most powerful way for any home furnishings company to define an
experience, says David Blair, is in emotional terms.
Furniture recommerce may be the next big thing for furniture retailers who want to tell sustainable stories, acquire new customers and add income from returned items.
The rebirth of customer service as the customer experience.
Conversations between retailers and ad agencies need to expand beyond questions of creative and media.
Retail owners and managers need to have the skills of both professional and
college head coaches.
Ideas by way of Jagger and Richards for Furniture World readers to either consider or dismiss.
Store planner Jennifer Magee looks at ways to re-imagine customer service areas to give shoppers the very best in-store experiences.
Interior designer Young Huh talks about current trends and how to engage with clients on an emotional level.
An unlikely story of grit, faith, and a belief that there is nothing—people
or furniture—that cannot be loved or repaired.
In an environment where delivery disasters, supply snafus, warehouse worries, and cranky customers are the norm, it has to be tough for retail owners and managers to be happy.
Product developer and trend analyst Patti Carpenter provides insight into color, retail trends and ways to connect with the value systems of consumers.
Natural Language Processing (NLP), the analysis of speech and text by computer software, helps retailers to become more efficient and better marketers.
I hope that the business climate in 2022 will be less chilling for our industry than the Almanac’s forecast.
The feature article in this issue of Furniture World provides insight into the “design of joyful retail.”
Designer and “Joyful” author discusses how retailers can adapt in-store environments to influence moods and affect shopping behaviors.
Being on the wrong side of a copyright lawsuit is not a good place to be.
Leslie Carothers explains why Clubhouse is a valuable addition to the social media toolkits of home furnishings retailers and brands.
Are we stuck in the furniture industry’s version of flypaper—sticky, pandemic-created—where the end to the inconvenience and uncertainty is endless?
Interior designer, store owner and style spotter shares her thoughts on selling,
supporting the interior design community, High Point Market and current trends.
Recent proprietary data from the website GoodBed.com points to long-term opportunities as well as threats for mattress retailers.
Inman and Hodgin anticipate a post-pandemic flood of designs focusing on new materials and colors. Get ready for less beige and boring plus a number of hard-to-reconcile, diverse design trends.
Online furniture retailer Fernish targets a young mobile audience that sees traditional furniture retail as clunky, costly, inefficient and hassle intensive.
Changes coming from Apple and Google promise to rock the ecommerce industry, creating opportunities and challenges for furniture retailers.
No, not that kind of cookie.
Fashion Snoops’ expert forecaster Jay Anna Mize looks at what’s now and what’s next in style and consumer buying behaviors.
Andrew Koenig explains how home furnishings retailers can conceive and implement a CSR program that helps employees, customers and the communities.
Here’s what’s going on in retail with IP targeting, OTT, mobile ID targeting, programmatic, targeted Facebook ads and much more.
Here’s how this 380+ store retailer created a new branding campaign just right for reaching out to customers, non-customers and lapsed customers.
Retailers are arrested, die of apoplexy, visit furniture shows, and pioneer DTC mattress sales models. It's the same old home furnishings business!
Ed says that he's never been more positive. Bill issues dire warnings and advises retailers to batten down the hatches!
HFA member Harkness Furniture completes a century of growth and looks forward to a bright future.
Gordon Hecht chats with a 2,000-year-old man about his experiences in the furniture industry over the past 150 years.
A discussion of furniture design trends consumers will be looking for as we exit the pandemic.
California mandatory mattress rule change expands the burden beyond brick and mortar to include online retailers.
Riley's Furniture & Mattress has reduced store hours. Business is booming, customers don't mind and sales associates love the idea.
In this year of change, HFA remains
a source for retailers looking to grow
Tips and advertising strategies for furniture and bedding retailers who want to grow market share in 2021 and beyond.
Home furnishings retailers really need to lean in on their most valuable prospect. Her name is HENRY.
Here's how Arizona Leather outsells the competition with lower advertising expenditures and fewer major suppliers.
There remains a slice of the workforce that has not felt the recession’s pain—yet.
I count three goods, three bads and two uglies.
Interior designer, blogger, brand ambassador and style spotter Erika Ward provides insight into what furniture consumers and families want and need right now.
After a rocky start with its online sales platform, GAHS achieved growth in eCommerce sales of 1,200 percent during the pandemic.
Content about HFA member-retailers contributed by HFA.
Content about HFA member-retailers contributed by HFA.
Content about HFA member-retailers contributed by HFA.
'When Fortune knocks, open the door,' they say. But why should one make fortune knock by keeping the door shut?
Advertising specialists weigh in on what's working right now to make customers comfortable, generate inquiries and increase store traffic.
Now is the time for retail brands to consider what messages they are sending to a diverse cross section of their customers.
Grabbing back the sale from an online or down the street retail competitor can be fun.
Fashion Snoops' Jaye Anna Mize explains how a shift in consumer values is likely to affect how and what they buy for the fall selling season and into 2021.
Three generations have built this top-100 single-store operation into Chicagoland’s largest furniture & mattress store.
More delivery options helps your customers feel in control.
Ed says our industry will begin to recover from the Covid pandemic and there will be a new normal. Bill says NOPE!
Coconis Furniture & Mattress and Sheely's furniture find pent-up demand and strong sales as states reopen.
This retail chain has an emphasis on serving local communities while being extra nice.
Things you can do to respond when a large competitor goes out with a bang instead of a whimper.
Furniture retailers are now looking for ways to sell their products while minimizing face-to-face selling time.
Designer Corey Damen Jenkins shares his experience about persistence and emerging design trends.
How to make an analog connection with shoppers in an increasingly digital world.
Madcap Cottage's John Loecke and Jason Oliver Nixon explain how to take retail
customers on a journey.
A look back to what was, where our industry is today, and the actions it is well advised to take in 2020
Jennifer Furniture has risen like a Phoenix following a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2010 and its acquisition by Morris Holdings.
Studio 28 was supposed to cater to Iowa’s millennials. It does that and so much more.
Three home furnishings retailers explain why it pays to give.
More than a century ago, Meyer Max launched his family’s venture into home furnishings retailing in Kensington, PA.
An update on what home furnishings retailers and manufacturing brands are doing to help save the planet.
Fashion Snoops' Jaye Anna Mize shares what brands and
retailers can do to connect the dots between culture, consumer behavior and new product development.
Interior designer, blogger, style spotter and influencer Lisa Mende shares her perspectives on uniquely southern design, new trends and more.
Take a few cues from Jeopardy's big winner James Holzhauer, and you just might WIN BIG at retail!
HFA member Sam Zavary got his work ethic honestly – from his father.
How your store can create a winning retail experience that turns your customers into promoters.
Starting with a single 7,000 square foot store, Kentucky-based Furniture Fair has 11 locations, 300 plus employees, and growing!
When money is tight, you have to out-think and outsmart rather than outspend your competition. Bill and Ed debate, and rank by effectiveness, retail marketing tools.
Even the best retail marketers often miss the mark on the #1 target group that can affect an up or down swing in a home furnishings store business.
I don't see how any retailer can go wrong by keeping these principles in mind.
Domaci is a wonderland for eclectically minded, environmentally motivated consumers and perceptive designers.
To compete for the attention of millennial HENRYs, it takes more than great design, discount prices, social media and newspaper ads.
Interior designer, retailer, style spotter & influencer shares her thoughts.
Seven days of business in six, with a focus on creating work-life balance.
Is the state of our educational system a big problem for our industry?
Chances are pretty good that William Shakespeare never shopped at a mattress store...
How can independent retailers compete with online behemoths and expansion hungry top-25 chains?
Without an Active Media Platform in place you are just pouring money into a bucket full of holes.
Interior designer and furnishings retailer Keith Baltimore shares his thoughts about the design & retail experience.
Recognizing a void in the central Ohio marketplace, June Sedlak Mooney created an artfully selected boutique environment.
Will traditional representatives even exist 10 years from now?
Six retail tools you should take out of your tool box to make sure physical assets, policies and procedures can do a good job for you in 2019.
Innovative player in Phoenix, AZ caters to Spanish and English speaking customers with innovative programs.
Interior and furniture designer, media personality and consultant, shares his thoughts about design, sales & marketing.
Here's how Furniture World readers can create a buzz around their businesses resulting in more sales and less ad costs.
Ed Tashjian and Bill Napier duke it out over the future of the High Point Market.
The desire to do business with companies that embrace an umbrella of sustainable causes is trending upward.
A recent study of 350-plus retailers and manufacturers pinpoints growth opportunities for furniture retailers.
Kim Salmela doesn’t believe in making safe furnishings decisions. She says, “There are no rules. That’s the rule!”
Everybody is buzzing about VR/AR. Will the early adapters . . . the Amazons, Wayfairs and Frontgates eat your lunch?
Minnesota based Welcome Amish Furniture, is both a name and a greeting to 60,000 square feet of Amish designs!
Furniture designer and ASFD president discusses women in our industry and the value of leaving open avenues for
creativity in product design & retail displays.
Excerpts from summer 1918 issues of Furniture World about women, World War I, furniture shortages at retail
and advances in technology.
Bill says, follow the money to the Baby Boom generation. Ed says “The Times They Are a-Changin'”.
Author, retailer, interior/ product designer Kerrie Kelly talks about consumers, trends, customer engagement and retailing.
Texas retailer provides “The Best of the New West” with an elevated design sensibility, a commitment to customer service, sustainability and conservation.
You can teach your retail home furnishings business to market itself, so you can harness the magic of word-of-mouth marketing and referrals.
Survey of Yelp reviews identifies problem areas for furniture retailers, plus strategies for avoidance/correction.
Engaging them online by using incentives and calls to action is crucial to increasing store traffic and sales.
Although a pie is finite, retailers can expand their market from a large to extra-large with pepperoni!
Bill says, furniture brands don't matter anymore. Ed has a more nuanced view. Both say it's the Elephant in the room.
What is Grit? Why does it matter? How can you create a retail culture of Grit?
Pantone recently announced its color of the year. How did this color get chosen and how should we use it?
This Tacoma, Washington based furniture store doesn't worry too much about the competition!
RSAs may think a month ahead, and managers may think a year ahead, savvy business people are thinking about 2023.
These tools will amplify your message, capture prospect information, and supercharge your advertising spend.
Lindy’s has over 200,000 square feet of furniture showrooms and warehouse space, with prices for every budget.
Are unsubstantiated marketing promises and digital marketing fraud wasting your precious ad dollars?
What can you learn about target marketing from Taco Bell, Amazon and The Big Bang Theory?
CEO Stefanie Lucas wants Boston Interiors' customers to feel like they are shopping with their best friend.
Special advertorial section featuring manufacturers that have significant content from American sources.
Libby Langdon talks about what consumers want, and how retailers can do a better job of connecting with them.
Bill Napier and Ed Tashjian tell why they are deeply concerned about the future of US home furnishings retailers.
Saying you are the biggest, the best, in business the longest, and your prices can't be beat... is the wrong sentence!
Bill Napier thinks there is too much hype about digital-only retail marketing. Ed Tashjian takes a more nuanced view.
BoConcept’s new flagship store will set the stage for expansion in the USA of the 300 store global furniture franchise.
Create that WOW factor for your outdoor displays to generate above average sales.
What if your sales people knew exactly what to say and when to say it before they made an appeal of any kind?
Today, more than ever before, it is easy to build your advertising strategy on quicksand.
In this edition of Furniture World, our Point/Counterpoint duo, Bill Napier and Ed Tashjian, debate the efficacy of print vs. digital.
Starting with a push cart in 1912, The RoomPlace has grown to include 25 stores and 700 employees.
How to connect with this large, highly niched target market, to increase traffic and boost sales.
Is this promising demographic target being over-hyped by marketers in the furniture industry?
An interview with award-wining designer Todd Bracher about design, consumer & retail trends.
Six important promotional ideas to get your customers to say "yes!" based on the writings of Dr. Robert Cialdini.
Retailer combines and renovates stores, adds categories, while providing seamless customer service.
These are the prospects that have the demographic profile to buy furniture and home accessories right now.
Is all the licensing of celebrity furniture lines in the home furnishing’s category worth the cost?
Interview with top 100 retailer FFO Home, “Where great quality lives for less!”
A discussion of the kinds of show opportunities out there for retailers.
What can Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Kim Kardashian and Apple teach you about building your personal brand.
More than 1,400 consumers were asked if and how they use business reviews to decide where they’ll shop for furniture.
Detroit-based retailer Danto Furniture looks for smart ways to expand beyond it’s main location.
Before the recent election, my friend Ed Tashjian let me know about an article he wrote, “Five Lessons Marketers Can Learn from Trump.”
Solutions to the ten biggest retail display problems.
Furniture designer Gary Inman discusses design, consumer & retail trends and how to tell a story at retail.
Here’s how furniture retailers can sell more, compete smarter, and save advertising dollars as well.
With 3500 stores and huge marketing power, developments at Mattress Firm present a challenge and an opportunity.
A loyalty program is one of several ways to bring shoppers and buyers back into stores faster, but is it for you?
Design focused Florida-based retailer achieves strong growth with a design focus that covers all the bases.
Tips and techniques for buying, merchandising, displaying, marketing and selling outdoor furniture & accessories.
Legendary designer talks about home furnishings design, visual merchandising and store display.
How to create advertorial marketing assets that really sell for you.
What’s Hyper Local Social Marketing, and Why Does It Matter?
Modern customers must be wooed - not sold, and not bought. So get wooing!
Recent study looks at the costs and benefits of leaving product pricing off of retail furniture store websites.
A shop that POPs! is simply irresistible to customers. Tips from retailer Leon & Lulu on how to create one.
Relaxed vibe and unconventional selection, hours and business model fuels growth for this Arizona-based retailer.
Jay Levinson’s marketing techniques are ideal and affordable for independent furniture stores.
If you think that most of your prospective customers know your business, think again! This survey tells a different story.
How smart use of print media makes your digital marketing more effective.
Vision, mission and corporate philosophy are very much alive at HOM Furniture, Gabberts and DOCK68.
HENRYs account for roughly 40% of total consumer expenditures, as compared with10% for ultra-affluents.
Rules to live by that will help you to build your business, ignite your passion and reduce your level of stress.
What will you do about the online retailers selling lower priced mattress who expect to take market share away from you?
With three locations plus distribution center, this retailer focuses on delivering a family experience with lots of fun.
Bill Napier, offers tips on how to win back brand loyalty in 2016.
Award winning design team Richard and Catherine Frinier discuss the past, present, and future of outdoor furniture.
Since the year is new, considering, “who the hell are ya?” both personally and for your business, can be an illuminating exercise. The question is a sidewalk restatement of Socrates’ observation, “An unexamined life is not worth living”.
Gordon Hecht stakes his reputation on these predictions for what you are certain to see in terms of retail traffic, sales,
government regulations and even major weather disruptions in 2016.
You need to engage and reward your consumers in 2016 or lose business to those retailers that do.
Family run business with a reputation of putting customers first.
Home furnishings retailers have an opportunity to make lasting impressions on potential customers when they move into a new home.
Use “welcome mat marketing” to help new customers realize you’re different, and to make them feel special.
New 150,000 square foot store has four separate store brands, and innovative design without a big box feel.
Three generations of furniture designers at Otto & Moore reflect on furniture design’s past and future.
Chase potential customers your competition neglects, and watch sales climb!
Use mobile marketing and post-click engagement so shoppers use phones for something other than showrooming.
Avoid them and your business can flourish. Ignore them, and you may lose your retail soul!
Solid merchandising and advertising pay off for Leather by Design.
Best practices for buying, merchandising and profiting from the category.
Casualness can creep in anywhere. It’s your job to cut it out and replace it with intention.
Knoxville Tennessee retailer with a storied history creates a showplace with the help of store designer Connie Post.
Case Study: How a regional furniture chain pulled its data together to sell more furniture.
Millennials think and shop differently than Baby Boomers and Generation X. Here’s what you need to know.
Edward and Michael Massood rebrand Thomasville of New Jersey as HOME INSPIRATIONS Thomasville, with a little help from their friends.
Planning a BIG EVENT is a lot like planning a wedding. It takes time, thought, and budgeting. Here are ideas to consider if you want to maximize the return on your next big event.
There are fortunes to be made in retail home furnishings by the entrepreneurs who understand how to leverage their offers to dramatically increase market share.
Study shows that the 20% of affluent households, that account for more than
40% of home furnishings sales, are increasingly shopping at specialty retailers.
New program seeks to unlock the online competitiveness of local brick & mortar furniture retailers.
Fast growing Memphis, TN based retailer has passion for the industry and sweats the details.
It has never been easier to take market share from competitors as it is right now in 2015! And here’s why.
Adapting your store to meet the expectations of todays design focused customers requires an understanding of four major influences on their shopping and buying behavior.
A Positive Tipping Point For Furniture In 2015?
In most home furnishings stores 96% of shoppers leave without buying a mattress. Here are 11 ways to do better in 2015.
Research and anecdotal evidence shows that ambient scenting in retail stores improves the customer experience. Precisely how to scent a store, however, requires a lot of thought and attention to detail.
More success strategies from rug experts of vital interest to retail furniture store owners, buyers and sales professionals. The discussion continues (from September/October Furniture World) with an emphasis on retail sales training programs and sales techniques.
How do you identify and prioritize retail opportunities this coming year? What course of action should you take to do what you now consider impossible?
Larry Schneiderman, head of the Minnesota-based six-store chain Schneiderman’s furniture talks about his life at retail, what he learned and who he learned if from along the way.
Thoughts and success strategies from rug experts for retail furniture store owners, buyers and sales professionals.
Critelli’s makes a big deal of it’s centenary celebration.
Formula For Success: Become Relevant
The Hadley Court Center for Design Collaboration is a high tech meeting room where designers, students, manufacturers, academics, industry associations and local High Point civic and cultural organizations can collaborate on projects, hold seminars, meetings and educational events.
How Gardner’s Mattress & More turned a fax offering into a profitable Sign Sleep Dream promotion.
The last line on the theme song for TV sitcom Cheers went something like, “You want to go where everyone knows your name”. Here are simple inexpensive ideas for keeping your store’s name front and center.
Kane’s, now the 43rd largest furniture chain in the United States has a history of managing the bottom line.
A case study on thriving through four generations. Chicago area based retail chain shares secrets on how they’ve stayed successful when so many mid to high-end stores have not.
To stand out from the crowd you must become the most trusted authority on home furnishings and mattress sets in your marketing area. You must learn to tie peripheral type E beliefs to deeper type D authority figure beliefs as described in this article.
How to get information on your mattress competition, profile them, and use this information to close more sales.
GoodBed.com conducted a survey of 1000 visitors and found out that a large number
of consumers would buy a new mattress that’s an exact replica of their current one. This
article reviews the data and examines the surprising implications at retail.
A detailed look at how Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale used W. Edwards Deming’s
teachings to change the corporate culture of retail giant Gallery Furniture. Read how McIngvale scrapped sales commissions and quotas, got rid of his accounts payable department, instituted same day delivery and learned how to foster leadership within his organization.
The first part of a two part series on how the wise independent can now make important inroads in market share by integrating social media and the Internet with other media.
Retailers make myriad important decisions every day. Each of these can be a choice to tweak, alter, destroy, build, or do nothing at all.
Houston-based Exclusive Furniture is known as the place “Where Low Prices Live!”. This focus on price has been paired with a store-wide effort to create a relaxed and friendly customer experience.
There are so many tactical things an independent can do that big boxes cannot. But before they can employ killer tactics with maximum effectiveness they must first have a
creative, strategic game plan. Here’s how to get started developing that game plan.
Vertically integrated retailer relies on word of mouth to appeal to the high end.
Seven ways to adjust your sales and marketing to take advantage of a new reality.
If you answer this question “Why?” and deliver the answer to your staff, they will follow you. And, so will your customers!
How 41 year old Davids Furniture was transformed into a 21st century destination where customers create stylish homes.
These thirteen practical and detailed tips for retail success from Gordon Hecht will help you to build your furniture business.
With his long-time partner and friend, Nelson Bercier, President of Sit ‘n Sleep, Larry Miller just opened his thirty-second store. They have plans for expansion to 40 stores over the next three years. More than 300 highly trained employees serve Sit ‘n Sleep’s clients’ needs and sales have surged past $100 million annually.
In 1980, the year I joined Furniture World, Jerry penned a six-part series our editor brilliantly titled, The Epperson Report...
Jerry Epperson tells Furniture World readers why demographics, changing lifestyles, the economy and technology all promise to make our industry’s immediate future bright indeed.
Leopold’s Fine Home Furnishings: Beyond the ordinary since 1859.
Why should you reinvent your company? Because, as Steve Chandler, author of Wealth Warrior, points out: “Companies and individuals who reinvent themselves are more
prosperous than those who stay stuck where they are.”
A major mental construct that has sabotaged many businesses is resistance to change. Ray Morefield takes a look at how companies respond to changing market circumstances.
Sleep Train is dedicated to its community through pioneering philanthropic programs that provide at-risk youth with important material items.
Thoughts about change and Furniture World's Magazine's
We learned how to develop productive relationships with tough personality types. Read on to find out how to use this information to improve your sales performance.
If you are negative about the state of the world and the tone of political discourse, it couldn’t hurt to read Ray Morefield’s latest article.
Bob’s Discount Furniture combines random acts of kindness with institutional giving in a uniquely structured charitable giving program.
While Facebook and Twitter certainly represent an enormous potential audience, how effective have they really been as a marketing platform for businesses?
The RoomPlace celebrates 100 years in business. Marketing foresight and a focus on family are keys to its success.
The fallacy of Facebook as a brand strategy.
Design oriented Insideout Homestore, has fun while expanding its business with a new store theme, social networking initiatives and selling condo packages.
In a cluttered online world, attending to the basics of good website design and marketing can make a huge difference to your furniture business. Covered are practical tips and techniques.
This article illuminates the basic principles of a selling technique that is based upon behavioral science. Want to reach the top much sooner? Want to serve customers better? Is your mind open? Good! The code to human behavior has been cracked. Get ready for some revolutionary selling ideas!
In the March/ April issue, Margo DeGange discussed what article marketing is, and what its benefits are. This time she provides guidelines for writing and using your articles.
In this installment of Furniture World’s 90 Seconds To Success Series, Ray Morefield discusses how to listen, when to talk, and the role of persistence in selling furniture at retail.
Replace your sales associate’s sagging excuses and you will replace more of your shoppers sagging beds with brand new bedding!
A review of the Trends display at the recent Canadian Home Furnishing Market featuring twelve instructive vignettes. A little bit of whimsy can make the sale!
This series, commemorating Furniture World’s 142nd year of publishing, continues with the story of how, after two decades of business in an expanding economy, an Alberta-based retailer successfully re-brands to express its vision, and attract new customers.
This series, commemorating Furniture World’s 142nd year of publishing, continues with the interesting history of iconic Massachusetts based retailer Bernie & Phyl’s.
It’s a totally free, awareness-building tool that draws ideal clients right to your door.
Interview with Kendra Maggert, Interactive Marketing Manager, Ashley HomeStores, Ltd., the first in a series focusing on furniture industry charitable initiatives.
How can you benefit from changing mattress retailing trends? By embracing them.
"Your price is too high!" How do we cope with that comment? How do we overcome that objection? What is the most successful response?
Part five of Furniture World’s selling better bedding series features expert sales tips and techniques for furniture and bedding retailers that want to sell more pillows and mattress protectors
Maximize your impact with Google AdWords & Paid Search, the ultimate new media marketing.
By putting the proven principles of evidence-based advertising to work, you will be able to leverage media to revitalize your market share like nothing else can.
Learning to repair imports so they can be sold as first quality instead of being sent to clearance, presents special challenges.
A Maryland trial court has ruled in a declaratory judgment case after trial that Furnitureland South, a North Carolina furniture dealer, must register to collect Maryland use tax on the sale of furniture for delivery in the State of Maryland.
Barton I. Bienenstock has been named the first recipient of the David Druckman Lifetime Achievement Award. The Award will be presented at the Greater NY Home Furnishings Association's Dinner & Dance on November 20, 1999 at Terrace On The Park.
Part two in a series, focuses on how, when and why you should “come out” and ask customers to give your name to friends, co-workers and family. This installment looks at how to approach different types of customers and fool proof follow-up techniques.
Leading retailers from across Canada speak about new products and trends for 2000. They also share their economic expectations for the coming year
Business cards are both the wave of the future and the way of the past. The cards may be low-tech, but they can leave an indelible impression. Ideas from a new book on creative ways to create and use business cards to expand your business.
Another look at advertising and promotions. If they have even the smallest hint of deceit, you might find yourself in the middle of a lawsuit, suffering from a loss of business, irritated customers, and a few sleepless nights.
A simple way to build unconditional customer loyalty from Bob Popyk, Publisher of Creative Selling.
Peter A. Marino again draws from Suzette Haden Elgin's book, "How to Disagree without Being Disagreeable," this time to help sales managers use presuppositions when handling potentially volatile situations with salespeople.
John Wanamaker, called by one President of the United States "the greatest merchant in America", made the following comment: "You have to run a store that people will feel at home in." That comment contained the very soul of Wanamaker's philosophy about how to run a successful store.
U.S. Customs has implemented a new Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program to increase supply chain and border security.
Without a vision-statement, businesses, organizations, and even countries perish. Not in a dramatic way perhaps, but slowly, inch by inch. It takes more than a vision-statement, of course. It also takes integrity of commitment, excellence, and caring. Step-by-step instructions will help you to create your vision statement in just 35 minutes.
A corporate culture that includes fun, respect for employees and customers have made Jordan's an industry icon.
What are the most common mistakes retail store owners make in the home furnishings industry? Joe Capillo takes a close look at each, and explains how the enlightened manager can avoid certain disaster.
Building a new warehouse is a complex task. Many retailers consider bringing in an outside consultant to manage the process.
Dealer owned Canadian furniture giant packs $3.5 billion worth of purchasing power punch. With more than 70 furniture stores, the furniture division of Home Hardware is poised for rapid growth. In the final part of this series Canadian Scene editor Janet Holt-Johnstone asks Home Furniture members to discuss their advertising and promotion strategies for success.
Dealer owned Canadian furniture giant packs $3.5 billion worth of purchasing power punch. With more than 70 furniture stores, the furniture division of Home Hardware is poised for rapid growth.
Dennis Novosel, President of Stoney Creek Furniture takes you inside his operation so you can see how practices such as intensive employee education and the elimination of traditional commission compensation plans have resulted in better worker morale, higher sales and increased levels of customer satisfaction.
Buying/ marketing groups are becoming more and more common. So is governmental oversight of their activities. Here's how to keep your group out of trouble.
What would happen to your operation if you were shut down by a natural disaster. Here's how Tepperman's reacted when they lost their Chatham, Ontario store to a devastating fire.
Many retailers do not get the maximum value for their advertising dollars. This is especially true when it comes to buying television or radio advertising.
The furniture industry has experienced a “dark age” in print advertising. Happily we are entering a “renaissance” period. Evidence of this rebirth can be seen in an Ethan Allen piece that is, without question, a new benchmark for retailers.
If you ask the right questions and choose a compatible promoter, then you will be that much closer to reaching your sales and business goals.
Janet Holt-Johnston’s annual review of the Trends display is full of display ideas for forward thinking home furnishings retailers.
Larry Mullins presents 26 suggestions to help you start thinking about getting the most out of each advertising dollar.
Fraser Furniture provides “red rose” service in their local, national and international markets. They combine the right people, products, promotion and presentation to support continued rapid growth.
How did Starbucks, come out of nowhere and become the number one destination for coffee in every market they entered? They didn’t try to sell the cheapest coffee in the market. Instead they turned buying coffee into an experience. You can do the same in your stores.
Historic building complements the character of the furniture displayed at McArthur’s.
When your new shipments arrive, do you simply sign for delivery and pay the bill? No. You inspect the merchandise to make sure it is the style, color and quality that you ordered before accepting and finalizing payment. The same should be true for all of your important media purchases.
Those few, those fortunate few, who can exceed customer expectations will win and keep greater market share. Delivering a shopping experience that exceeds customer expectations is doable. It just isn’t easy.
This 45,000 square foot red brick manor house is filled with distinctive upscale furnishings. A visit to McArthur’s is like visiting friends.
Canadian editor Janet Holt-Johnstone ventures offshore to take a close look at a source of diversified new products from Portugal often overlooked by North American furniture retailers.
It takes a lot of hard work to generate a month’s business in a normally dull weekend. Learning the five basic steps to planning a successful promotion is just the beginning. Planning without flawless execution is worthless. The key to success is to engage your team leaders in an organic process of effective communications and mandatory feedback.
For this FURNITURE WORLD study, market research firm Deep Blue Insight used an ethnographic approach that blended an observational component with direct contextual inquiry. Shoppers in Chicago, Atlanta and Greenville, S.C., were interviewed to discover why furniture shopping can seem like more of a battle than the blissful experience retailers hope to create.
Innovative lighting, colors, textures, accessories and furniture display ideas are presented in a fascinating series of 18 oases of color, each a lifestyle fragment.
Celebrities bring in traffic and they can turn a slow weekend into a blockbuster event. Your celebrity doesn’t have to be a rock star, a movie star, or sports hero. He or she should, however, help you sell.
Family keeps close watch on company flourishing in fast growth area.
In this “Enron” age, your advertising has to work harder and smarter to win the trust of prospective customers. If you have a store with great merchandise offers, excellent prices, motivated sales consultants and impeccable service, yet you can’t seem to get your story across, this article will help.
This month, Canadian Editor Janet Holt Johnstone speaks to retailers, economists and forecasters to find trends in demographics, consumer attitudes, the economy and the new Canadian Home Furnishings Awards.
The second of a two part series presents the findings of a recent national study in which furniture buyers were asked how they made decisions about furniture purchases. This installment covers consumer item selection and in-store Experience.
This month, Canadian Editor Janet Holt Johnstone takes a walk around Ontario’s Furniture Village to find out how four related stores are growing.
Larry Mullins starts this article by stating, “If you have a good company and are satisfied, this article is not for you.” He continues to explain how good furniture stores can become great. It starts with finding that one aspect of your business that is your Brand, your ticket to rapid growth and greater returns.
Upbeat market conditions and a history of intelligent marketing keep the “walls from falling down” (again) on this Winnipeg institution.
In this first of two articles, the findings of a recent national study are presented in which furniture buyers were asked how they made decisions about furniture purchases. Included are how consumers plan and research their furniture purchases and how they decide where to shop.
Many merchants make the mistake of assuming that if they keep a direct mail message short, customers will read it. This is just not true. Shown are five steps to producing direct mail pieces that will convince even hard to reach customers to visit your store.
Private sales are a powerful marketing tool because they turn prospects into customers and assist retailers in creating and maintaining a customer database. Planning a private sale may seem easy, but to get
maximum return, a great deal of planning and skillful execution must take place.
Mega Group member Dan Taylor keeps one eye on his business and the other on the next Winter Olympics.
If you think that newspaper advertising isn’t effective, you may want to look at your message. Larry Mullins presents sure fire ways to create messages that are appealing to consumers and differentiated from competitors.
Is it the grueling competitive nature of our industry? In this first article of a series, John Egger looks at reasons why retailers are needlessly driving their own margins ever lower.
Savvy growth strategy and focused promotions are fueling the expansion of this chain of 49 stores with over 2,000 employees.
Television, radio and print media can work together to bring in those customers who need, but are not yet actively shopping for furniture. Newspaper can be used productively if you take the time and make the effort. But you can’t buy $1,000 worth of newspaper space and put $50 worth of effort into creating your message, and expect it to work.
Interviews with retailers attending Canada’s Furniture Market spotlights trends and predictions for 2002 and beyond.
Your salespeople can earn 20%, 30% or even 50% more without working harder or engaging additional customers. It all starts with how they say hello, how they think about why customers visit your store, and how they can truly help customers to get what they want.
There is a long list of furniture stores that stand for nothing in the minds of their customers. Their ads and commercials reflect this lack of identity. Here are ways that you can get your customers to identify your unique brand identity.
Focused advertising and a concentration on home decorating and home improvement give their 60 stores a decided edge.
How is it possible that as many as 25% of potential furniture buyers can’t find what they need or want in our stores? Could it be that our customers want different things than we think they want. Could it be that they don’t care about our store layouts, product selections or current sales?
Adding 11,000 square feet is big news for John Thomson & Son Furniture a family business steeped in a long tradition of exceptional service and value.
In more enlightened companies, employees are exercising much more authority and power. Decisions to satisfy a customer’s problem are made on the spot, rather than waiting for an authorization from some manager who may not be available at the critical moment of customer need. Larry Mullins describes a simple management tool that can help you get the most out every employee.
When there are a thousand reasons why business is slow, it may be time to follow-up on past referrals.
Review of the Milan Furniture Show and spotlight on the unusual synergy among manufacturers, retailers and designers in the Toronto trading area.
In the February/March and April/May issues of FURNITURE WORLD (posted to the Marketing Management Index on furninfo.com), David Middlebrook looked at ways store management can build good customer relationships. This article completes his series by further examining how the best retailers develop relationships with their customers that turn into bottom-line profits.
Five store Schwartz & Company and its owner Irving Schwartz have invested in good customer relationships, local and international philanthropic causes. Now in their 79th year, this retailer has successfully dealt with issues such as succession, expansion and is positioned for growth.
Part 2 of this series examines and expands upon some of the ideas put forth in Britt Beemer’s book “It Takes A Prophet To Make A Profit”. The best retailers are sharpening their tools and checking for leaks, waste and junk. They are inspiring their troops with an upbeat, confident attitude. In addition, they are moving to increase market share.
In the February/ March issue of FURNITURE WORLD David Middlebrook looked at ways store management can build good customer relationships. This installment examines strategies to enhance the perception customers have about the overall quality of your store.
The best retailers are sharpening their tools and checking for leaks, waste and junk. They are inspiring their troops with an upbeat, confident attitude. In addition, they are moving to increase market share.
Canadian editor Janet Holt Johnstone takes a look at the recent Toronto Show with an emphasis on the Trends Display and Trillium Awards.
Retailer Bedroom Concepts uses innovative low cost web advertising to attract customers from their target demographic. These customers are seeking quality product, caring service and a comfortable shopping experience.
If you think that other businesses are bigger, that your competition is looming over your head by increasing their advertising, adding more staff, taking on more lines, don’t panic. Something suffers, and the first thing to go is great personal customer service.
Every time you interact actively or passively with customers, impressions of your store are formed that impact how likely it is that a customer will buy from you now, or ever. How can you control this process to create better, more profitable relationships?
Anthony DaSilva is looking to surround and conquer his market with good planning, focused buying and targeted selling.
A look at what furniture consumers want from the net, for their homes and from their salespeople. Cathy Finney also reviews some current marketing trends and those follow-up sales techniques that are so important to maintain a vital customer base.
If your vision for your company is not vivid and compelling, it will not fly. If you cannot "see" in your mind's eye what it is you want, no one else will see it either. Being a Visionary Leader begins with a vision, but that is only the beginning.
Dennis Novosel is embroiled in an ambitious project to create a home furnishings mall with his Stoney Creek store as anchor. Phase one of four includes 16 home furnishings stores and a restaurant.
Tim Badgley and Dean Howlett built a group of interactive home furnishings stores in the same town connected by their vision and personal touch.
This month, Dan Bolger diverges from his usual format to look at Rotmans Furniture and Carpet, an independent furniture retailer. Rotmans and its customers have recycled over 10,000 pieces of good reusable furniture to the neediest in their community.
The visionary leader must learn these four principles: The principle of visionary leadership; the principle of a visionary mission; the principle of authentic core values; the principle of CCEWIG, or continually confronting everyone with intimidating goals.
Women control 80% of the buying decisions. Single women have been labeled the "yuppies" of the decade. What do they want from their purchasing experience? What is the best way to present information to them? How can you avoid making them angry and getting rEVEnge. These are some of the topics covered in this month's article by Cathy Finney that could also be titled "Gender Buy-Us".
How does one add value? Almost without exception, added value is services. To succeed in the new marketplace, you must out-service your competitors. Is this expensive? No, but it is difficult. Larry Mullins looks at ways you can think about adding priceless value that will convince your customers to buy.
A team of 15 design specialists transformed the look of everything at the six store chain on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. Everything from their logo to delivery vehicles and exterior storefronts got a facelift.
There are many more choices for retailers thinking about using online Yellow Page directories as well as expanded competition among regional print volumes. Here are tips for preparing and running effective ads.
When it comes to mattress advertising, Denver is much like any other city: it is a shark tank. Also, like any other city, almost all the mattress ads look alike. Until now. Kacey Fine Furniture is taking mattress marketing to a new level.
Part 3 of this series examines how changes brought about largely by information technology are causing a power shift in the industry. In this final part (continued from the December/January issue), Sekar Sundararajan continues his discussion of strategies that furniture retailers, manufacturers and suppliers can use to identify potential problems as well as business opportunities.
Since the October 1998 issue, Larry Mullins has treated FURNITURE WORLD subscribers to a detailed analysis of the keys to advertising and promotional success. Many industry retailers have asked for a summary of these cardinal principles which are summarized in this issue.
Not satisfied with their existing store which generates $430 per square foot, Almira Furniture Gallery is building an extraordinary new store. The 17,000 square feet of display space promises to give their customers an extra special sensory shopping experience.
What do your customers really want? What are their greatest fears? How can your salespeople instill confidence in your products and services at the start of the sales process? How can you guarantee that your customers will remain satisfied?
The information revolution has turned the traditional retail model on its head, shifting the center of power from the retailer and manufacturer to the consumer. In this article, Sekar Sundararajan presents strategies that retailers, manufacturers and suppliers can use to identify potential problems as well as opportunities.
Cathy Finney explores the latest trends and forecasts for the home furnishings industry from leading consultants and social commentators.
Ten years ago, how many of your customers had heard of Feng Shui? Today Feng Shui practitioners in North America are brought in to advise corporations, home owners and even studio apartment dwellers. Can you use this design trend to help customers and increase sales?
revolution has turned the traditional retail model on its head, shifting the center of power from the retailer and manufacturer to the consumer. Now is the time to re-evaluate your place in the New Value Chain.
When Dennis Novosel's vision is complete it will include 550,000 Sq. ft. of home related outlets.
There are two big challenges that can confront the retail furniture organization after a major sales event. The first of these is to deal with the "after sales blues" - an emotional let-down that comes over everyone. Second, the CEO must move quickly to capture the knowledge that has been gained during the event.
To be recognized as a leader requires developing a solid marketing message, capturing the attention of your targeted buying audience, and retaining the interest of your buyers. The key to success is to create a message that is relevant, consistent, and compelling.
You either like automated phone answering systems or you don't. Most don't. On the flip side, automated phone systems save a lot of time and money for most businesses. Tthey can lead to a lot of angry customers if not used correctly.
Why do we spend $3-$5.00 for a cup of coffee at Starbuck's? Is the coffee that good? No way! We're paying for the Starbuck's Experience! Your customers want an experience. Engage them in the process as you're helping them. That's what they really want.
Time framing can revolutionize your business life. The simple executive concept of doing one thing at a time in disciplined focus has been lost to many entrepreneurs over the years.
Some interesting trends for the next millennium were showcased at the recent Milan Fair. The theme of Philips' La Casa Prossima Futura was that "The home of the future will look more like the home of the past than the home of the present."
Planning, or the lack of it, can make or break you as a retailer. It is true that "without vision, the people perish." Yet without a plan, a vision is just a dream, simply wishful thinking.
Probably the most important question not being asked by people in our industry, particularly retailers is, what is going to be the impact of the internet on furniture retailing? Most retailers think the that E-tailing on the web is all about price. Furniture.com is taking steps to make selling furniture on the internet all about customer service.
The story of how Robb &: Stucky planned to dramatically increase sales at their Scottsdale location by altering their media mix.
For retailers like Good's, which operates 13 retail stores in southeastern and central Pennsylvania, getting their message into the hands of new movers and getting it there first is important.
There are a number of major consumer motivators that will impact the home furnishings industry through the millennium. These will affect consumer preferences in furniture, design and color.
Kelly Cussons' innovative programs double retail sales in just three years.
Fourth part of a series which presents perspectives on selling furniture over the internet. Included is a discussion of legal issues, protecting brands, plus benefits for conventional retailers, consumers, manufacturers and internet retailers.
People Media are people communicating with other people... saying good things about you, your store and about your merchandise. People Media may be the least expensive, best-kept and most powerful "secret" in retail marketing!
If you want to enjoy an "E-Ticket" in home furnishings excellence, join the hundreds of home furnishings dealers and manufacturers who gawk and stare, laugh and smile at what is surely one of the finest home furnishings stores in the world.
Many furniture dealers don't have up-to-date mailing lists, sophisticated mail-merge programs, or the time or the money to put together personalized letters. In those cases, there are a couple of things you might try when it's time for your next mailing to increase response dramatically.
Home Furniture, with its 70-plus stores has established a program that provides a creative, functional workspace in which customers and sales consultants work together in a relaxed and friendly environment.
Larry Mullins continues his series on media management with a discussion of how to use newspaper, direct mail and radio to maximize the return on your advertising investment.
Too often, home furnishings dealers give away valuable promotional weeks in March, April and May because they believe they can best invest in their communications during Memorial Day weekend and high profile holidays. These dealers are wrong.
Even if the letters screaming SALE! are a foot high, unless people know you and already like your store, they are not likely to respond. Larry Mullins presents some more secrets of writing good ad copy.
The second part of a series which presents perspectives on selling furniture on the internet. This article includes a discussion of fairness, price, the strengths of conventional retailers and a look at what types of consumers are most likely to buy over the internet.
Perspectives about selling furniture on the web from a conventional retailer with a giant web presence.
Sofa: $899. Mattress: $1199. An afternoon with your spouse shopping every furniture store in town: Priceless.
Meaningful Direct Mail Marketing: The final installment in this series presents the results of an extensive consumer research study on consumer buying behavior. It also looks at their implications for your direct mail marketing.
More reasons why you should be allocating advertising dollars to cable. She is watching... so you should be there!
Design oriented retailer helps mid to upper-end consumers create rooms that make each of their homes a 'special place'.
Sales training, promotions and give-aways coupled with a disciplined information collection system can turn gold into platinum.
There are four ways long term customer relationships increase profitability; Repeat sales, Referrals, Recognition, and Recruitment. The total benefit from a complete customer relationship program is greater than the sum of the gains garnered from working on each goal independently.
Barlow and Moller in their book A Complaint is a Gift, tell us to treat this information as a gift and respond to the complaining party as if he or she had given us a gift.
This article, the third in a series on direct mail advertising, outlines the "how to's" of effective and efficient targeting.
According to Larry Mullins, today's advertising is created-for the most part-without regard for the principles that make advertising work. This series of articles looks at the "seven lost secrets" of advertising promotion.
The third article in this series on direct mail marketing looks at ways you can develop an advertising plan and set up a strategy that will ensure the success of your direct mail program.
Today, the potential customer wants to understand leather. Today the potential customer wants to look at how that piece of leather can improve their lives. It is not about what you want to sell, it's about the potential customer.
Retailers in the Toronto area routinely bring their customers to the International Center, a showroom complex houses the permanent showrooms of 80 home furnishings manufacturers. Retailers close the sale in a non-threatening atmosphere where consumers see the manufacturer's entire line.
Sheila McCusker, Director, Strategic Business Development for ADVO, Inc., the nation's largest direct mail marketing company starts a multi-part series on how to efficiently and affordably target relevant ads to those consumers who are most likely to shop in your stores, while avoiding those who are not.
margin? 40%, 42%? How about at least hitting 46%? Could you hit 50%? There are dealers out there who are accomplishing exactly that. How do they do it? According to Lance Hanish, they don't do it by using the newspaper to promote super sales, favorable terms or consumer vacation incentives.
Practicals" side of the table, we have the discussion of what to do for July. On the "Idealist" side of the table we have the discussion regarding the Fall. That's right! It's time to start thinking about how your store looks for the new season.
Canadian Retailer of the year uses sophisticated operations systems, focused training, an innovative product mix and clever promotion to build traffic, keep customers and generate sales.
We have to begin to look inside ourselves and see that we are not reaching the customer through price off and gimmick terms. We have to begin to alter our tactics before the Attorney Generals of the world hammer us for trying to sell the mystic qualities of retail.
This four store chain is piled to the rafters with merchandise, beautifully displayed, cheerfully sold and creatively promoted.
An appropriate exterior concept will tell potential customers who you are and why they should consider shopping in your store.
"Eve-olution" means that the women who purchase home furnishings from you not only buy the brand name... but buy into the brand totally. Lance Hanish this should affect your advertising strategies.
Here are five proven ways to create television commercials that bring customers into your stores. The big question is how to get on television and not look like the used car dealer down the block.
Twenty-one years ago, entrepreneur Dell Texmo was a tenured Professor of English at Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland. Now, her Living Rooms and Dining Rooms stores lure customers in with good food, fine furniture and creative advertising.
Planning for May begins in early February. There is product to buy, there is display to think about and there is an advertising challenge awaiting you. Now is the time to plan. Lance Hanish presents tips for making the right media budget allocation choices and creating the best message to get hoards of customers into your stores.
Back in the '60s, while attending the Harvard School of Retailing, Morris Saffer pioneered the philosophy that "The Store is a Brand". As the Millennium begins to crowd us, the concept has added relevance. Branding makes you stand out from your competition and makes you more important to your customers.
Some of the best Canadian Retailers share information on product trends for 1998 and their forecasts for economic growth.
There is a language that talks to the people in terms they understand... and will accept. There is no word called SALE in that language. Those retailers who have "elemental knowledge" can learn to speak this language. These few can establish their brand and break free of the cycle of the SALE and the NO NO NO.
Are you cutting corners when it comes to consistent and persistent application of your systems? Are you reluctant to automate because your management act isn't together? If you have not automated your customer relations function you ARE leaving money on the table, lots of it.
In his landmark book, BOOM, BUST & ECHO, David Foot offers us the power to anticipate changes, and profit from the coming demographic shift.
Part 3 of a new survey of 25,000
consumers looks at which television shows the people who plan to purchase bedroom furniture and bedding will be watching this quarter.
Carol Goudie discusses cooperative promotion with other retailers, demographics and growing through three generations in the same community.
While it's not a return to burnt orange and avocado shag carpet, the '70s are back as consumer home color trends for 1998 go retro with a softer, more elegant '90s twist.
Part 2 of a new survey of 25,000 consumers looks at which television shows the people who plan to purchase dining room furniture will be watching this quarter.
With 5 new stores this year, Home Furniture gets a 40% return on their targeted direct mail piece and are expanding their in-store video and training programs.
AKTRIN economist Stefan Wille and Canadian retailers voice their concerns, plans and optimism for the coming months.
The event which accompanied their first phase expansion drew 6,000 and increased sales 20% overall.
Larry Wolfe, President of Silverado Furniture, explains how you can help boost your sales by joining the Home Furnishings Council.
A shopping experience that fits products and services to both their customers' bodies and their minds.
The future of retail was unveiled on Memorial Day weekend 1997. Robb & Stucky opened their new colossal store in Arizona... plus how their new advertising message was shot on film, not videotape, processed, color corrected, transferred and edited within sixty hours for air.
If your parking lot is not lighted at night, seriously consider adding lights. However, here is why you shouldn't let anyone talk you into HPS or LPS lamps. Also covered are efficient ways to convert your present outdoor lighting systems.
Tepperman's has expanded into London Ontario with the purchase of the former Patton's Place.
Those crazy people at Turner Broadcasting have suggested that advertisers can shift a significant portion of their prime-time broadcast budgets to basic cable without losing any reach, but gain significant cost savings. Acceptance of this premise will most likely change the cost structure of cable advertising. Now may be the best time to lock up a yearly package with your local cable provider for the coming year.
Custom publishing, an estimated $3 billion business, claims to offer the answer to everything from relationship marketing and fragmentation to added value and customer service, from niche marketing and narrow casting to reaching special consumer groups.
With 11 stores, retailer Brault and Martineau is building and re-building, 45,000 square feet at a clip with aggressive advertising, distinctive locations and promotions that really involve customers.
There just never appears to be enough money around to do the kinds of things that we want to do in advertising. And each year, as media costs increase, we are torn between reducing our advertising, which will surely diminish our return, or match the increased media costs and hope that the increases in sales will allow for an increase in margin.
As this TV season takes shape, NBC has come out on top, but CBS is a close second. Lance Hanish looks at nights and program choices.
"No No's" are becoming redundant. "Sale" is a word out of the past. So are traditional measures of reach, frequency and market share. We need a whole new vocabulary and a new way of reaching the consumer.
Value conscious young west coast families count on Click's staff to be courteous, helpful, friendly and feflective of the store's fun, low-pressure environment.
An update on Gest-Accor, Inc., of Laval, Quebec one of Canada's largest home furnishings and consumer electronics buying groups.
From zero to twenty-two stores and back to two, Bonnie Bickel built a retail chain from the ground up, sold part of it to Molson's and bought it back. She offers tips on attitude, lifestyle and fun the second time around.
Television advertising prices are on the rise... much faster than the rate of inflation. Lance Hanish looks at ways you can create or retain your media presence in this all important medium by taking a proactive approach with your local stations.
Are your furniture customers loyal to you? How would you feel if you could build a relationship with each and every customer and keep selling more furniture while cross selling accessories and other items? If you have a list of your customers, you're already on the way to building one to one relationships... Here's How.
CBS appears to be heading in a direction furniture dealers can support because their traditional viewer base and new fall schedule offer a relative value for retailers who sign up early.
Retailers' frustration born of attempts to deal with rapidly increasing ad costs have spawned sophisticated ad models. These go beyond reach and frequency to the one sure marketing measure that really counts...actual sales
Many home furnishings retailers will not continue to survive as we enter the new Millennium. Lance Hanish looks at ways you can start to design a more effective message that better reaches your target customer.
You can actually increase sales and margins without additional investment by reaching your targets more efficiently. But, your budget has to include new parameters... and it has to rely on frequency rather than reach.
The results of the latest Lance Benefield national consumer study pinpoints product categories consumers will be buying in the next 90 days. It also examines which television shows will most effectively and efficiently reach these consumers with purchase intentions.
More results of the latest Lance Benefield national consumer study which identifies the television shows your customers will be watching if they plan to purchase sofa/sleepers or recliners in the next 90 days.
Home Hardware/Home Furniture recently held an action-packed three day show. FURNITURE WORLD editor Janet Holt Johnstone surveyed the events and attendees about new and effective marketing ideas.
The Retail Council has changed its name to Canada's Home Furnishings Council and has expanded its mission.
Canadian retailers give their predictions for the furniture business in 1997 and share their marketing plans for the coming year.
Leading retailers tell Canadian Scene Editor Janet Holt-Johnstone why their accessory sales are soaring.
Leading retailers tell Canadian Scene Editor Janet Holt-Johnstone why their accessory sales are soaring.
Gest-Accor Inc., of Laval, Quebec, one of Canada's largest home furnishings and consumer electronics buying groups has just completed negotiations with John Gillberry, major shareholder in the venture and his partner, Working Ventures Canadian Fund.
325 years after its founding, the Hudson Bay company is still aggressively promoting, customer focused and bullish on training. Despite reducing the number of their stores that sell furniture, The Bay has simultaneously managed to increase home furnishings sales, market share and margins.
Jim Gabbert, Chairman of Gabbert's Furniture examines the new reality emerging in business today; a growing recognition that we must cooperate to compete.
We all know that furniture shopping, in the minds of the consumer, rates right up there with root canals or income tax audits, and furniture salespeople are on a level with lawyers and used car salesmen. John Case of La-Z-Boy Chair Co. looks at this persistent problem and the obvious solution.
Bernie Moray, President of Gorman's Furniture explains why we are finally seeing more consumer spending on home furnishings.
With this year's growth 70% above expectations, Adele Tosh and Sirous Fozouni are writing a remarkable retail success story.
Hershel Alpert, decided it was time to give Alpert's Furniture, Seekonk, MA, a make-over. The problem: How to take a large monolithic structure and, without extensive renovation, make it stand out in a crowd of similarly large monolithic structures?
Judy George, President of Domain, suggests that if we don't fill in the 'blanks' between consumer needs and their dreams, you can be sure that someone else will.
Bruce Lauritsen, President of Flexsteel Industries postulates that a positive message which concentrates on real needs (other than financing and low prices) can cut through the negative 'noise' of everyday living to make our customers feel good about purchasing furniture for their homes.
Retail home furnishings stores can best satisfy the needs of the typical home theater consumer., yet most will shop electronics stores first. If you are thinking about selling complete home theater, you must first consider screen size, the video source and cabinetry.
The electronics industry didn't. The appliance & beverage industries didn't. The home furnishings industry did. Now we are letting them do it to us again!
There are easy to use interactive display systems on the market that can make selling Home Theater systems a breeze. With touch screen computer monitors, consumers can easily try out systems & get the info. they need to buy.
Are your customers shopping, leaving and buying elsewhere? Also surround sound formats explained.
Most retailers add value to their media buys by using promotions, tie-ins and close associations with various tv and radio stations & print media. Here are other ways you can stretch your media budget.
Looking for a minimum sales increase of 20% this year, Lloyd Schmidt presents his formula for success which includes exclusivity, employee incentives and aggressive customer service.
Robb & Stucky's new 85,000 square foot store is where the art of selling home furnishings into the next millennium has begun. This is one man's vision of how home furnishings can be sold today.
The top 15 signage tips for home furnishings retailers.
Many retailers swear that sale promotions are their best traffic and sales builders. Others insist that the constant deluge of home furnishings sale advertising is killing our industry. Analysis, alternatives and HFC programs that can help, are discussed.
More and more furniture dealers are waking up to the fact that they can reach their audiences more economically and more effectively through television. Here's a plan for building traffic with television during the best time to sell furniture... now!
Robb & Stucky created great expectations with their television ad that ran more than 35 times in a 24 hour period. Consumers who attended their new Orlando store opening were not disappointed.
As traffic continues to dwindle, what should a home furnishings retailer do to get back on track? Here are some traffic building insights and TV deals that can make a big difference.
More than 60 percent of consumers would prefer to purchase their entire home theater system in one place at one time, and conventional electronics retailers generally do a very poor job of meeting the needs of home theater customers. These two facts are creating a fantastic opportunity for home furnishings retailers who know how to market this fast growing category.
Women are the fastest growing audience in televised sport programming. Lance Hanish examines the events that home furnishings retailers should consider as vehicles to carry their advertising messages to female customers. Included is a sneak preview of the premier dates for the fall program line-up.
When customers are put on hold and are forced to wait in silence, 88% hang up. Companies like Haverty's see the 'on hold' experience as an opportunity to build consumer confidence, entertain and inform.
Canadian retailers discuss the techniques they are using to capitalize on the growing home theatre boom.
The first in a series of articles explains how you can sell more home theater if you avoid 'buying into' three big misconceptions. Alternative distribution channels are also discussed.
New HFC data is presented covering: why and when home furnishings consumers enter and exit the market; how much they spend; how many pieces they buy; and what influences their choice of store.
Tips for attracting new home owners, while they still have money to spend.
For the first time in decades, consumers are spending a greater percentage of their disposable income on home furnishings. This article discusses marketing to consumers who are always in or out of the market.
How can you use television to reach working women... busy women... women with money to spend... women who do not have the time to sit around watching Montel Williams, Soaps or The Price is Right? Lance Hanish of Lance Benefield & Co., lays out the times they watch and examines the 'hidden times' this tough to reach but important group can be reached.
Do people read the newspaper anymore? In Vancouver and British Columbia stores like Standard Furniture, 'Please Be Seated' and MacKenzie Furniture say they do.
Canadian retailers in different regions and circumstances use newspaper advertising to generate store traffic.
As television evolves it becomes much more complex and harder to use. The RCA Disk promises to add another layer of complexity to TV advertising. If successful, the disk will make it harder for local retailers to economically use television.
A crucial first impression is made the instant your customers enter your store. It is in that moment that your potential customer begins to confirm his expectations, or doubts about your store's character and identity. One of the most prominent areas that can create a positive impression is the ceiling.
This month's "Media Management' article delves into what makes a woman choose one store over another. A recent survey asked female shoppers what influenced the choice of stores they shopped in most. The data suggests a change in consumer values which has serious implications for many retail advertising programs.
Video Storyboard Tests 1994, conducted a survey in which women were asked what type of TV commercials were most persuasive. The results, which rate a number of categories including the use of children in ads, humor and endorsements, will help you design a message appropriate for your target customer.
Lance Hanish laments the fact that too many home furnishings retailers fail to differentiate themselves from their competition. He also explains how bold retailers can promote their name, rather than brands or prices with great effect.
For retail furniture managers, the rental-purchase industry likely prompts two principal questions: Is this a potential expansion business? Or, is it a competitive threat?
HFC President Robert Nightengale, Jr., explains how you can use design preference questionnaires to qualify customers and make them feel better about buying home furnishings.
HFC President Robert Nightengale, Jr., explains why retail ad programs should be consistent, address an immediate consumer need and be placed in an appropriate media environment.
Media expert Lance Hanish explains how forward looking retailers like Robb & Stucky have used CNN to reach target customers
A hundred years ago, Timothy Eaton knew every one of his customers by name. Now Carl Swan has reorganized Eaton's management to become customer managers rather than store managers... again. and increase sales.
HFC President Robert Nightengale, Jr., presents the ratings figures for key markets and explains how HAVEN starring Joy Philbin can deliver customers to your door.
There are still many retailers across the country who are still showcasing home furniture in an unflattering and unprofitable manner. Here's how to use focal points to entice, excite and entertain your customers.
Canadian Scene editor Janet Holt-Johnstone gives step-by-step instruction on how you can write ad copy that will cause the right customers to come into your store.
Relationship building has to be innovative to attract and hold customers. Here are two ideas that can help you build lasting relationships.
Does the fact that 50% of consumers surveyed prefer to get their information from hang tags or signs mean that they don't trust salespeople? Maybe, but not definitely. Your salespeople can be "points of trust."
If you can fine-tune the character and identity of your stores you can attract and maintain increased market share. Several strategies, which include using, store/family history, merchandise selection, design concept and color are presented.
Lance G. Hanish explains how you can make sure your television commercial is shown the next time Madonna makes a "big scene" on the Late Show Starring David Letterman.
One of the best ways to get to know who your customer is, who they are not, what kinds of products and services they want and what kind of an image you really have, is to conduct focus group sessions. Here are some pointers from Canadian retailers who routinely use this marketing tool.
Many retailers use their computer systems to track inventory and handle point of sale... but if you aren't using your database software to expand your marketing effort, you are wasting a significant part of the investment you made in your computer system.
When your customer chooses a sofa today, the process (which often takes months) has concluded for the moment, but the final decision was influenced by many overt and even a few covert factors.
Lance G. Hanish explains which sports programming will give you the maximum return on your advertising investment.
Our customers want the best prices, good information and to shop at a store they trust.
Retailers willing to take advantage of a tremendous opportunity should seriously consider incorporating Home Theater displays into their existing strategic marketing programs.
Lance G. Hanish explains why cable television is better than you might think
Your customers have heard that margins on furniture are outrageous. They want to know all about your business... but what do you tell them? How do you establish the value of your products and services?
This 90 year old furniture retailer doesn’t care to follow trends. Instead, Critelli’s specializes in helping customers find exactly what they’re looking for within a comfortable budget.
Something like a sanctuary, a gallery of solutions, the retail space can be a paradise found for customers. Many times it isn’t.
The art is in building a bridge from the initial sale by persuading your customer how accessories will fit into their home... completing it and marking it with their own individualized signature.
Farmore Interiors has developed a lucrative relationship with companies that build and develop high-end properties in the Scottish golfing obsessed town of St. Andrews.
Profile of Canadian retailer James Reid Limited that has big plans to celebrate their 300th anniversary in 2154!
Things have changed since the days when furniture was designed by men, built by men, sold wholesale by men to men, and eventually sold at retail by men to women. But the “grass is still greener” for women in other industries and there’s still a lot for furniture “men” to learn.
The best quality, value and service is more than a promise - it's a commitment.
Now, there appears to be a new awareness among furniture retailers of the importance of furnishing new rooms vs. just selling new products.
Pierre & Andre combine pragmatism with retail know-how in the 2005 display.
Aggressive furniture export programs, an emphasis on design, product quality and a China connection, spur fast growth.
There is a new paradigm for bringing leaders up through the ranks of our retail rganizations. It is based on the Metavalues® of integrity, excellence and caring and includes an entirely new way of teaching these attributes. Larry Mullins continues to look at how the best furniture stores develop leaders.
A fifth generation furniture business provides innovative home furnishings services in their landmark London building and on their website at www.kingsmills.com.
Larry Mullins describes 12 great ways to help you and your customers remember what makes your store unique. What does your brand have that all the others don’t?
Ontario’s largest furniture store occupies an entire city block with over 80,000 square feet of showroom space.
Malaysian companies are shedding their low-end image as they upgrade processes, brand their products and embrace cutting edge design.
Federated, Norwalk, AMI/ Furniture Leaders Members, K’s Merchandise and others use electronic course to efficiently educate salespeople.
A special supplement that reports on how the Singapore furniture industry has focused on stability, cost containment through outsourcing, and branding cutting edge products for export.
Huge retail chains and big box stores have monster budgets and corporate ad departments to work with. Out-advertise them in 2006 by buying right and working on your message. Larry Mullins explains how to create effective messages that will attract customers who are already in the market to buy.
Purchasing from all domestic sources, this retailer focuses on quality, selection, customer service and education to achieve competitive advantage.
Larry Mullins looks at how independent retailers with certain strengths can use proven advertising principles to out-advertise giant retailers.
A three-store Ethan Allen franchise achieves dramatic growth rates by providing a high level of customer service. After their recent acquisition of an under-performing store in Annapolis, MD, they doubled the monthly comp sales in only five months with the same staff of designers.
Top 10 furniture exporter has advantages in natural resources and labor, but faces major challenges in 2006.
This is the final installment in a three part series on advertising and event planning. It tells how the management of Hineline Furniture, a 30,000 sq. ft. showroom with a limited ad budget in a small community, planned and executed a promotion that exceeded their wildest expectations.
Great display ideas from the Trends 2006 display, created by designers Pierre D’Anjou and Andrè Caron.
A ten-page editorial section(pdf)from the June/July 2006 issue of FURNITURE WORLD Magazine.
Retailer uses high traffic website to drive customers into stores.
This article is about a new, innovative approach: Blue Ocean marketing. Blue Ocean is about using your time and imagination to create uncontested market space that will make the big boxes and other competitors irrelevant.
Higher-end home furnishings retailer La Gallerie du Meuble celebrates their 50th anniversary with
champaign, mentoring and design competitions.
A three-store Ethan Allen franchise achieves dramatic growth rates by providing a high level of customer service and focusing on having fun. After their recent acquisition of an under-performing store in Annapolis, MD, they doubled the monthly comp sales in only five months with the same staff of designers.
Schedule of educational and networking events for the October show.
A continuation of Larry Mullins’ excellent article on Blue Ocean innovations. In this issue, he details a Blue Ocean plan for a shop-at-home program.
Canadian Editor Janet Holt-Johnstone looks at how retail giant Home Furniture boosts traffic with cross marketing and innovative advertising.
A new series by Martin Roberts of GRID2 explains how your store can stand for something your customers can identify with and just as easily identify. In that respect, you can be more like the power-brand lifestyle stores, Crate& Barrel, Pottery Barn, and Restoration Hardware.
The Furniture Bank started by Gorin’s Furniture is a charitable effort that meshes well with their core business and is a PR boon as well as a raison d'être. This article shows how they did it and why it was worth the effort.
This is the first article in a six-part series on how direct response
marketing techniques can achieve specific, traceable and cost effective results.
The first in a series of articles that looks at sustainable furniture, ethical furniture and organic furniture retailing.
Your customers want to know what is unique about your store and why they should buy from you... and it’s not cheap prices! That’s why it is time to develop and formalize Unique Selling Propositions you can use to attract your important target customer groups.
The relationship of the Big Box stores to independent furniture retailers can be compared to predator and prey. Neither can survive or remain strong without the other. Understanding this relationship can help you to gain competitive advantage and out maneuver the competition.
Part 1 - Dr. Rapaille’s Culture Code ideas can be used to lift home furnishings advertising and point-of-purchase efforts to new levels of cost-effectiveness.
The second in a series of articles that looks at sustainable furniture, ethical furniture and organic furniture retailing. ABC Furniture is unique in its comprehensive approach to ethical furniture retailing and savvy marketing.
Understanding the relationship between independent furniture retailers and the Big Box stores can help you to gain competitive advantage. It is one thing to intellectualize about the “survival” tension between predators and prey that helps stores remain quick, lean, and healthy. It is quite another to focus on increasing your agility and efficiency so that you can remain toward the front of your pack.
Dr. Rapaille’s Culture Code ideas can be used to lift home furnishings advertising and point-of-purchase efforts to new levels of cost-effectiveness. This article will show you how to “Five Sense” your store, brainstorm ideas with your staff and sort out these ideas to come up with the best ways to appeal to your target customers.
Part 3: How signage, graphics and environmental elements optimize communication and create an enhanced shopping experience
The third in a series of articles that looks at sustainable furniture, ethics and organic furniture retailing. Three bedding retailers share their views on sustainable marketing. The new sustainable foams are discussed as is the problem of child labor in rug
production.
Here’s a technique that can help you to demand higher prices, become an expert in your marketplace, create a relationship with customers and make them feel guilty for shopping at the competition.
Support your brand building efforts with the biggest, most permanent billboard available - your store’s exterior.
How new approaches to advertising can win friends, influence customers and make you money at a time of information overload.
Even if you don’t speak Spanish and don’t have any bilingual staff, you can boost traffic and sales by addressing the growing and affluent Hispanic or Latino market.
London based retailer creates and maintains a well deserved image through quality products, facilities and marketing.
Targeting your message to "Boomers" and "Seniors" because that's where the buying power is.
So IKEA just announced it’s coming to your town next Fall. Great, just enough time to plan your “Going Out of Business Sale”. Hey, with the soft economy and your shrinking margins, the opening of a 400,000 square-foot IKEA store should just about sound the death knell on your business future, right?
Seven ways are presented to keep your store looking fresh and make your offerings more relevant... on a budget!
Retailer finds that having a small showroom isn’t a hindrance to sales success. INSIDEOUThomestore reaches out to customers using marketing and innovative programs to literally turn their store inside-out.
Informative and humorous look at the ways our male dominated industry is missing out on really connecting with our target customers.
Retailer uses light and entertaining radio commercial format to promote a “Shop?North America”, environmental and quality message.
Direct mail is proving to be more and more effective, even while traffic and sales slump for most furniture retailers. If, however, you find that your direct mail results are flagging, read this article for tips and techniques that are guaranteed to improve your returns.
Larry Mullins explains how to effectively
use new, inexpensive, uncluttered, media to
reach the public and tell your story. He does a post mortem on those pervasive Big Box ads and provides tips to help you to make your ads really pull.
Digital communication is changing marketing as we know it. Old marketing assumed that someone was watching your commercials and reading your ads. Many furniture retailers are bombarding customers with weak and hastily prepared advertising messages, but you don’t have to.
Janet Holt-Johnstone reviews fourteen “Trends” displays, each having a different visual ambience presented to offer retailers ideas for the benefit of “needy” customers.
The Traffic Guys provide recession proof ideas for building traffic by using mailings directed to “be-back” and “lost” customers.
Space in “Building C” will present futons, sofa sleepers, specialty bedding and related home furnishings accessories.
Google has empowered any home furnishings retailer who wants to uncover and/or create revenue opportunities by installing Google Analytics on his or her website. Here are the top ten ways you can use analytics to generate more offline sales from your online efforts.
People Media™ begin at the top. Your store’s Brand begins with your own personal Brand. All of us have a Brand. You cannot fake it. Here are easy and inexpensive tips for using People Media on your website, on your sales floor, in your direct mail and even at the point of delivery.
Once customers walk in the front door of Decorium, this retailer’s focus is on engaging them and keeping them focused on the home furnishings buying process.
Some quick steps you can take to refresh your store and give it some new energy for about $20 per square foot.
Series explores the physiology of sleep, value promises and how to convey these messages at the point of sale. Plus, bonus sales techniques that will help any sales associate to make more sales.
Examples of how some furniture entrepreneurs are turning the tide in a negative business climate.
Renate Karger is racking up the sales in a small footprint store by creating a unique brand and an innovative shopping experience.
Solidify your customer base, energize your sales force, attract a new generation of buyers and generate revenue in a number of innovative ways.
It isn’t time to do blanket price promotion or a large-scale top of mind advertising awareness campaign. So what should you do?
That’s good news if your store exterior and front entrance convey your brand identity and set the stage for the shopping experience to come.
For these retailers, sustainable retailing is more than a marketing slogan. It is an ongoing process of self improvement.
Larry Mullins looks at four wasteful assumptions most home furnishings have, that tend to hobble their advertising and marketing efforts.
Three savvy Canadian retailers, Paul Dekker, Steve Forberg and Dennis Novosel, look at ways to survive and thrive in a tough economy.
A digital marketing strategy utilizes social media tools to help you to connect with, listen to, and engage directly with consumers.
You made a big mistake and purchased too much inventory? Tell your customers about it and give them reasons why your store offers great deals that differentiate your promotions from other sale price advertising.
Even in tough times, sports promotions, incentives and creative marketing can attract interest and retail traffic.
SMS text messaging is the single most widely used data application on the planet. Retailers like Ashley Home Stores have already had some success using it. Here’s how you can start using this inexpensive and effective new media ad tool.
This article is for those folks who are determined to use newspaper advertising in their media mix.
Old media techniques broadcast a campaign that is the same for everyone. Here’s how to target specific groups with messages they want to see, when they want to see them.
This article tells the story of a furniture store owner in St. Augustine who used fresh tactics to beat last year’s numbers in November, December, and January. How he did it is instructive and worth your attention.
Suggestions for actions you can take right now to improve performance. Prepare for the new retail reality that will emerge as the economy heals from this deep recessionary funk.
Trends Display highlights ways to make furniture stand out while on a budget.
Retail furniture store managers can maximize advertising performance by creating Powerful, Irresistible Offers. This can be done by directly addressing the emotional connection customers have that relate to your products, and by including fun offers such as incentives and premiums. This winning combination works much better than just focusing on cheap price promotion.
Part 1: Research identifies three trends that were transforming the luxury home furnishings market - even before the recession hit. Researcher Pamela Danziger looks at data from Unity Marketing's Home Furnishings & Décor Report and more recent tracking studies. In the August/September issue of FURNITURE WORLD Magazine she will translate the data into information that furniture executives can use to find a pathway to future success.
New concept store uses “zones” to reflect international trends and help consumers envision their personal fashion statements. Zilli conducted in-depth surveys that revealed that consumers were eager for new shopping experiences. They wanted something more “interesting, different, unique, even exotic, inspiring, uplifting, fun, beautiful, enticing.” Zilli seeks to be all that.
Researcher Pamela Danziger translates the data presented in the first part of this series into information that furniture executives can use to find a pathway to future success.
Now is the time to convert expensive, weak retail advertising into highly productive, cost effective efforts using the internet.
Two chains (Mig and Tig, and Mortise and Tenon), plus four partners on the leading edge of retail.
Part 1 of this three part series looks at alternatives retailers have to just cutting back expenses in these tough times. Instead, Larry Mullins suggests ways to become a Market Leader and leave sleeping competitors behind.
The right way to connect to potential customers, whether through advertising or in person, is to tell the customer’s story. Now, you’re probably wondering, “How can I tell the customer’s story? Here’s how.
This is the day of the tribe, the day of community and the day of meaningful connections. The old era of the big company, with the big CEO in the big private office, hiding out behind big T.V. ads is just about over as a viable way of doing business.
Part 2 of this three part series looks at alternatives retailers have to just cutting back expenses in these tough times. Instead, Larry Mullins suggests ways to become a Market Leader and leave sleeping competitors behind.
Ruminations on the future of furniture retail and the internet. Continued from August/September FURNITURE WORLD.
This is the second in a series on how to take a leadership position in the new decade by creating tribal loyalty among your customers.
The third and final installment in this series explains how you can get way out front of your competition by working to deliver uncompromising Integrity, Excellence, and Caring.
Three furniture retailers in areas of high unemployment are enthusiastic about doing lots more business in 2010.
Changes in retail and wholesale distribution, the formation of large scale furniture exhibitions and the last depression period of the 19th century helped to shape the way we do business today.
This is the third in a series on how to take a leadership position in the new decade by creating tribal loyalty among your customers.
Learn to deliver the four “magic” sentences that will relieve your customer’s pain and you will sell more home furnishings... lots more.
IP issues arise internally when creating and protecting your catalogues, websites, advertisements, and trademarks. External concerns over knock-offs, competitive advertising, and improper trademark use are omnipresent in this highly competitive industry.
This short series of articles delves into the process of creative thinking, gets into some more practical guidelines for fostering creativity in your organization, and ends with an 8-step process for monetizing your creative efforts.
Discover how to start using the principles presented in the first part of this series to create a Unique Selling Proposition)and set a new wave of profitable business into motion for very little cost.
This short series of articles delves into the process of creative thinking, gets into some more practical guidelines for fostering creativity in your organization, and ends with an 8-step process for monetizing your creative efforts.
Discover how to start using the principles presented in the first part of this series by making sure that you address the “WHAT” factor in your advertising and other customer communications.
FURNITURE WORLD’s retail readers share their stories of survival, growth and service. Due to overwhelming response, this series that began in the March/April 140th year anniversary issue, will be continued into 2011.
The final article of the “Sell Lots More" series will divulge the game-changing link that ties everything together, the Why? Factor.
FURNITURE WORLD’s retail readers share their stories of survival, growth and service. Due to overwhelming response, this series that began in the March/April 140th year anniversary issue, will be continued into 2011. This time Art Van, Decorium, Stickley and Gorman’s are featured.
This is the first part in a series that looks at how retailers can sell more higher-end bedding. In this issue, we define the luxury bedding category, present information on customer demographics and start to look at what experts say about best sales practices.
Some say that the major “S” mattress brands have lost the high ground in branding and advertising to Tempur-Pedic. Should they be concerned? Larry Mullins thinks so.
This series of articles will share with you direct response strategies utilizing “New Media” marketing to nurture prospects and turn them into long time customers.
A regularly scheduled Web TV show will make it easy for you to communicate decorating tips, introductions, new service offerings, and best sellers. Mike Root provides step-by-step instructions on how to get started.
FURNITURE WORLD’s retail home furnishings store readers share their stories of survival, growth and service. This series that commemorates Furniture World’s 140 year of publishing, continues with interesting stories from retailers Arte de Mexico, Conway Furniture and Mattress Giant.
Retail furniture stores are different than other retail formats, but we can and should learn from the best practices of good retailers in other industries. Gordon Hecht identifies mindsets about credit, consumer buying behavior, inventory management and recruiting that furniture retailers should be thinking about.
Congratulations if you already have a Facebook page, but last year’s Facebook page just won’t get you the results you need. Here are Step by step instructions on how to turn your Facebook presence into more business.
This month, our series on how to sell more higher-end bedding continues with additional ideas to help you and your salespeople create a focused and consistent marketing approach. See what the experts say about shifting the emphasis away from price by creating a plan for advertising, approaching customers, greeting them and asking appropriate questions to advance the sale.
A private label credit card may not be a viable choice for every furniture dealer. However, the advantages of these programs make them well worth considering.
Create a killer mix of media that will leverage maximum sales and profits.
A great way to get your direct mail opened & read -- 3D Mail.
The top 7 New Year’s resolutions for 2012 that can help to build your business.
Part 2: Consider a Total Makeover. Start with zero assumptions about media and about your store.
Retailers share interesting stories of growth, hardship and their strategies for success.