Following Best Sales Year Ever, Wilcox Furniture Liquidates
Furniture World News Desk on
5/20/2021
At the height of its success, Wilcox Furniture decided to cease operations, sell its showrooms, and liquidate. George Moore, CEO at Wilcox Furniture speaks about the principles Wilcox Furniture was founded on and the reasons why the four-store Texas retail operation made this decision.
68 Years of Success
“Bill Wilcox founded Wilcox Furniture in 1953,” said Moore, “based on principles that included buying the right furniture at the right price, passing the savings on to his customers, and delivering quickly. It’s the basic mantra we carried through from that point forward.”
Wilcox grew from one location to four locations in that 68-year history. “I took over the organization in 1992. The original store was a 5,000 square foot Quonset hut, leftover as surplus from World War II. The store was rebuilt on poor-quality blacktop. Wilcox put everything he had into that building. Since it’s hot here in Corpus Christi, the furniture would sink a little bit into the blacktop during the summer months.
“I’m sure it was a curious shopping experience, but the net result was low overhead. Everybody at the furniture markets knew Bill Wilcox because he always wore a trench coat and carried a massive binder with specific furniture details including measurements, construction, and costs down to the penny. Having this encyclopedic information at his fingertips helped him to get the best prices and sell at the right prices.
“It was that diligence and the concepts he developed back in the 50s that have carried us forward to the present day. Wilcox Furniture now has two stores in Corpus Christi, one in Kingsville and another in Rockport, Texas.
“Wilcox was an early technology innovator,” Moore continued, “We were one of the first furniture retailers to have wireless devices on the floor so that the employees could check stock with tablets and scanners versus having to run to a computer. This helped us to shorten the shopping window for consumers, saving them time and be more competitive. We delivered 70 percent of our merchandise within 24 hours which was another key aspect of our success.
The Decision to Liquidate
Moore recalled that Mr. Wilcox worked through his 95th birthday and passed away in 2015 at the age of 100.
“None of his children, who are in their 70s and 80s,” he added, “were active in the business. Recently they decided to liquidate.
“2020 was our best sales year ever, so we were able to negotiate a purchase with Bel Furniture in Houston. The purchase will give them 19 stores. Bel is an aggressive organization that’s growing quickly. Since their merchandise lineup isn’t the same as ours, they decided that it would be easier for them to take over empty stores.”
The Liquidation Process
“I looked at a number of companies to handle the inventory liquidation and the last day before I was going to make the decision, I received an email from Clay Wahlquist at Wahlquist Management. It was purely coincidental, out of the blue. Clay Wahlquist immediately drove down to meet with us.
“It’s an unusual situation because our business is in excellent shape from a cash perspective and sales have been strong. We decided to get help with the inventory liquidation because we had never done a sale like this and didn’t know what to expect. Clay agreed to bring in his people, handle the advertising and guarantee the margins we requested.
The timing was perfect. “If I could die and go to heaven and had to do a GOB,” Moore said, “I would set it up so that it would be done during tax time after a cute two trillion-dollar stimulus payment sent out to the public and at a time when inventory availability was limited. All these elements for success came together and we are having a very successful event.
“I’m reminded of a television commercial I saw during the dotcom boom,” he recalled, “that featured eight people standing around in a one-room office waiting for their first Internet order. When the first order came in everybody started high fiving. Then, suddenly, they got 250,000 more orders in the next five minutes. Their worst nightmare!
“That is a bit like our liquidation experience. We did about two million dollars in 10 days. That was eight to 10 times our normal volume in a short period.
“Thankfully everybody here rallied together and we got it pushed out the door. We did so much volume we decided to take four days off to regroup, do a physical inventory and let the dust settle. That helped us to reorganize and get ready for the next round. We anticipate being totally empty by the end of May so that Bel Furniture will be able to take over.”
End Game
“After it’s all over, I’m going to need furniture therapy. I’ve been here 29 years and I appreciate the relationships we’ve developed with companies like Franklin, Restonic, HomeStretch, Crown Mark, Steve Silver, Coaster, Powell, Best, Bassett, Flexsteel, Vaughan Bassett, Milton Green Stars, New Classic and also Gerald Washington who founded Washington Furniture, National Furniture and had spin offs incorporating the same quick delivery concept with guys like Jim Snead at Affordable Furniture.
It’s been a great experience dealing with factories that have a passion for producing great furniture. We’ve never had to worry about the quality or reliability of the furniture Wilcox Furniture has sold over the years.
“Closing down is sad in that sense because we're gonna miss seeing everybody at High Point. But we are glad that we sold our store locations to Bel Furniture because they are very interested in bringing our staff into their organization. It’s a win-win situation for them because the people who work at Wilcox Furniture are conscientious, care about their customers, and do what it takes to get the job done.”
For more information on Wahlquist Management Corporation, contact Clay W. Wahlquist
CEO, Little Rock, AR 72223 • 800.982.2375 • clayww@wahlquistmanagement.com •
http://www.wahlquistmanagement.com