Furniture Stores To Benefit From Creation Of New Welcome Wagon

Furniture World Magazine

Furniture stores will be among the first businesses to benefit from the integration of two advertising companies - Welcome Wagon and Getting to Know You - who have joined together to create the new Welcome Wagon, the nation's largest direct advertiser to new homeowners, the company announced. According to a recent survey', 60 percent of new homeowners will make a furniture purchase during the first year in their new home. "It is extremely important that furniture stores reach out to new homeowners in their community for two reasons," said Joel Zychick, president of Welcome Wagon. "First, 60 percent of new home owners will seek out their services in the first year. Secondly, when families move to a new community, they tend to pick furniture stores and stick with them for as long as they live there. There's a small window of opportunity to turn new neighbors into long-term customers. Welcome Wagon helps make that happen." Welcome Wagon currently works with more than 875 furniture stores and more than 65,000 merchants nationwide. With this integration, Welcome Wagon will be helping these businesses reach more new homeowners precisely at the moment those families develop new buying habits. Furniture stores that have advertised with Getting to Know You or Welcome Wagon in the past can expect a number of positive changes in the program. Welcome Wagon will be sending a welcoming package to more new homeowners than before, approximately 1.4 million this year. In the package, furniture stores can be a part of the Welcome Wagon Local Address Book, which is filled with the names of local or national businesses of interest to new homeowners. To ensure its use, the address book has room left over for the addresses of friends and family. Another option is to insert a direct advertising piece in the package in the form of a valuable gift certificate that prompts a first visit. In addition to its welcoming package, Welcome Wagon creates custom programs for advertisers by mining its database of new homeowners - the largest and most up-to-date ever created, with hundreds of thousands of new names added each month. Welcome Wagon has also launched a Pre-Mover program that puts local and national advertisers in front of consumers before they move. "According to the National Association of Home Builders, 17 percent of households move each year," said Zychick. "That is a highly lucrative market to tap into. In fact, new homeowners spend more during the first six months in their new home than an established homeowner spends in five years. That's why we are seeing so many local businesses, franchises and national companies jumping on board the Welcome Wagon." "On behalf of our advertisers, we can target customers before, during or after they move - something no other company can boast," said Zychick. "We have little doubt that the new Welcome Wagon is one of the leading advertising tools for furniture stores nationwide, and we are looking forward to proving that every day." More information on Welcome Wagon is available by contacting the company at (800) 77-WELCOME or http://www.welcomewagon.com. Welcome Wagon is the oldest and largest direct advertiser to new homeowners in the nation. Since 1928, Welcome Wagon has put tens of thousands of local and national businesses in touch with tens of millions of new homeowners. Welcome Wagon has 1,100 employees and operates in 48 states. Welcome Wagon is a division of Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD), one of the world's foremost providers of consumer and business services with more than 40,000 employees and operations in more than 100 countries. Through its Real Estate Services segment, Cendant is the largest franchisor of residential real estate brokerage offices, a major provider of mortgage services to consumers and a global leader in corporate employee relocation.   Welcome Wagon Fact Sheet Welcome Wagon is the nation's leading direct advertiser to new homeowner's: Since 1928, Welcome Wagon has put tens of thousands of local and national businesses in touch with more than 70 million new homeowners - at the precise moment that those families are developing new buying habits. Welcome Wagon has 1,100 employees operating in 48 states. Where: Welcome Wagon, 115 South Service Road, Westbury, NY 11590, 516 333 9400 (phone), 516 338 4986 (fax) (800) 77-WELCOME http://www.welcomewagon.com Environment: 17% of households move each year, according to the National Association of Home Builders. New homeowners spend more in the six months following a move than they will spend in the next five years Welcome Wagon Pre-Move Planner: Booklet forwarded to confirmed movers across the country. A valuable tool for industries such as banking, telecommunications, real estate, moving and storage. The booklet includes check-lists and information designed to help make moves smoother transitions. Topics include: choosing a community, financial planning, planning the move, decorating, insurance and preventive maintenance. Welcome Wagon Address Book: Sent to 1.4 million recently relocated families annually, the Welcome Wagon Address book helps acquaint new movers with their communities by including listings of, and special savings from local business and professionals. Hotline Mailing Lists: Specialized mailing list of more than 275,000 new homeowners who have purchased a home in the U.S. and Canada in the last two to eight weeks. A database of 3.2 million names from the last 12 months is also available. Welcome Wagon's Hotline Mailing Lists have been verified by Harte-Hankes Market Research as the most complete, accurate list of its kind available. Parent Company: Welcome Wagon is a division of Cendant Corporation (NYSE:CD), one of the world's leading providers of consumer and business services with more than 35,000 employees and operations in more than 100 countries. Through its Real Estate Services segment, Cendant is the largest franchisor of residential real estate brokerage offices, a major provider of mortgage services to consumers and a global leader in corporate employee relocation. Contact: Scott Shapiro Schneider Integrated Communication (606) 253 9550; scott@schneiderintegrated.com