Despite Upheaval In Furniture Industry And Slugglish Economy, Cory Home Delivery Continues Aggressive Growth

Furniture World Magazine

Despite a sluggish economy and its impact on an industry undergoing significant change, CORY Home Delivery, one of the largest and oldest specialized carriers in America, continues to grow at rapid pace. The company is on track to increase annual revenue to $100 million by the end of 2005. The secret to the home delivery company’s success: consistent top service — and strategic partnering with major national brand furniture and appliance retailers. These alliances have resulted in CORY’s adding new business that includes Thomasville, Haynes Furniture, and B & B Italia, among others, to its lengthy client list, as well as serving new locations for Ethan Allen, Best Buy, and Circuit City. Announcement of the new business awards was made recently by Chairman Joseph Cory, Sr. “We are humbled to be in this favorable position in these challenging economic times,” says Joe Cory. “The far-reaching changes and expansions now underway in the furniture industry are the most significant we have experienced in our 70-year history. To keep pace, CORY has set in motion an aggressive strategy, adding major new clients that fit our model for growth.” To remain competitive, he says, explaining the prevailing disposition of the industry, most major domestic furniture manufacturers have moved production overseas to China and Southeast Asia. To help ensure that distribution channels stay open and to keep product moving, they have opened retail branded stores through licensees and franchisees. “Enterprising manufacturers are ensuring they will have solid distribution channels well into the future,” says Joe Cory. “At the same time, they face challenges on the retail side that include developing successful model programs for licensees and franchisees.” That need has created a real demand for efficient, cost-effective home delivery service at the back end of the business, which CORY, a veteran home delivery provider, is groomed for and is well prepared to meet. “We have the knowledge and experience to ensure that licensee and franchisee owners will be successful when it comes to home delivery and warehousing,” says Joe Cory, noting the company has a longstanding track record in working with such dealers, even if they are new to the furniture business. “We have been working with an Ethan Allen dealer in New Jersey for more than 40 years,” he says. “By partnering with companies such as Ethan Allen and Thomasville, we work side by side with retailers to make their stores successful.” Utilizing new logistics models is also part of CORY’s aggressive strategy in working with licensees and franchisees. The company now partners with a major LTL furniture carrier to provide total logistics solutions for both manufacturers and storeowners. CORY can have the furniture picked up at the port of entry or the domestic manufacturing plant and delivered to any one of its warehouses, where it is received and scanned into inventory. CORY then takes care of all of the back-end operations, including prepping, deluxing, scheduling and confirming delivery with the customer, and executing blanket-wrap delivery into the home with white-glove service. The transition to overseas manufacturing has mandated the need for precision and efficiency in the way furniture is handled, Joe Cory observes. “The future of the business rests with just-in-time delivery. Instead of shipping from inventory, furniture more and more is going from the manufacturer to the consumer through a cross-dock model,” he says. “With product coming in from abroad, there is less space required for warehousing and a greater need to ensure that it moves through the system quickly and cleanly because the manufacturer is unable or unwilling to accept returns if something is wrong.” In the past, manufacturers were able to offer a very liberal return policy, he notes. Since manufacturing now takes place overseas, such a policy is no longer possible, which puts greater emphasis on the ability to open, inspect, effect minor repairs, and prep the furniture for delivery. “In the new manufacturing model, there is simply no room for error,” he adds. “What CORY does best is eliminate errors, which requires that the product is handled properly and that the delivery is made right the first time, every time.” So profit margins do not disappear, the process works best when the furniture is shipped to the warehouse, delivered in a time-efficient manner, and sticks in customers’ homes without returns, exchanges, or any post-delivery service calls. “Retail and home delivery are two completely different businesses,” concludes Joe Cory. “Very few retailers are good at both. Our role is to help expanding retailers do what they do best — sell furniture — by doing what we do best — home delivery. It’s a win-win situation.” The oldest and largest specialized home delivery carrier in America, CORY Home Delivery, founded by Joseph Cory in 1934, today is in its third generation of family management. Currently headed by sons Joseph Cory, Sr. and James Cory, the company has grown to serve major retailers in the home furnishings, electronics, and appliance markets. Its list of more than 50 clients includes top retailers such as Rooms To Go, Ethan Allen, Thomasville Home Furnishings, Carson Pirie Scott, Crate&Barrel, Best Buy, Circuit City, and Home Depot. Based in Jersey City, CORY serves markets throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. The company dispatches a modern fleet of 300 customized delivery vehicles daily and owns and operates more than one million square feet of warehouse space. For more information, call Patrick Cory in Jersey City at 201-795-1000, extension 240, or visit the CORY Home Delivery Service Web site at www.corycompanies.com.