Retail Profile: Scan Design

Furniture World Magazine

When Preben and Lis Knudsen opened their first Scan Design furniture store on April 04,1969, it was just down the street from Winter Park Mall and surrounded by orange groves, Levitz was the leading furniture store in town, and popular department stores included Ivey's, Jordan Marsh and the original Jacobson's. Much has changed in the intervening four decades. The Winter Park Mall and those other businesses are long gone, and Scan Design left that small building on Orlando Avenue on Valentine's Day of 1974. Unlike many of its contemporaries, Scan Design is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. That is a considerable milestone for any independent family-owned business, and one of particular note for the fickle furniture industry. Against incredible odds, this business took root in the Orlando area somewhat by chance. Scan Design Arrives in Central Florida Before moving to Miami in the late 1960s from the Danish furniture capital of Torring (population 1,000), the Knudsens had never visited the United States and Preben jokes that all he knew about Miami was "that it was in the U.S." Preben, who already had a prestigious career in the furniture business although he was only in his early twenties, had taken a job working for a Miami furniture store called Jensen and Hansen. After two years, he decided to chart his own course and looked for a market outside of South Florida where he could introduce his vision of contemporary furniture. Not only was Orlando a growing city, it was to become the site of Walt Disney World. It was also the least expensive airline ticket available, a major consideration because the Knudsens had very little money at the time. So, Preben took his meager Christmas bonus and was off to Orlando, although he had never visited the city and had no idea where to locate his new store. "I asked the young woman at the airport car rental counter 'where would be a good place to open a new furniture store'" Preben recalls. "She said she wasn't sure, but that she'd heard about Park Avenue in Winter Park being very nice with many stylish shops, so that's where I headed." After driving down Park Avenue and making a wrong turn, Preben happened across a 4000-square-foot building on Orlando Avenue in Winter Park, and that is where Scan Design was born. After much deliberation and some advice from a German friend in Miami, they decided to name the store Scan Design. "We wanted to call it Scandinavian Design, but he told us that in America shorter was better," Preben recalls. The young Knudsen family - Preben, Lis and 3-year-old daughter Susanne - lived in the store for some time. Shortly after finding the location, Lis returned to Denmark to give birth to son Peter. While there, she engaged in difficult negotiations with furniture manufacturers to ship their products to Scan Design. With baby Peter in her arms and sealing deals with no more than a handshake, Lis succeeded in having the inventory shipped immediately despite a lead time of two years for furniture coming out of Denmark and a lengthy longshoreman strike. Back home in Orlando, the Knudsens continued to make sacrifices to ensure Scan Design's success. Needing a vehicle to make deliveries, they sold their family car to buy a van. Preben would take the van to work in the morning, then Lis would walk to work from their apartment off Lee Road, dropping Susanne at day care on the way. Baby Peter stayed with his mother while she worked. Preben would assemble furniture in the back of the store, while Lis ran the showroom and handled the bookkeeping. They were the only Scan Design employees, working all day and into the night Monday through Saturday, and making deliveries on Sunday. On Scan Design's opening day of April 4, 1969, all of their efforts culminated in the sale of one painting for $55. On the last day of their first month of operation, Lis and Preben totaled their sales and knew that they were $1,000 short for the payment owed to the Danish suppliers. That could very well have been the end of Scan Design. That evening, a customer came in after closing (the Knudsens often left the door unlocked past the posted closing time) and miraculously purchased $1,500 worth of furniture. "If it wasn't for that customer - someone I still know today - we might have had to pack up and go home to Denmark. To this day, I'm still amazed by what happened," Lis says. Despite that difficult beginning, sales slowly began to build, doubling from one month to the next as word spread about the new store with the unique contemporary furniture. Loyal Customers & Employees Create Scan Design 'Family' At that time no other store in Orlando sold contemporary furniture, and Scan Design began to build an intensely loyal customer base as people from all over the state discovered the store. Although the Knudsens advertised in local print publications, and for years ran a series of well-recognized radio commercials featuring Preben's voice, it was word of mouth from enthusiastic customers that spurred sales. "Many of our first customers were artistically oriented, in the creative professions, who were excited to have contemporary furniture available. When I look at photos from that time, I also see a great many architects who had a taste for our furniture," Preben says. Lis and Preben remain friends with many of their customers from those early days, as well as those customers' children and even grandchildren. "Our furniture is of such high quality that our first customers have passed down the pieces they purchased decades ago to the younger generations, like heirlooms," Preben says. "And those younger family members have gone on to be our customers as well, so we have some families that are third generation Scan Design patrons." Many Scan Design employees also found themselves welcomed into the extended Knudsen family and stayed with the company for years, some for decades. Preben's assistant, Debbie, began her employment with Scan Design as the bookkeeper - 33 years ago. Another employee, Mikael Eskildsen, the managing partner in Tampa, has been with the company for 30 years. And Greg Stone, the managing partner in North Florida, has been with the company for 19 years. "We try to empower our employees as much as possible and they respond by taking ownership in their job," says Preben. "We go to our employee's children's weddings and confirmations - that's how involved we are with their lives." Business Philosophy Sets Scan Design Apart In addition to loyal customers and employees, the Knudsens credit the success of Scan Design to their straightforward way of doing business. "We don't play games when it comes to pricing our furniture - we don't mark it up to mark it down," Preben says. "We constantly work to always offer an honest, accurate and fair price." "That is what was different about Scan Design in 1969 and what is still different about us today," Lis adds. "Our customers know that we're truthful when it comes to pricing. When we hold a sale - which is not often - they know that those sale prices are real." The Knudsens' personal, hands-on approach to buying furniture for Scan Design also has contributed to the store's continued popularity. Preben, and now son Jesper, annually attend numerous furniture shows worldwide to find unique and well-made products and Lis travels to several accessory shows to purchase signature artwork. "Many furniture store chains decide purchases by committee, so by the time the products arrive at the stores, there is a level of sameness - nothing is very exciting or innovative. But at Scan Design, the three of us can decide immediately at a show if a piece of furniture or an accessory speaks to us We have to have strong feelings for a piece before we buy it," Preben says Lis and Preben also have cultivated strong, long-term relationship with furniture vendors that meet their high standards and worked to stay a step ahead in the cutting edge design model. "When we first opened, contemporary furniture was pretty much all teak wood and we said that our customers were hooked on teak. Now, although teak is still a big part of our success, we also must offer the designs that are ahead of the design trends," Preben explains. Company Leadership Stays in the Family By Scan Design's 30th anniversary in 1999, the Knudsens approach to contemporary furniture retail had resulted in stores throughout Florida, with son Peter running the operations in South Florida. As the millennium approached, however, one thing they did not have was a clear leadership succession plan. And then Lis and Preben's younger son Jesper began to show an increased interest in the family business. After undergraduate studies at Furman University in South Carolina, graduate studies at the Portfolio Center in Atlanta, and moving to Chicago to work for a design firm, Jesper began toying with the idea of designing furniture for a Scan Design private label. He started working with his parents on the designs, eventually coming to work side by side with them for six years. In 2006, Preben turned over leadership of Scan Design to Jesper although he and Lis continue in their previous capacities as buyers and advisors. "People ask me all the time 'How do you work with your parents? Isn't it hard?' And really it's not hard at all," Jesper says. "It's a collaboration when we go on buying trips. You might think that my dad would be the more conservative one when it comes to buying, but I'm the one who puts the brakes on sometimes. We make a good team and we work well together." Lis praises her husband and son's working relationship, saying, "Jesper has always been very respectful to Preben and shown respect for everything we have accomplished, and in return, Preben has always been accepting of Jesper's ideas. They can go out buying together because they have built a good relationship, both personal and professional." The Future at Scan Design Jesper is now President of a Scan Design of Florida that offers the largest collection of contemporary furniture in the Southeast, with six stores in Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa, three stores in South Florida and 100 employees He and his father regularly make purchasing trips all over the world, from Milan to Singapore, not just to traditional contemporary furniture markets like Denmark. Yet it is a challenging time in retail sales. And money to finance purchases is hard to come by. Fortunately, the groundwork laid for 40 years by Preben and Lis puts Scan Design in a good position to withstand the current economic downturn. "We've seen several recessions during 40 years in business here and we've made sound long-term investments and continued the honest way we do business so that we can withstand the economic pressure," Preben says. Jesper hopes to build on his parents' accomplishments and continue to educate customers about the Scan Design difference. "My mother says that furniture is in our blood and souls because we get really excited when we get a new piece of furniture. I'd like to spread that enthusiasm for artistic design and quality in furniture to as many people as possible," Jesper says. "I have my parents' dining room set from 1968 and still after all this time, every day I look at it I think, 'Wow, that is amazing.' And nothing else is like that - not cars or clothes - nothing else can integrate itself into your daily life for so many years and still inspire that feeling." Preben agrees. "The furniture offered in our stores is chosen with care and passion and our goal always is to offer a wide selection of beautiful, unique pieces that inspire our customers. If we don't love a piece of furniture, we won't have it in our stores." With the arrival of Scan Design's 40th year, the Knudsens plan to celebrate throughout the year with events and happenings around the state to celebrate design and the arts. The first is the "Fall in Furniture Love" art event which will feature artists from around the state who have created pieces with this theme in mind. The resulting art will be displayed in all stores and at scandesign.com. And beginning in April in Orlando, Scan Design stores throughout the state will host 40th anniversary celebrations. It's all quite different from Scan Design's first few difficult months back in 1969. "We had no idea in 1969 that our little $2,000 investment would grow into the largest contemporary furniture chain in Florida," Preben says. "To be in this business for 40 successful years is more than we could have imagined when we were living in our first store and struggling during those early days. We've worked hard and sacrificed a lot to be where we are today, but looking at the results & the stores, our great customers, and our strong family ties I wouldn't go back and change a thing." About Scan Design: Since 1969, Scan Design has provided furniture buyers with a place to experience the finest and largest collection of contemporary furniture in the Southeast. With six locations throughout Florida, Scan Design offers fine furniture in styles ranging from Scandinavian classic modern to high-style Italian contemporary, from German functional elegance to truly inspiring American design. For more information about Scan Design, visit the Web site at www.scandesign.com.