October 2015 — Going Green Keeps You in the Black

OCTOBER 2015

INSPIRATION+EDUCATION

Going Green Keeps You in the Black NAHFA member Andrew Tepperman knows what’s good for the planet proves good for business.

Retailer Resource Center info inside!

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OCTOBER2015

TAKE 5!

Five takeaways you can implement this month:

1 Reduce your footprint for profit. 10

2 Create a promotion. 14 3 Compare your store. 36 4 Lure better prospects. 42 5 Sell safe furniture. 44

10 WHAT’S INSIDE 2.

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44.

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NAHFA President’s Letter Editor’s Note Retail Voice Member Portrait: Priba Furniture Product Focus: Casual Dining Next Generation: Guadalupe Padalgay Take 2 Member Benefit: Performance Report Government Action: Tipping Furniture NAHFA Community

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DEPARTMENTS Cover Story 10. Going Green Can Put You in the Black Sales & Marketing 38. Professional Advertising Done Right 42. Prospecting for Shoppers

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Retailer Resource Center 30. NAHFA High Point Market Seminars and Exhibitors

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OCTOBER | 2015

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“

Every problem has a solution; it may sometimes just need another perspective.

President Marty Cramer Cramer’s Home Furnishings

— Katherine Russell

President-Elect Jeff Child RC Willey

Have a problem?

NAHFA can help

Vice President Steve Kidder Vermont Furniture Galleries Secretary/Treasurer Jim Fee Stoney Creek Furniture

hat can your association do to help make running your business easier and more profitable? The North American Home Furnishings Association is a well-organized, dedicated and financially sound group. We have a board that’s committed to helping members in the daily running of their businesses.

But I’m concerned we sometimes miss the obvious.

By nature, people who volunteer to be on the board of directors tend to be a mature and successful group of business leaders and their needs may not be the same as someone just starting out or even someone who’s been at it for a decade. I know my business needs have changed over the years.

When I first started my operation 22 years ago the things I counted on from this association were different than what I am looking for today. Even though many of the programs that save me money are as essential to my business today as they were when I started, I tend to focus on the bigger picture programs today.

Member feedback is always a hot topic for any association, and NAHFA is no different. Your input is the one thing we need most and yet it’s one of the hardest things for us to get. There are hundreds of you who loyally pay dues and support programs year after year, but we rarely hear from you.

What struggles are you having? What legislation or regulations are making it hard for you to do business? What’s your biggest problem? Hiring? Training? Margins? Are there areas where you think NAHFA should be more or less involved? We want to hear from you.

Big or small, newcomer or veteran, we want to help with whatever issues you’re having. Aside from your fellow retail members, NAHFA has an exceptional team of membership representatives who would love to get to know you better and help you grow your business. Check out our membership staff listed on the left. Their mission is to help you. I hope you’ll take a few minutes and call or email and let us know what we can do for you, but don’t stop there. I would love to hear from you, too.

And, while I’m asking for your input, don’t forget to respond to the government relations survey we’re sending to members this month. We’re heading into an election year and being aware of the issues that affect our businesses is going to be even more important.

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Chairman Rick Howard Sklar Furnishings Executive Staff Sharron Bradley Chief Executive Officer sbradley@NAHFA.org Mary Frye Executive Vice President mfrye@NAHFA.org

Marty Cramer

Membership Staff Kaprice Crawford Membership Team Leader kcrawford@NAHFA.org Jordan Boyst jboyst@NAHFA.org Sherry Hansen shansen@NAHFA.org Michael Hill mhill@NAHFA.org Jana Sutherland jsutherland@NAHFA.org Dianne Therry dtherry@NAHFA.org Please call 800.422.3778 for membership inquires.

Contact Us RetailerNOW 3910 Tinsley Dr., Suite 101 High Point, NC 27265 RetailerNOWmag.com 800.422.3778

NAHFA President

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OCTOBER | 2015

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OCTOBER | 2015

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A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

— Henry Ford

RETAILERNOW STAFF Lisa Casinger Editorial Director lcasinger@nahfa.org Robert Bell Editor rbell@nahfa.org

Wanted: A few good stories (yours?) to tell

Tim Timmons Art Director ttimmons@nahfa.org Cindi Williams Sales Executive cwilliams@nahfa.org

love that quote by Mr. Ford at the top of this page. Don’t get me wrong, the bottom line is important to any business, but it’s not the only thing. A business should give something back to the rest of the world and inspire passion not just in its employees, but also the community it serves.

That’s why I love sitting down and talking with home furnishings retailers like you for our monthly member profile features. I love learning about your history, your hopes and fears, and your successes and challenges over the years.

Most of all, I love hearing the passion you have for our industry.

A few weeks ago I met the Knox family—Bill, Priscilla and Scott—to hear their story. Bill’s a former Pan Am pilot, but it’s safe to say these days he’s firmly grounded in the home furnishings industry. Bill and Priscilla started Priba Furniture more than 33 years ago out of their house. Today their son Scott is running the show.

Our goal for each and every profile is to help you get to know your fellow members a little better. We hope they’re entertaining and maybe a little informative. Here’s where you can help: if you think you and your store have a story to tell, or if you know of another member, Bill and Priscilla Knox started Priba Furniture out of their home. drop me a line.

On page 28 of this issue, we’re introducing a new column. Take 2 will give retailers a look at stores that have been recently redesigned or refurbished. Two leading designers, Martin Roberts and Connie Post, will take turns sharing some of their projects. If you’ve been thinking about a store facelift, maybe Take2 is just the inspiration you need.

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Sydnee Funke Webmaster sfunke@nahfa.org RETAIL ADVISORY TEAM Carol Bell Contents Interiors Tucson, Ariz.

Robert Bell Editor, RetailerNOW

Travis Garrish Forma Furniture Fort Collins, Colo.

Rick Howard Sklar Furnishings Boca Raton, Fla. Mike Luna Pedigo’s Furniture Livingston, Texas Andrew Tepperman Tepperman's Windsor, Ontario This Month’s Contributors

Jeff Giagnocavo, Marty Grosse, David Love, Martin Roberts, and Betsi Robinson.

Subscription: $70/year RetailerNOW, ISSN# 2166-5249, is published monthly (except March and December) by the North American Home Furnishings Association, 500 Giuseppe Court, Ste. 6, Roseville, CA 95678.

Application to Mail at the Periodicals Postage Prices is Pending at Roseville, CA, and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Address changes to: RetailerNOW, North American Home Furnishings Association, 500 Giuseppe Court, Ste. 6, Roseville CA 95678.

If you would like to stop receiving RetailerNOW, please send an email to RNOWunsubscribe@nahfa.org.

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Robert Bell rbell@nahfa.org

© 2015 North American Home Furnishings Association. Published by the North American Home Furnishings Association. Material herein may not be reproduced, copied or reprinted without prior written consent of the publisher. Acceptance of advertising or indication of sponsorship does not imply endorsement of publisher or the North American Home Furnishings Association. The views expressed in this publication may not reflect those of the publisher, editor or the North American Home Furnishings Association, and North American Retail Services Corp. Content herein is for general information only; readers are encouraged to consult their own attorney, accountant, tax expert and other professionals for specific advice before taking any action.

OCTOBER | 2015

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RETAILER2.0

@RetailerNOW

facebook.com/RetailerNOW

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z GOOD TO KNOW

New Technologies, Tactics Make the Store of the Future a Reality There are a variety of new touch points at retailers’ disposal, designed to create more memorable, interactive and personalized in-store shopping experiences. Last month, Retail TouchPoints released a special report on these technologies. Here’s a highlight: RFID (radio frequency identification) This one’s been on retailers’ radars for years, but merchants are only now reporting ROI on this technology. “This will bring tremendous strides in inventory management as every piece of inventory becomes visible and trackable,” notes Ian Goldman, CEO of Celerant.

Beacons Beacon technology allows retailers to engage with any customer carrying a smartphone by using the device's Bluetooth connection to send push notifications to your shoppers’ pockets, purses or hands.

Mobile POS and Clienteling Arming store associates with mobile devices is helping to rewrite the rules for how associates engage customers in the store. Mobile solutions can be a powerful catalyst for customer engagement, and retailers are just beginning to take advantage of the possibilities.

Source: New Technologies, Tactics Make the Store of the Future a Reality A Retail TouchPoints Special Report, sponsored by SAP

z COOL APPS SumAll (sumall.com)

Have2Have.it by Soldsie (soldsie.com)

Data works for big companies, let it work for you.

Designed to help Instagram users become consumers.

SumAll is a social media engagement and analytics tracking tool that provides free dashboards and intelligent auto-publishing tools for more than 50 (and growing) platforms and services.

Some key SumAll features include: • Unlimited tracking, accounts and collaborators • Numbers and line chart dashboards to show all of your social account data in one place, and compare any metrics in one graph • Platform grouping, auto-posting and more Insights and reports services are offered on top of the free SumAll tracking service. Reports are built to validate your work, while insights are built to show you where and how to improve. iOS; Web-based. SA Tracking (free); SA Reports ($59/mo.; 14-day free trial); SA Insights ($99/mo.; 14-day free trial). Each paid subscription automatically signs you up to receive the free SumAll tracking service.

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OCTOBER | 2015

Last month Retailer2.0 covered Instagram ads, which, after months of expectations, finally launched to the tune of an average of 300 million active monthly users.

One company is hoping to cash in on those numbers.

Social solutions company Soldsie soon after launched its newest product—Have2Have.it—claiming it’s the first affordable solution for purchasing products directly from Instagram.

Instagram captions and photos are not linkable. Your only link is in your profile. Soldsie uses this link to showcase your content and make your photos link to the products and content your fans and followers are trying to find.

Brands participating in the Have2Have.it pilot saw an average of an 87 percent click-through rate and 50 percent more time on a site from Have2Have.it referrals relative to those coming directly from Instagram.

Web-based; 14-day free trial.

Want to share a cool app? Drop us a line at Rbell@nahfa.org

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OCTOBER | 2015

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CONVERSATIONS

TOPSHELF

Q:

Get Your MVPs the Help They Need ASAP

How does your store location impact your business?

Catherine Unger Furniture Classics Anchorage, Alaska “Our location helps and hurts. We’re located in the downtown core area. That brings a lot of people in off the street, but parking and traffic are still a problem.

They keep a lot of people from coming downtown in the first place. We validate parking so we’ve eliminated that argument, but there’s always going to be that convenience issue.”

Jeff Needham The Book Table Logan, Utah “Our location definitely hurts us. We’re in an old part of town that was once a booming retail hub, but has since morphed more into an office environment. We’ve thought about moving, but we own our building so we’re committed. Fortunately we’re doing a lot more in online sales so we haven’t felt the sting like other retailers around us.”

Vicky Early Artichoke Designs Carmel, Indiana “We have really poor parking because we’re in our city’s arts and design district.

It’s all street parking and nobody has the patience for that. We’re lazy Americans, I guess. If we were in New York or Boston we would have a great location, but people outside of our loyal customers think it’s going to a great deal of effort to get to our store.”

(Admired: 21 Ways to Double Your Value, Evolve Publishing, 240 pages, $12.99) How do you become admired, either as a leader, a worker or even as a person? Mark Thompson and Bonita Thompson, co-authors of Admired: 21 Ways to Double Your Value, think they know the answer. The secret is to give value—and specifically to give your MVPs, the most valuable people in your life, what they value most.

The authors tell the story of Margaret, a personal trainer who was more focused on working with customers out on the floor than sitting at her computer answering emails from her boss.

However, responsiveness was something her boss valued highly. Eventually, she was given a smartphone to be able to answer quickly when her boss had an urgent question or request while still being able to focus on her customers on the floor—thus fulfilling what she valued most while responding to what her boss valued as well. This simple example reveals the heart of the book: it’s about them ... but it’s also about you. The key, as the authors write, is to match what you want and what the company needs with what your MVPs want.

A small team in a company, although passionate about the company’s product, consistently missed its goals. When the authors were asked by the head of the team to sit in on the team’s staff meeting, they saw that some of the company’s goals (such as the dreary task of writing technical instructions) didn’t motivate team members. The authors had a suggestion: since one team member loved video production and editing, why not assign her the task of making video instructions? Today, this task is no longer a drag on product development.

As promised by the subtitle, the Thompsons offer 21 specific tools to help readers become admired. The tools, developed from original research into the traits that people admire in others, are grouped into six categories.

The first category is Action. To be admired, the authors write, you have to be proactive. One of the unexpected tools in this category is “Guilt is good.” Guilt pushes people to get something done.

The second category of tools to increase one’s value is Develop.

Among the specific tools in this category are “Start Where You Are,” “Invest in Yourself,” and “Be Misunderstood”—the latter tool referring to the willingness to be misunderstood in the short term.

The other four categories of tools are: Measure, which focuses on goal setting; Innovation, which is to be creative in helping your MVPs find value; Recruit, which not only covers the importance of hiring those who can address your weaknesses, but also explains how to prepare your MVPs to face challenges on their own; and Excite, which offers tools on how to engage yourself and your MVPs. At the end of each of the 21 tools is a list of steps for applying that tool.

Book review: summary.com

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OCTOBER | 2015

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Think again.

Think you’re ready for Market?

Download our FREE Market Success Kit Learn how to free up cash, spot winners and trends, find out which vendors and categories are actually performing, and buy smarter. www.profitsystems.com/market

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Visit Us At High Point Market October 17 - 22 Plaza Suites - Retailer Resource Center 1st Floor, 1-527, #22 and 23 RetailerNOWmag.com

Bus Stop: 3 (Green Line) SEPTEMBER | 2015

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Going GR E E N

Keeps You in the Black Retailers know what's good for our planet is good for business.

By Robert Bell

A

t Tepperman’s, a four-store home furnishings company in Ontario, Canada, Tuesdays are known as Styrofoam Night. You won’t hear about it in the company’s radio or television spots. And it’s not exactly as sexy as Ladies Night or some other promotion. But by the end of the evening, the company still manages a nice profit without a single customer walking through its doors.

That’s because every Tuesday, a few workers gather the boxes and plastic containers piled high with all the collected polystyrene—Styrofoam to you and me—and put it in a machine that grinds up the material and condenses a truckload of the waste into manageable three-foot bricks. The condensed polystyrene, used to pack the hundreds of pieces of furniture and casegoods that are delivered every day to Tepperman’s, is then sold to a company that keeps the environmentally indestructible stuff out of landfills by recycling it.

Andrew Tepperman, president of Tepperman’s, learned of the compressing machine when he was touring Gallery Furniture in Houston a few years back. He ordered one that week and within three months Tepperman’s environmental footprint, already petite, was shrinking even more.

“One of my better investments if I can say so myself,” recalls

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OCTOBER | 2015

Tepperman, whose business now makes about $2,000 a month recycling the polystyrene that once went to landfills.

Tepperman long ago learned what many retailers are slowly starting to realize. Going green is good business—not just for Tepperman, but hundreds of other home furnishings retailers hoping to build a sustainable image with consumers while saving money at the same time. As more and more consumers prefer doing business with environmentally responsible companies, more retailers are responding. Besides gaining customer loyalty, they’re recouping thousands of dollars on the back end of their businesses.

Indeed, Tepperman and other larger retailers have turned sustainability into a nice chunk of revenue while positioning their stores in the forefront of eco-minded consumers’ minds.

The numbers behind Tepperman’s recycling drive are impressive.

Last year, the company’s four stores diverted 30 tons of plastic from area landfills. Another 520 tons of cardboard were compressed and baled before being sent off to be recycled, and 312,000 cubic feet of polstyrene packaging—the equivalent of three Olympic-sized pools— never saw a landfill.

And he’s not finished. Tepperman said his company is looking at adding solar panels to the store’s rooftops within the next 18 months.

Sustainability isn’t exclusive to home furnishings chains like

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Tepperman’s. Many smaller, independent stores are picking up on what larger retailers are doing and scaling their green efforts down to fit their needs, says Adam Siegel, vice president of sustainability and retail operations for the Retail Industry Leaders Association, which helps retailers become sustainability leaders in their communities.

Siegel says that, over the years, larger retailers like Wal-Mart and Target have paved the way for technology that is easily accessible to smaller retailers interested in incorporating it into their businesses. Case in point: LED lighting.

Pressed by the federal regulation last year that is phasing out the most common 60- to 100-watt incandescent bulbs, light emitting diode-based bulbs are being embraced by many home furnishings retailers, but Siegel says it wasn’t always this way.

“National retailers spent the last 10 years playing around with LED light bulbs in their parking lots,” he says. “The cost and quality just wasn’t there, but bigger retailers could see this was the future so they worked with vendors to find ways to get lower costs and better quality lighting.”

Today, LED lighting in a home furnishings store is an easy first step for retailers hoping to build a sustainable business. Not long ago, an early adopter paid as much as $68 for an LED bulb. Today that bulb costs

POLY PRESSED Tepperman’s president Andrew Tepperman, left, and Allan White show off the company’s polystyrene densifier, which can compress 50 cubic feet of the material down to 1. The waste is then sold to a distributor who repurposes it.

RetailerNOWmag.com

OCTOBER | 2015

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about $24, says Monte Lee, of Service Lamp Corp., which helps stores convert their lighting fixtures to the more efficient bulbs.

Lee estimates a retailer who switches from halogen lighting to LED, will save roughly 60 percent in energy costs. Replacing florescent lighting with LED blubs would cut a retailer’s expenses in half.

Not only do LED bulbs require less energy, saving a retailer on their electric bill, the bulbs produce less heat, which means lower air-conditioning bills. Lee said one home furnishings store that switched over to LED bulbs removed its rooftop air-conditioning units after reducing the amount of heat produced in its showrooms.

Rather than pick and choose which green strategies to use in a store, Tepperman recommends store owners incorporate sustainability as part of their store culture. At Tepperman’s, environmental sustainability is one of the company’s six guiding principles. The annual strategic plan for each department—whether its financing, warehouse, sales or anywhere else—must factor in the company’s economic footprint.

“It’s as much a part of our culture as sales,” says Tepperman. “So no matter what we come up with on the financing side we have to ask ourselves, ‘How will this reduce waste? Can we recycle? What will be the impact on our landfills?’ ” Those are exactly the questions Siegel says smaller retailers should be asking themselves, but don’t stop there. “They need to be questioning their vendors about what practices or services they offer that will help make them more sustainable,” he says. “So a retailer needs to be asking their waste hauler what type of recycling program they offer. They need to ask their utilities vendor if there are any rebate packages available for running a more efficient lighting or HVAC system.”

That includes smaller retailers talking to their manufacturers about what green products they can provide. If a storefront is leased, Siegel urges retailers to talk to their landlord and find out how they can work together to be more green.

“Smaller retailers and mom-and-pop stores don’t always have a lot of control over things, but if they start asking their vendors and landlords and other service providers, they at least signal those decision makers that they care. They might not get what they want in the first few months, but maybe next year things change.”

No other home furnishings store in North America has embraced the sustainability movement like American Furniture Warehouse.

Owner Jake Jabs has gone to great expense to make sure no part of his 14 stores—12 in Colorado and two in Arizona—misses out on turning potential waste into cash.

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OCTOBER | 2015

Like Tepperman, Jabs’ stores routinely divert their cardboard, Styrofoam and plastic from landfills to recycling centers. Make no mistake, Jabs is one of the leading advocates in the industry for sustainability, but there’s a financial incentive, too.

Five years ago all of Jabs’ stores converted to LED lighting, which saves the company an estimated $10,000 a month in electricity. Every week, Jabs sends three truckloads of baled cardboard from his stores to California, where recycled cardboard has, in recent months, fetched as much as $200 a ton. One semi filled with cardboard recoups $2,400, according to Jabs.

“I believe in being green,” Jabs says. “At the end of a day, I believe in leaving my community and my world the way I found it or better. And if we can save a little or, in GO WEST Jake Jabs of American our case, a lot, of money Furniture Warehouse recycles his doing that, well, that’s company’s cardboard in California. even better.”

Siegel says the push for a greener workplace continues to expand. Just as LED lights were once thought too expensive but are now mainstream, he thinks other prohibitive technologies will soon be affordable. The next wave: solar power.

“If you own your rooftop, that’s like owning more real estate,” says Siegel. He says retailers can partner with for-profit companies to produce solar energy. Retailers could use the energy themselves or sell it to the utility company.

NAHFA members City Furniture in Florida and Pilgrim City in Connecticut are already using the sun to harness energy for their stores.

When City Furniture owner Keith Koenig opened his Boca Raton store in 2011, it was one of the first green-certified home furnishings stores in the country.

Some of the store’s features include rooftop solar tubes that direct natural light into the showrooms, LED interior and exterior lighting, high efficiency air-conditioning, and interior and exterior decor made from reclaimed or recycled parts and materials.

Koenig says the store should save about $30,000 a year on electricity as a result of some of its ecofriendly features. “When it comes to return on investCASHING IN City Furniture’s ment,” he says, “it’s a slam Keith Koenig calls recycling “a dunk.” slam dunk” investment.

RetailerNOWmag.com

Retailers Don’t Have to Think Big to Act Green Here are five easy strategies you can implement by the end of the year.

1.

Switch to post-consumer waste (PCW) paper, paper products, and packaging. Whenever possible, skip paper entirely, but if you have to print, use eco-friendly paper.

Well-intentioned stores may look for a recycling symbol on a box of paper, but this is an unregulated designation. Only PCW paper is made entirely from the paper we place in our recycling bins each day.

2.

Rethink your landscaping. Many trees and shrubs need heavy watering and can raise your utility bill—not to mention waste water. Consider drought-resistant plants instead.

3.

Install LED lights. Though LEDs have a higher purchase price than standard incandescent bulbs, they last

significantly longer and use much less energy. LED bulbs can replace standard bulbs in most fixtures and save you up to $200 per bulb over time.

4.

Use alternative energy. In many areas of the country you can purchase “green power” from your utility provider.

Green power is generated from renewable energy sources (wind and solar, geothermal, hydropower and plant matter). Purchasing green power increases your electric bill by a small percentage, which is used to purchase clean energy that’s fed into the electrical grid.

5.

Use alternative fuel or hybrid vehicles for delivery. Both will reduce your carbon footprint and highlight your environmental commitment—and save you money.

NAHFA members enjoy exclusive member pricing on a variety products, including LED lighting (non-members add 25%).

Visit nahfa.org/products to view our complete product catalog or call 800-422-3778 select option 2.

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OCTOBER | 2015

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Vendor Events— Who Needs Them?

Get proactive! Turn those tired finance offers into promotions.

By Jeff Giagnocavo

I

’m sure you receive offers from your finance provider on a regular basis offering a promotional period of financing at a discounted rate. We use these to our advantage in more ways than one by putting our own spin on them and turning them into an event. This means we don’t have to wait for vendor events to pop up on our calendars, we take matters into our own hands.

Rather than just offer the same old “me too” long-term, nointerest offers, at Gardiner’s Mattress & More, we turn them into something different, something special.

Let’s consider how you can take those everyday fax notices about lower finance rates and create an event that

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drives a few more customers through your store’s front doors.

Every October our store takes the long-term, no-interest offer a bank usually provides and transforms it into something we like to call our Sign, Sleep, Dream event.

The breakdown on the financing is typically a steep 12 to 13 percent discount rate. But we’ve created accessory packages (see one of our examples in the lower left corner) that we attach to each sale that essentially covers the cost of financing, plus we make about a 20 percent margin on the accessories.

We promote our Sign, Sleep, Dream event with advertising and by emailing to our house list of contacts that are in our “world” and have yet to buy.

We include deadline dates (see one of our ads below) on the accessory packages to prevent customers from waiting until the end of the month to make their purchases. Because, let’s face it, without a deadline much in this world simply doesn’t get done.

Why is the deadline based on the mattress accessory packages and not on the product itself? Because we have more margin to play with in the accessories than we do the product, and we’re telling the prospect that there are accessories to purchase, and in fact, they are required to qualify for the no-interest and no-money-down Sign, Sleep, Dream event to be eligible.

We have a well-trained staff that knows how to greet

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We know it takes much more than (an email). In a time when we’re subjected to upwards of 5,000 advertisements daily, it takes more to corral the consumer’s attention, especially if you’re selling to the consumer’s need as opposed to what they want.

Nominations Now Open

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customers and understand how to present the products for this event (monthly payment amount with accessory package included).

As new contacts come into the database, they not only get information about the products they’re interested in, they also receive information on how to buy the mattress set using our Sign, Sleep, Dream event financing offer.

All of this is done automatically. There is no licking of stamps or typing out singular emails because we’ve created our own CRM software with this capability. It’s one of the most powerful business assets we have in our possession.

You may be asking why would we email and mail? Simple: how many emails have you already deleted today? Better yet, how many emails did you delete that you didn’t read from people you knew?

My guess is a few too many. And those are from people you know and care about.

We aren’t so foolish to think that just because we enjoyed a pleasant conversation with a prospect or customer that we can rely on them to say, “Wow, those guys sent me an email! Let me put down my lunch and call them right back with my credit card!”

We know it takes much more than that. In a time when we’re subjected to upwards of 5,000 advertisements daily (DM News July 2013), it takes more to corral the consumer’s attention, especially if you’re selling to the consumer’s need as opposed to what they want.

How you keep their attention is mostly all won and lost in how you got their attention. “Me too” offers like free, no-interest financing are found everywhere in your marketplace. But a Sign, Sleep, Dream event is already speaking towards what the customer truly wants—a peaceful dreamy sleep—without the hard work of pulling the finances together.

I hope this article gives you some inspiration for a sales promotion of your own. Take the initiative and come up with your own rather than waiting by the fax machine.

Jeff Giagnocavo co-owns Gardner’s Mattress & More in Lancaster, Pa. He is also the co-owner of Infotail, a profit automation company helping retailers increase their profits. He can be reached at jeff@infotail.com.

RetailerNOWmag.com

The NAHFA Retailer of the Year Awards, known as the ‘Oscars’ of the home furnishings industry, rewards excellence and outstanding achievements to the most respected home furnishings retailers across North America.

Awards will be given in two categories— • Retailers with sales volume under $10 million • Retailers with sales volume of $10 million and above

And the Retailer of the Year award goes to...

Join us in celebration at the NAHFA Networking Conference May 22-24, 2016 at the Westin Long Beach, CA.

OCTOBER | 2015

15

Soaring Above the Competition Bob Knox once worked in the clouds.

These days the former airline pilot and his family make a living on the ground. Good one, too.

By Robert Bell

T

he letter showed up by registered mail. Bob Knox sat at the kitchen table holding it and turning it over, but not opening it. He already knew.

It was 1972 and Knox, a Pan Am pilot, had already been a part of several furloughs before. He knew the routine: find a job, one that will hold you over until the airline calls and you go racing back to the cockpit.

Only this time was different.

“This time,” Knox recalls, “I had two children at home.

When you’ve got mouths to feed the game changes.”

Some people enter the home furnishings game because of their passion for furniture and helping others find the right piece for their home. Bob Knox got into the game because of his love for putting food on the table.

That’s not to say the passion didn’t come later. These days Knox, the owner of Priba Furniture in Greensboro, N.C., can think of nowhere else he’d rather be than roaming his showroom floor. Pan Am eventually collapsed in 1991. Priba continues to soar, going head to head in

Greensboro with several chains such as Rooms to Go, Bassett, Badcock Furniture & More and Ashley, as well as Furnitureland South, one of the country’s largest independent retailers.

Like any good pilot, Knox says the secret to success is charting your own path and staying committed. Priba has always tried to brand itself as a store for mid- to high-end furniture lines. “We’ve never let our competitors define who we are and what we want to be,” says Knox, 78. “We had a lot more competition around here years ago, but I think other stores felt forced to change their strategy to set themselves apart. Most of those stores aren’t around anymore.”

Most of those stores aren’t like Priba, which prides itself on offering its clientele some of the most distinct pieces of furniture and accessories in the area. Its history is just as unique.

Bob and his wife Priscilla started the company out of their home. They transformed a bedroom in the basement into an office. A kitchen drawer upstairs served as the file cabinet. All that was left was to find some customers.

Knox had many cockpit conversations on international flights with fellow pilots about the furniture deals that were

YOU’RE COVERED To stay ahead of the chain stores around them, Bob and Priscilla Knox offer thousands of covers, sizes, finishes and shapes for their furniture and casegoods.

STILL FLYING HIGH All Bob Knox, left, wanted to do was fly. When that was taken away he found a new love—selling furniture. Today Knox, his son Scott and Bob's wife Priscilla run Priba Furniture in Greensboro, N.C. Opposite page, Bob Knox still has his Pan Am pilot's hat and photos from his travels.

available out of nearby High Point, which, at the time, had the allure to shoppers outside North Carolina with so many stores and manufacturers. So the Knoxes advertised in an airline pilot’s magazine: “Prices as good as High Point!”

Bob Knox still remembers the company’s first sale. “We took the profits and bought us some letterhead for purchase orders and everything else that made us look like a real store,” he says. The Knoxes knew they finally made it when they sat in a Greensboro restaurant nervously waiting to meet Doug Wilson, a Henredon sales rep. Bob Knox was hoping to convince Wilson to let the Knoxes carry the company’s line. Wilson was late, but when he showed up he walked into the restaurant with a stack of catalogs under both arms.

Priscilla Knox smiles remembering the story. “That’s when we knew we were going to be OK,” she says.

More than OK, actually. It didn’t take long for Priba Furniture to outgrow the family home. The Knoxes moved to a separate

house in Greensboro. As word spread around town about the couple selling furniture out of a house, business grew even bigger. One day a city inspector showed up at the house and said that neighbors were complaining about all the traffic. Priba was on the move again.

The Knoxes outgrew their first traditional storefront before moving to the current showroom in 1991 on the outskirts of Greensboro just a few miles from High Point.

If you’re counting, that’s four different addresses over the years, but one singular philosophy: “We always wanted to be the source for higher-end furniture with value,” Bob Knox says. “It’s been a good decision for us.”

That’s not to say the Knoxes haven’t had their share of struggles.

In 2008, when new housing in Greensboro and the rest of the nation slowed to a trickle, so did Priba’s business.

The Knoxes deal mostly in higher-end, American-made lines such as Baker, Century, Drexel, Heritage and Henredon. Scott Knox, Bob and Priscilla’s son and the company’s president these days, said there

RetailerNOWmag.com

OCTOBER | 2015

17

WHAT NAHFA MEANS TO ME

“

We more than get back our annual membership in the programs the NAHFA offers. Just look at our workers’ comp insurance. When we started going through the association, we saved at least 15 percent off our old quote. When we go to market, I always find two or three seminars that are helpful. I’m busy.

I don’t always have the time to carve out to find the training for our staff so it’s nice to know we can get good, dependable training at market through our association. I really believe we’re a stronger business because of the NAHFA.

”

Scott Knox, Priba Furniture, member since 1985

THE LONG HAUL Scott Knox, right, has been working in the family store since he was 12. Today he runs Priba’s day-to-day operations. Above, customers shop Priba for its unique furniture and accessories as well as local art.

were times when dropping down to lower-end furniture—competitors around them were doing just that—was tempting, but never seemed to make good business sense for the long run.

“Those sofas for $200 or $300? That just puts a lot of pressure on your business,” says Scott, who handles the store’s day-to-day operations. “Instead of selling just one sofa, say Baker, at a higher margin, you’re asking your staff to sell four or five lower-end sofas.”

Scott Knox says Priba got through the recession with competitive pricing and impeccable customer service that other stores couldn’t or weren’t willing to provide. With six designers on staff, Priba offers free design service. Employees have been in the industry for years, making them extremely knowledgeable on the industry and design.

And unlike bigger stores like Furnitureland South, Priba markets to Greensboro—not a large swath of the South. The store will even pick up a piece of furniture from a nearby manufacturer—rather than wait for the manufacturer to deliver it—if it means an anxious customer gets the piece a few days faster.

The Knoxes also learned that bigger isn’t always better. Priba’s 55,000-square foot showroom is impressive, but not nearly as intimidating as some of its competitors. “You can get around here without feeling overwhelmed,” Scott Knox says.

The family keeps it simple when it comes to pricing, using a low, but firm mark-up and working from there. “We’ve got a smart sales team,” Bob Knox says. “They know what a good deal is. If everyone’s happy—the customer, the sales (associate) and the store—then we’re going to make it happen.”

They also let their customers know they can customize any piece, from sofa to end table and everything in between. “Size, finish, color, upholstery, you name it,” Scott Knox says. “Our strength is we’re able to give the customer exactly what they want. You can’t always get that level of care in this town.”

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The store is heavily accessorized and has many pieces of unique accent furniture to go with their lines. They even sell paintings from local artists. “It’s all part of trying to be something everyone else is not,” Scott Knox says.

These days it’s Scott who runs the show at Priba. As early as 12, his summers were spent working in the family store moving furniture or straightening the warehouse. There was never any pressure to join the family business, but after graduating from the University of North Carolina, there was never anything Scott wanted to do except work for his family. “It just seemed completely natural for me to end up here,” he says. “All these years later it still does.”

When he took over running the store about 10 years ago, Scott’s mission was to reduce the store’s dependency on out-ofstate buyers and focus on local customers. He pumped up local advertising and word has spread. “We’re a completely different company than we were 10 years ago,” Scott says.

Bob and Priscilla Knox have no intention of retiring. “There’s not such a thing for me,” says Bob. “I have more fun here than I would on a golf course or around the house.” Priscilla agrees: “Every day’s different. “We’re not in here as much as we used to be, but if Scott wants a vacation and needs someone to lock the door and turn the lights off, he knows where we are.”

They still show up at Priba a few days a week, talk with employees, maybe even sell some furniture. “When you have as much fun as we have,” Bob Knox says, “how can you walk away from this?”

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OCTOBER | 2015

19

FRESHPERSPECTIVES

Are You My Mentor?

Someone who can guide you through work’s obstacles can prove invaluable. Here’s how to find them.

By Brooke Feldman

R

emember P.D. Eastman’s book Are You My Mother?

It was one of those great books your mom used to read to you before you went to bed about a hatchling bird’s one quest to find his mother. He jumps from animal to animal asking the same question.

As a child, you get to know different animals and get a great hug from your mom. The days of being a child.

Sometimes figuring out the next steps to take in life can feel like you are a newborn bird, wanting to fly in a new direction, but not sure if it's the right one. Whenever my brain is jumbling around with thoughts of what to do, my first instinct is to contact a mentor of mine. While I’m close with my family, and I talk to them on a regular basis, sometimes getting a perspective from someone who’s not related to me helps me look at things a bit outside of the box and helps me figure out the best decision for me and only me.

I have a contact list of mentors, people in my life who I’ve met through my years as a student, intern and co-worker. I talk to some more than others, but if I happen to be doing something that is their specialty, I send an email or give a call. It took me a while to create this list of people. How do you identify who is a mentor for you, but most importantly, are you open to accepting a mentor?

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Go Outside Your Family Circle: I love my mother, but sometimes she doesn’t know best. I love talking with my family, but they aren’t in my industry so, sometimes I feel like I’m talking in circles about dilemmas I face or questions I have. It’s better to get a fresh perspective. Many of us spend two to four years earning an education and go through multiple internships/jobs becoming a stronger professional. Sometimes that person who hasn’t known you since you were in diapers can provide insight you thought you would never get. If you come from a family business, make sure to attend conferences or become a part of a professional leadership program to meet others.

Find Someone You Identify With: One of my favorite teachers in high school was a history teacher. Clearly I didn’t grow up to become a scholar, but he taught me a valuable lesson outside of the classroom I carry with me today. In high school I was a basketball and wrestling scorekeeper. I was around a lot of coaches, referees and parents as well as students. My teacher said that no matter where you go, people are always going to be looking at you. Always look presentable and not sloppy. To this day, I’m dressed in business casual even when I’m traveling. Why would I identify with this? Because when you begin to grow into certain positions in a company, you have to look the part.

Why not look the part even before you get the job? It’s important to me to find individuals who have values and customs I identify with.

It’s not a religious thing, but rather how each of them had worked to get to where they are today. I respect hard work and perseverance. To this day, the best mentors in my life have first taught me something about how I conduct business and, second, how I conduct myself.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask: The first conference I ever attended, I sat in on a great session presented by a wonderful speaker. I had more questions than time allowed, but I was scared to go up to the speaker afterwards and ask. What if he had somewhere to be? What if he wasn’t a one-on-one talker? Eventually I mustered up the courage and walked over. I’m glad I did. We still email back and forth and he’s been a wonderful mentor. There’s no harm in starting a conversation because it makes you bolder and more confident. Some of my favorite mentors I still talk to today I met unexpectedly. Once you get to know someone whom you identify with, don’t feel hesitant to email or call.

I wonder if Eastman was actually writing a book that foreshadowed our future. I could be over thinking it, but that little bird was in need of guidance and he asked and asked and asked till he found what he was looking for in one person. Each day we are learning on our own, but it never hurts to get a little help.

RetailerNOWmag.com

Brooke Feldman is the marketing manager for MEGA Group USA. Brooke works with local and national organizations helping them promote their mission in the community. She can be reached at brooke.e.feldman@gmail.com

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OCTOBER | 2015

21

Casual Dining No other room in the home has changed as dramatically as the dining room, where formal is out and casual is cool.

By Betsi Robinson

DOWNSIZED DINING Millennials living in smaller spaces are attracted to Hooker’s Willow Bends dining table and cabinet, which come in a smaller scale than traditional dining sets.

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OCTOBER | 2015

RetailerNOWmag.com

A

decade ago, consumers in the market for dining room furniture demanded pristine, high grades of wood—a shimmering cherry, walnut or maple—to set off that special space devoted to gatherings of loved ones and friends.

Today, manufacturers say, the more rustic the wood looks, the better. Think reclaimed wood, aged driftwood, distressed finishes and the like.

“Dining has gone completely away from formal to casual, in all price points and all forms,” says Pat Watson, vice president of merchandising for Hooker Furniture. “You can find some formal at the top of the price points, but that is about it. Casual has become the overriding design influence.

“Retailers attending the High Point Market won’t see as many high-sheen finishes in Hooker’s collections. What they will find is some metals in the mix.

“There’s a very big trend in terms of mixing reclaimed looks

CASUAL COOL Fairmont’s Moderne 39 collection, acacia veneers and poplar solids, is inspired by mid-century modern elements with the casual consumer in mind.

LIVE EDGE More consumers are drawn to tables where the edge often resembles its harvested look—sometimes with the live bark accenting the wood.

RetailerNOWmag.com

OCTOBER | 2015

23

with metal and, surprisingly, reclaimed wood with polished metal looks, such as a stainless steel, a chrome or a nickel. That is very hot right now,” Watson says. “The reclaimed combined with metals to create a contemporary look is a newer trend. In addition you are seeing gold leaf and silver leaf used with reclaimed wood looks.”

Another trend is “live edge” products, a so-called cousin of reclaimed looks. “It’s like a solid wood, a slab cut out of a tree,” Watson says. “The sides of the dining table look just like whatever the tree looked like when it was harvested—sometimes the bark is left on, sometimes not. That edge has the same kind of look as Mother Nature gave it.”

Steve York, vice president of merchandising for Fairmont Designs, agrees that the eclectic mixing of materials is a hot trend in the dining category.

“The layering of materials is very important today, with veneers, inlays, metal treatments, metal bases, even the textures you put on the dining chairs,” York says.

“Leather is not really important anymore in dining chair seats or backs. Today it is more about the casual fabric.”

That said, formal dining tables alongside full-size china cabinets aren’t entirely obsolete these days. York says consumers who live in more traditional urban centers like New York City and Detroit continue to demand the style.

And traditional designs continue to dominate Fairmont’s sales so far this year, York says, adding that the dining room category accounts for roughly 35 percent of the company’s business. The styles, however, tend to be more casual and relaxed.

Contemporary is making some gains, York notes, but is not a huge seller in the United States.

“What you are seeing is casual contemporary, casual traditional, casual formal,” he explains. “It’s not the traditional we all used to see, with carving everywhere and over-the-top opulence. It’s more casual but you still have that core basis of traditional product that people can associate with—the bracket feet, inlays or borders. Then it’s brought down from the higher sheens to lower/dryer finishes. And you present it in a much more casual lifestyle.”

The trend toward casual reflects the fact

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OCTOBER | 2015

ENTERTAINING Hooker's Skyline Bar features a vertical case dry bar cabinet that includes storage and a prep area for drinks.

that formal dining rooms are less important today than in the past, Watson says. Dining accounts for about 25 percent of Hooker’s case-goods business.

“Because of that there are homes out there these days that may not even have a formal dining room on the floor plan, and the family eats at a smaller table, whether that is in a room by itself or in a kitchen space,” he says.

Counters and counter stools are becoming increasingly important for Millennials who live in smaller spaces such as apartments or condominiums. “They are either using a bar stool at a counter, or they have a much smaller-scale dining set than they would have had in the past, regardless of the style or the materials used or the cost,” Watson says. “They are still at a more transient point in their lives.”

Bar cabinets are another hot trend, manufacturers say, replacing the more elaborate china cabinet once used to show off formal tableware.

RetailerNOWmag.com

Take Fairmont’s Moderne 39 collection, inspired by mid-century modern elements but updated for today’s more casual consumer. Made of acacia veneers and poplar solids, it features an eclectic wine bar on a brushed brass base with a front finished in a dove white, textured diamond pattern.

“The accent pieces are getting into things that are different, like dining bars and armoire bars,” York says. “There is less of a need for formal and more of a need for eclectic.”

Likewise, Hooker features a vertical case dry bar cabinet that includes storage and a prep area for drinks. Its new Skyline bar cabinet was “extremely well-received” at the April market, Watson says.

“Another trend that has replaced the real big, full-size china cabinet is a smaller cabinet we would call a display cabinet,” he says. “These are smaller pieces, much more narrow with one or two doors, as opposed to four doors across the top, then drawers and more cabinets.”

Both Hooker and Fairmont plan to roll out new collections at the High Point Market in October that reflect the latest trends in the dining category.

Hooker conducts individual training sessions with its retail customers as soon as a new collection arrives on the sales floor to educate salespeople about the product, Watson says.

York believes such training is critical to a successful launch. Fairmont conducts market sales training in High Point and then follows up with sales training seminars for its retail customers. The company emphasizes product features and benefits, such as silver trays in the drawers, ball-bearing full extension drawer slides, LED lighting and English dovetail drawers.

“It’s all of the small nuances or features that we put into the product that we try

MIXED MEDIA Fairmont’s Oasis gathering table is the perfect fusion of wood and rustic metal accents, which is big with shoppers these days.

to educate the retail salespeople about,” York says. “If we can educate them about all the product features, and the benefits of those features, that gives them more reason to talk to the customer about our product as opposed to the competition.

To me, that is very important.”

Betsi Robinson, an award-winning journalist, spent 30 years working for daily newspapers in North Carolina as a reporter, editor and columnist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill and currently works as a freelance writer based in Greensboro. She can be reached at betsirob@gmail.com.

Here’s how to get in touch with this month’s manufacturers.

Hooker | hookerfurniture.com | 276.656.3335 Fairmont Designs | fairmontdesigns.com | 714.670.1171

RetailerNOWmag.com

OCTOBER | 2015

25

NEXTGENPROFILE

Six Answers with Guadalupe Pagalday I was born and raised in Argentina before I went to work for an American company that brought me here and that’s when I just fell in love with marketing. I like listening to a customer and trying to understand what it is they need and how we can build strategies that help solve those needs. zzz

A lot of retailers know that in order to make money they need to do better in understanding and using the data that’s available to them. But it’s not just about that. Data can help a retailer improve the way they run things in their store. When you put your data to work for you, you’re not using as much manual work. You’re more efficient in your day-to-day operations.

Less hours doing one task means you can use that time somewhere else that might be more valuable or profitable to you. zzz

I was looking for that balance in my life a while back after working in front of a computer all day. That’s how I got interested in yoga and meditation. They’re a pretty regular part of my life now. I like the balance between the spiritual mind and body. I can have a really long day at work, but then come home and feel completely at ease and relaxed. It’s helped me align who I am and how I allocate the hours in my life. zzz

We bought a dining room table from Wayfair. We didn’t want to spend $1,500 for a table online without being able to see it in person, but Wayfair had such a big selection and made it so easy. After we knew which table we wanted we Googled to see who had the best price and it was still Wayfair. They even offered us a coupon since we were using them for the first time and free delivery. zzz

For retailers, the takeaway from my experience is that if you’re thinking you’re not going to be online because you don’t think you’re going to sell a lot of $2,000 sofas, you’re missing the point. It’s about research and it all starts online. That’s where the research starts. If they want to look at that chair, touch it, sit down in it, they have to come to your store and then you might be able to sell it to them. But first they need to know you have it.

T

Guadalupe Pagalday Director of Product Marketing HighJump

zzz

I’m very interested in Next Gen NOW. They are the future of the (home furnishings) industry and will be the ones changing the way they do business. That’s a good thing—if they play their cards right. They’ll be the ones dictating how product is purchased, displayed, marketed.

It’s great being a part of that change.

“When you put your data to work for you, you’re not using as much manual work.

You’re more efficient in your day-to-day operations.”

Six Answers is a monthly profile of a Next Generation Now member.

Next Gen NOW is an NAHFA-hosted community of young industry professionals whose mission is to give voice to the needs and goals of the industry’s next wave of leaders. Connect with members at nextgenerationnow.net or Twitter @ngnow.

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OCTOBER | 2015

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Operations Merchandise g, our el. n i s i t r ake y t lev e v d A e to t e nex w o b puzzl to th e L r cto of the s sales e H h s e Horic last piec d mattre the iture an furn

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SEPTEMBER | 2015

37

TAKE2

New Address, Same Refined Look Relocating and designing a new flagship store for the iconic 117-year-old Swann’s Furniture & Design in Tyler, Texas, was an exciting and far-reaching endeavor for Martin Roberts Design.

BEFORE

AFTER

The new faça de to Swann ,s displa ys the while reflec store ,s new br ting traditio anding elemen nal regional the facade, w ts arch ith its faux, se cond floor de it ecture. The height of larger and in sign, makes th creases its st e store appe reet presen ce ar .

A

few years ago, Elam Swann, longtime owner of Swann’s Furniture & Design, could see his hometown of Tyler, Texas, slowly changing. Growth was shifting to the southern end of town away from his store’s southeastern location in an area that had slowly morphed into industrial use and no longer reflected the store’s high-end brand. Swann spent months looking at properties to purchase to relocate his store. Only he didn’t settle on one.

He bought three prime parcels and continued to watch how the city’s growth evolved before settling on one of the lots for his new store. All that was left was for someone to design it. As Swann tells it, “We think Swann’s takes the lead when it comes to decor and design in our area so we wanted someone who could take our old store and give it an updated, fresh look in our new neighborhood.” Swann entrusted retail designer Martin Roberts with the task of creating his new 51,000-square-foot store; redesign the brand’s identity; increase the store’s visibility in the community; and ensure consistency of the shopping experience between the retailer’s new website and the physical store.

The outdoor façade illustrates Swann’s new branding elements while reflecting traditional regional architecture. The increased height of the façade, with its faux second floor

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OCTOBER | 2015

RetailerNOWmag.com

architecture, in proportion to the floor size and depth, makes the store appear larger without the expense of constructing a bigger facility—a solution that saved Swann’s a significant amount of money while still achieving the goal of high visibility.

Reflecting the brand’s focus and the added value provided

by Swann’s decorating staff, we started the customer’s journey in the new design center, showcasing the colors, materials and textures available to clients seeking customized solutions.

on areas udio expositi st o tw d ts te We crea design concep d ro om an s on ti , ec ll for co signers. the store s de developed by

From the lighting design and high-quality fixtures, to the designer’s workstations and finishes, every element Roberts’ design crew incorporated into the new Swann’s reinforces the feeling of affluent, updated traditional styling that is key to the store’s brand.

, , store s few Swann s mattress section is one of the to assist areas that features extensiv e signage d. bran ar icul part a ing customers in identify

Martin Roberts, a retail and design industry veteran, has more than 40 years of design projects to his credit around the world. His company, Martin Roberts Design, includes an award-winning team of retail consultants, architects, and interior and graphic designers. Roberts can be reached at martin@mrobertsdesign.com.

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OCTOBER | 2015

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WAREHOUSE & DELIVERY

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ENTRANCE

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OCTOBER | 2015

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MONDAY, OCTOBER 19

Transform Your Order Takers into Order Makers

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Philip Gutsell, Gutsell & Associates

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Brad Huisken, IAS Training

Top 10 Marketing Synergies & Apps to Connect with Millennial Shoppers

Erika Sparrow & Jim Spencer, Imagine Advertising & Publishing

STORIS, Kyle Mulvaney and Lindsey Scapicchio

Today’s Real Estate Trends for Growth and Expansion

Julius Feinblum, Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Retailer’s Zero Moment of Truth

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Furniture Tip-Over Safety: What You Need to Know Bill Perdue, American Home Furnishings Alliance

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Building a Social Media Community That Builds Your Brand, Your Store

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

RE:THiNK What You Need to do to Win Customers in the Digital Age Jennie Gilbert, Retailer Web Services

5:15 – 6:00 p.m.

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5:15 – 6:00 p.m.

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18

10:00 – 11:00a.m.

Great Expectations: Give Your Shoppers a Great Online Experience Jesse Akre, MicroD Inc.

Jeff Evans, Social Dealer Connect

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Control Your Financials. Grow Your Business Lee Rychel, PROFITsystems

Doug Knorr, Knorr Marketing

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Real World Strategies for Remarkable Retail Design

Martin Roberts, Martin Roberts Design LLC

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Produce Measurable Return on Investment YKVJ 5QHVYCTG &TKXGP 'Hſ EKGPEKGU

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Implementing a Productivity Improvement Program

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20

State of the Furniture Industry Jerry Epperson, Mann, Armistead & Epperson, LTD

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Storytelling: A New Brand Imperative

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

5JQYTQQOKPI .GXGTCIG KV VQ ;174 $GPGĹż V Ellen Gefen, Gefen Marketing

David Altman, CEO, MartketShare Advisors International

It’s Not E-Commerce; It’s Commerce

Sev Ritchie, Tailbase

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Designers as Change Agents

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Buckle Up! This is for Promotional Stores Only! Sale Events for Big Weekends Next Six Months

Mary Knackstedt, Mary K Interiors

Brad Lebow, Horich Hector Lebow Advertising

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Dynamic Retail Solutions for a Modern World

Connie Post, Affordable Design Solutions

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Anatomy of a Salesperson

Joe Milevsky, JRM Sales & Management

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Leveraging E-Commerce to Sell Your Showroom

Bob Bradley, Netsertive

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OCTOBER | 2015

RetailerNOWmag.com

NAHFA Seminar Series sponsored by:

NAHFA’s Retailer Resource Center

)LUVW )ORRU RI 3OD]D 6XLWHV SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Today’s Real Estate Trends for Growth and Expansion

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Julius Feinblum, Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate

Transform Your Order Takers into Order Makers Philip Gutsell, Gutsell & Associates

Phil will uncover the critical skills and behaviors that separate order-makers from order-takers, preventing your customers from walking and costing you thousands of dollars in sales. Learn how to develop rapport, trust, confidence and, most importantly, customer commitment. Return to your store armed with the persuasive techniques and skills that will propel your sales and design staff to earn an even greater bottom-line result.

Julius will discuss the effects the Internet and online shopping have on the home furnishings industry and how they influence how you find the proper new site for your store. Find out why it’s an opportune time to expand your business and learn why more real estate is becoming available, and where those markets are. Julius will focus on the current national commercial real estate market and discuss what’s affecting market rent, property availability and which geographic areas have the most excitement and promise for growth.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Retailer’s Zero Moment of Truth

Top 10 Marketing Synergies & Apps to Connect with Millennial Shoppers Erika Sparrow & Jim Spencer, Imagine Advertising & Publishing

With the Internet of Things dominating marketing rhetoric, our discussion will focus on the top 10 marketing synergies and apps retailers and brands must embrace to compete with online retailers, as well as, rent-to-own retailers. We will highlight these web and digital strategies in depth, and list the partner resources where you can get access to these platforms. Additionally, we will offer thumb-drives loaded with research and case studies that support our presentation.

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Doug Knorr, Knorr Marketing

Google’s 2011 eBook coined the term “Zero Moment of Truth, ZMOT.” The focus was on the consumer buying process. In this high-energy seminar, Doug Knorr, president of Knorr Marketing, and Dan Kolle, director of digital services, will define retailer’s Zero Moment of Truth and what it takes today to engage new customers and re-engage existing customers to increase store traffic, gross margins and profitability.

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Building a Social Media Community That Builds Your Brand, Your Store Jeff Evans, Social Dealer Connect

Produce Measurable Return on Investment with Software Driven Efficiencies STORIS, Kyle Mulvaney and Lindsey Scapicchio

Retailers don’t buy inventory and then sell it for a loss—inventory is purchased to drive revenue and profit. By the same token, you shouldn’t buy software unless it too drives revenue and profit. It is critical to understand how technology driven operational efficiencies can deliver dependable and, most importantly, measurable returns on investment results throughout your organization. Explore how to measure positive ROI results in sales, operations, finance, inventory, logistics and merchandising and turn any software purchase into an investment.

Join Jeff Evans for this step-by-step guide to growing an online, local army of advocates for your brand—your store. Learn how to develop high-quality content for specific social media platforms—content that tells your stories and covers your community in a way that results in conversations with people who don’t even realize they’ll be a customer, a store ambassador or both. He’ll discuss a two-part step that is virtual actions that result in real world actions. The end result is a trusting, engaged community that ultimately drives sales.

5:15 – 6:00 p.m.

The Profit Series John Egger, Profitability Consulting

Profit is a beautiful word. This two-part seminar series will give you new ideas with tried-and-true systems to get your entire team thinking PROFIT! This could be your most profitable event at market.

John Egger has helped nearly 1,000 companies increase their bottom lines and he’s ready to help yours.

RetailerNOWmag.com

OCTOBER | 2015

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NAHFA’s Retailer Resource Center - Seminar Descriptions potential. Learn about what makes a great salesperson, how to find them, how you keep them, and how you can ensure their success.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 18 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

State of the Furniture Industry Jerry Epperson, Mann, Armistead & Epperson, LTD

Leveraging E-Commerce to Sell Your Showroom

The home furnishings industry is entering a renewed “Golden Age of Retailing” thanks to technology, the economy, demographics and specific industry opportunities that are coming together. Other industry sectors are now envying us—as hard as that is to believe.

Bob Bradley, Netsertive

10:00 – 11:00a.m.

Storytelling: A New Brand Imperative David Altman, CEO, MartketShare Advisors International

Customers have grown weary of the hard sell; they want to share values and beliefs with their brands. The days of B2C have been replaced by H2H (Human to Human). What’s your story and how can you best bring it forward? This session will uncover what storytelling is, why it’s vital in today’s world, who’s winning and best practices to put to work today.

Retailers need to add e-commerce as a core competency in 2015 as consumers rely more heavily on mobile devices to research purchases. In this session, marketers and local retail owners will learn about building and leveraging online shopping carts, using Google for product listing ads and how to pair a mobile savvy digital strategy with traditional customer service and next-day delivery options as a way to give the local retailer a leg up versus online retailers.

Session attendees will learn why inventory should be the main focus of retailers’ digital marketing campaign and how to offer the “white glove advantage”—the personal touch local retailers can offer customers that online retailers cannot.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Implementing a Productivity Improvement Program

Buckle Up! This is for Promotional Stores Only!

Sale Events for Big Weekends Over the Next 6 Months Brad Lebow, Horich Hector Lebow Advertising

Keep the momentum going by putting traffic-driving sale events on your calendar for a big finish to 2015 and a strong start to 2016.

Brad Lebow, president of Horich Hector Lebow Advertising, will walk you through the best opportunities and the best ideas for sale events from now until the next High Point market. Plus he’ll show you the best way to reach your customer through television, direct mail and digital media.

Brad Huisken, IAS Training

Brad Huisken will lead participants through a fun and motivational seminar on how to implement a productivity improvement program. He’ll discuss the five benchmarks for productivity improvement along with detailing non-negotiable sales and customer service standards, training techniques and his training checklist for sales people and sales managers. The main responsibility of a sales manager is to give their people the help, training, and guidance they need to achieve success. Only through the consistent application of sound business principles can we achieve increased productivity.

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Dynamic Retail Solutions for a Modern World

Real World Strategies for Remarkable Retail Design

Connie Post, Affordable Design Solutions

Join Connie Post, the industry’s expert in retail design for a fastpaced look at stores that sizzle. Strap on your seat belt for a whirlwind tour of news-making stores across the country as the industry’s own takes on the industry. She’ll focus on transformative retail strategies currently in play, and insights into engaging customer experiences that really work from the retail strategist who understands shoppers best. Along the way, you’ll benefit from a master’s class in trend-setting interiors, exteriors and graphics that amp up traffic, along with enlightened visual identity and merchandising concepts that set leaders apart in their marketplaces.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Anatomy of a Salesperson Assuming the answer cannot be both; would you rather have a beautiful store with a terrible sales team, or an ugly store with a great sales team? You could have a beautiful store, great merchandise, and a great location; but people buy from people, not stores. Huge differences in the performance of salespeople dramatically limits your

OCTOBER | 2015

If you’re a retail executive with P&L responsibilities this is the one seminar you can’t afford to miss. It’s time to think differently about how design impacts strategy, assortment planning, and making the most of your valuable assets. Roberts focuses on post-recession strategies of retailers who adopt offensive positions to cultivate new customers. Learn more about recent expansions and those in the pipeline. Hear how to take advantage of distressed real estate, as well as provocative brand repositioning designed to update and/or entirely remake your image in the marketplace. This session is for those tasked with the bottom line, presented in Roberts’ usual fastpaced, honest delivery.

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Joe Milevsky, JRM Sales & Management

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Martin Roberts, Martin Roberts Design LLC

Furniture Tip-Over Safety: What You Need to Know Bill Perdue, vice president of regulatory affairs, American Home Furnishings Alliance

The number of furniture tip-over accidents harming children are on the rise. Do you know why? What can your store do to help reverse

RetailerNOWmag.com

NAHFA’s Retailer Resource Center - Seminar Descriptions this tragic trend? Don’t miss this timely seminar, which will include a demonstration of the industry’s voluntary tip-over standard and how to tell if the products your store carries meet the minimum requirements for furniture stability.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Showrooming: Leverage it to YOUR Benefit Ellen Gefen, Gefen Marketing

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Control Your Financials. Grow Your Business Lee Rychel, PROFITsystems

Unless you have an accounting degree, you may spend more time running away from your financial data than analyzing it. Financials are the Holy Grail of business. Join industry expert Lee Rychel and learn valuable tips and tricks to understanding, analyzing and controlling your financial data. As a bonus, Lee will show you how you can save thousands of dollars in your accounting bills. Leave feeling empowered to take control of your financial data and grow your business.

Showrooming has become a brick-and-mortar store’s worst nightmare. Or has it? The practice of visiting a store for the purpose of checking out a product before buying it online at a lower price is the new way to shop. Retailers have been trying to figure out a way to keep up with this trend. Some brick-and-mortar retailers have successfully competed with online retailers by offering loyalty programs, in-store price matching and other promotions to deter showrooming. At this informative seminar, we’ll go over ways you can position, present and promote your products so that showrooming works for your benefit.

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

It’s Not E-Commerce; It’s Commerce Sev Ritchie, Tailbase

Great Expectations: Give Your Shoppers a Great Online Experience Jesse Akre, MicroD Inc.

Did you know you only have 10-20 seconds to impress your website visitor? Are you giving them what they want, a reason to stay and a reason to buy? Having a strategy for pricing, product branding, and target marketing are critical elements in making your online showroom a hub for potential customers. Learn from industry experts how to give shoppers a powerful online experience when we discuss best practices for online pricing, pros and cons of hide-and-seek, risks versus rewards of displaying brand names, and driving traffic through online promotions and target consumer campaigns.

This seminar will illustrate the importance of integrating e-commerce into your business. More than 70 percent of purchases in the home furnishings space are influenced by an online source (search engine, social media, etc.) and in some cases 20 percent of store purchases are being made via a shopping cart. Learn from case studies selected from the thousands of retailers throughout North America and from attendees’ marketing strategies. Attendees will leave this seminar with the foundation of a strategy to integrate or enhance their e-commerce capability.

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Designers as Change Agents Mary Knackstedt, Mary K Interiors

4:00 – 5:00 p.m.

RE:THiNK What You Need to do to Win Customers in the Digital Age Jennie Gilbert, Retailer Web Services

Independent retailers don’t have time or money to waste time trying to adopt the latest retail fads. They need practical advice that is grounded in the way retail consumers shop for the products they sell. Jennie will focus on 11 tactics anyone in home furnishings can implement to beat the competition, no matter their size. Her insight is the result of consumer feedback collected through proprietary research conducted with consumers nationwide. Explore research and supporting examples that will provide you with concrete, data-driven steps to use in your business.

There’s a reason interior designers often become close friends with clients—it’s because they enhance their lives. People don’t want to be ‘sold’ they want assistance from knowledgeable people with whom they have relationships. They want to buy experiences. Knackstedt has taught many of today’s leading designers how to build successful enterprises. Join author, interior designer and business strategist Mary Knackstedt and learn how retailers can adapt leading designers’ sales techniques for their own salespeople to build sales.

5:15 – 6:00 p.m.

NAHFA Seminar Series sponsored by:

The Profit Series John Egger, Profitability Consulting

Profit is a beautiful word. This two-part seminar series will give you new ideas with tried-and-true systems to get your entire team thinking PROFIT! This could be your most profitable event at market.

John Egger has helped nearly 1,000 companies increase their bottom lines and he’s ready to help yours.

RetailerNOWmag.com

OCTOBER | 2015

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BENEFITFOCUS

Where Does YOUR Store Stand?

NAHFA’s 2015 Retail Performance Report compares you to your peers

By Kaprice Crawford

F

or almost 40 years, the North American Home Furnishings Association’s Retail Performance Report was the industry standard for retail benchmarking. After a nine-year hiatus, it’s back by popular demand.

We want to thank everyone who participated to the 2015 RPR. It’s through your support that this project became a reality and you are leading the future of the home furnishings industry through your contribution!

The Retail Performance Report is an in-depth, retail-specific report generated exclusively for our industry. It’s designed to help home furnishings retailers evaluate their performance relative to top performing and average firms in the industry.

This year, NAHFA used cloud survey and reporting technology and top industry financial consultants to compile the survey and interpret the results, which will set the stage for helping you benchmark and plan for the future.

NAHFA’s 2015 Retail Performance Report represents the results of our survey from 2014 financial and operational data. A diverse cross section of retailers in the industry representing all regions of North America and beyond helped set the bar for the industry.

The report captures the most important and up-to-date key performance indicators (KPIs) for the home furnishings industry, which any home furnishings retailer can use to improve their business. This report measures performance metrics in several categories:

Gross margin is up! Gross margin percent of sales increased both on average and for high-performing businesses.

Operating costs are down! As a percent of sales, all operating costs, excluding cost of goods sold, have decreased as a percent of sales both on average and for top performers.

The Retail Performance Report takes an educational approach in displaying data. For each metric there is an explanation and interpretation. You will see the average results of the data collected, as well as the top 20 percent of performers. The goal of this report is to assist you to become more in tune with your store's performance metrics and understand what other retailers are producing.

Percent of sales metrics Percent of assets metrics Selling metrics Operational metrics Salary mix Advertising mix Liquidity metrics Inventory metrics

If you didn’t participate in the 2015 Retail Performance Report, but would like to compare your business to others in the home furnishings industry, NAHFA members can purchase a copy for $299 (non-members can purchase the report for $399).

We would like to encourage you to participate in the 2016 Retail Performance Report and receive the report for FREE! To get your copy of the report, contact Kaprice Crawford, NAHFA’s membership director, at 800-422-3778.

You can leverage this report to: • Decide which metrics are most important for you to focus on in your current situation.

• Develop a big picture strategy with realistic goals and a timeline for improvement.

• Set specific actions and tactics within your organization that can help you realize your goals.

• Monitor your key performance metrics monthly.

• Continue the process of improvement, education and upping your performance bar.

Participants receive the full results for free, however here are a few brief observations: Sales are up! On average, organizations reported an increase in volume nationwide from their performance the previous year.

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OCTOBER | 2015

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Kaprice Crawford is NAHFA’s membership director and can help NAHFA members with any questions or problems they encounter in their jobs. Contact Kaprice at 800.422.3778 or kcrawford@nahfa.org

NAHFA Program Partnerships Create Endless Opportunity.

NAHFA provided its members access to exclusive low EVERY DAY financing rates through Synchrony Financial.

• Monthly finance rate buy-downs for members only.

• Open-to-buy reports & consumer sweepstakes.

Come visit us at High Point Market Booth #16 in the NAHFA Retailer Resource Center

NAHFA Preferred Partner

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b y a d ri

To learn more about this NAHFA member program visit nahfa.org or call:

800-422-3778

Always providing members discounted pricing through our national programs.

It All Adds Up When done right, professional advertising allows you to sell furniture at a higher price.

By David Love

Why should your store advertise? Of course, we all know the simple, off-the-top-of-your-head answer: to get more business, right? But there are many other residual benefits to a store that comes with professional advertising.

You might be saying, “My advertising is professional, what’s he talking about?”

I like the definition of professional advertising I heard a long time ago. “Professional advertising is salesmanship multiplied by media.” The key word here being “salesmanship.” Your advertising may be prepared professionally, but benefit- and informationstarved advertising is not professional advertising.

The primary function of professional advertising is to sell. It doesn’t matter if it’s print, radio, television, web, emails, social media or whatever. The primary function of advertising is to sell. Sell your merchandise. Sell your services. Sell ideas. Sell your store.

Because as flattering as they are, you can’t take “likes” to the bank.

Many stores, however, advertise as habit or because the competition does it, or for such vague reasons as keeping their name in front of the public. Or because they feel compelled to do something this month. Or because the ad sales rep comes in the door with a hot deal. Or, worst of all, the manufacturer is paying for part or all of the ad.

Besides the immediate effect of a good weekend or a good month, professional advertising has cumulative, long-term, spinoff benefits important to the long-term welfare of your store.

Now let’s have a look at some of these reasons you advertise.

Keep in mind, when I say “ad” I mean any means by which you communicate with your prospects and customers. It’s just easier to say “ad.”

Professional advertising builds your reputation.

Here’s your opportunity to tell your story; to share the way you do business and how you treat your guests. It’s your chance to talk about your store's philosophy, the work you do in your community, and the quality of your people, products and services. All this takes copy.

Contrary to most furniture industry retailers’ opinions, copy written to proven standards will be read.

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OCTOBER | 2015

Professional advertising attracts new customers.

You always need a steady flow of new customers to keep your business growing.

People leave you for many reasons. They move away. They find a better deal. She takes the advice of a friend to try a different store.

The other store has more effective web copy, which is where most prospects go for information after seeing or hearing your ad.

Professional advertising keeps your current clients coming back.

Just as you need a steady flow of new customers, you also need to keep current ones coming back. You can’t afford to let even one get away. This should be done primarily with offers made just to them, but they will also respond to advertising made to the general public. Because they have already done business with you and presumably were happy and want to return to you for their next purchase, they will return if given good reasons to do so. Picture, price and long-term, free financing are not reasons enough. Every store offers these.

Professional advertising helps overcome competition.

This is done by explaining in your ads why you have such great values. Why your current sale is so important. Why they should come see you versus the store across town. This reason relates very closely to building your reputation. In fact, none of these reasons to advertise stands alone. The more you meld together, the better the long-term health of your business.

Professional advertising allows you to sell at higher prices which boosts profits.

When you begin to present one or more of these reasons in your advertising, lower prices becomes less important. Prospects will certainly be attracted by low prices, but lowest price is seldom the primary reason people buy. Don’t believe me? I doubt that when you bought your last car or truck, you walked into the dealership and asked to see the cheapest one. You want the lowest price on the car you choose, but you don’t want the cheapest on the lot.

RetailerNOWmag.com

HELP CUSTOMERS GET WHAT THEY WANT, I’ve been driving Lexus cars for more than 20 years. Sometimes friends make fun of me, saying I’m just driving an expensive Toyota.

There is some truth to that, but the service Lexus provides is head and shoulders above any other. That’s why I buy them. If price was the only reason anyone bought a car, everyone would be driving around town in a Kia Rios.

TODAY.

Professional advertising helps your salespeople close more sales more easily at higher margins.

Because readers of your ads see all these reasons, they become less price sensitive. They come into your store more pre-sold, ready to buy.

Put another way, they are less price resistant.

Professional advertising informs in order to persuade.

Buying decisions are many times made emotionally, but they need to be justified rationally with facts. Your prospect may buy a new sofa for $999. She knows there’s one across town, very much like hers that she could have bought for $799, but she bought from you instead for several reasons.

As she’s showing off her new sofa to her best friend, her friend, (who saw the same ad for that same $799 sofa) being the good friend that she is, reminds her of the $799 sofa. What does your customer do? She gives her friend all the rational reasons she bought from you—reasons like you have it in stock, you have next-day delivery, the salesperson was helpful, and so on.

Professional advertising reduces your total selling costs.

When more people respond to your ads, your sales and profits go up at no additional ad expense. Let’s say you’re selling $5 million. You’re spending $250,000 on advertising, or 5 percent of your sales. Let’s say that, because of running content- and benefit-rich ads, by the end of the next year you’ve sold $5.5 million. That’s a 10-percent increase.

You have spent the same $250,000, but now your ad expense has shrunk to 4.5 percent. We all know your expense to deliver that $799 sofa is the same as it to deliver the $999 version. Your costs go down, your profits go up. Very simple. Professional advertising can do this for you.

NO CREDIT REQUIRED SHOPPING WITH FLEXIBLE PAYMENT OPTIONS

INCLUDING Point-of-Sale System Integration eCommerce Solutions Several Choices for Ownership

Professional selling is done in your store, one on one.

Doesn’t it make selling sense to do the most professional selling possible where you reach thousands at once—in your ads? What other store function is as effective in positioning your store as the logical place to buy? Learning to make the same ad dollars produce additional profit dollars and long-term benefits is vital to your survival.

You can’t do any of this without copy.

Building upon the roots of WhyNotLeaseIt™, the mission of TEMPOE is to be an emblem of trust by putting retail within reach for our retailers and their customers.

The erroneous opinion, most destructive to your profits and income, is that no one will read copy. If you still think this way, I urge you to put that long-held belief aside and give selling copy a chance.

To find out more about how benefit-laden, content-rich professional advertising can pull more buying traffic, cut advertising waste, and make you more money, contact David at lovefurnitureprofits@mail.com or 707-580-3415.

844-TODAY4U

TEMPOE.com © 2015 TEMPOE, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

RetailerNOWmag.com

OCTOBER | 2015

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WIRED FOR THE FUTURE NEXT GENERATION NOW ACTIVITIES AT HIGH POINT MARKET

Market BASH

Saturday, 10/17 Starts at 5:00 pm Location: FurnitureDealer.net Hangout 311 South Elm Street, HPM

Lunch with Leaders

Sunday, 10/18

By Appointment 11:30 am Lee David Fautsch Senior VP Sales, Home Furnishings Flexsteel Industries See all featured leaders online

Next Generation NOW is an NAHFAhosted community of young industry professionals whose mission is to give voice to the needs and goals of the industry’s next wave of leaders.

Visit the website for more info 40

OCTOBER | 2015 RetailerNOWmag.com NAHFA.org • NextGenerationNOW.net • @ngnow •

NextGenNOW

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There’s Gold in Those Shoppers The power of prospecting starts with building sincere, meaningful relationships with your customers.

By Marty Grosse

W

hat would you do if you discovered a gold mine in your back yard? Presumably you’d immediately start digging. Every customer who walks through your store’s front door represents a potential gold mine that’s often ignored by most salespeople. It takes considerable time and expense to drive customers to your store. It’s easy to measure selling success by monitoring close rates and average invoice size and certainly this is important to the immediacy of covering overhead and turning a profit. However, the customer who purchases or walks out represents a deeper potential for additional sales now and well into the future.

Successful sales prospecting is not to be confused with cold calling. Customers who have visited or called your store should be viewed with a buying pattern far beyond the immediate sale. Home furnishings purchases are generated by life experiences like buying a new home, starting a new job, kids leaving home, marriages, divorces and retirement, just to name a few.

The ability to prospect customers and maximize sales opportunities includes three basic tenets.

Gathering Customer Information The first step in building a relationship with a customer is foundational to the entire prospecting process. Successful salespeople tell me they become friends with their customers. Dale Carnegie gave us a road map for making friends and getting people to like us. When customers become friends with a salesperson, there’s a natural flow of helpful information. He suggested the following for building a friend relationship.

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•

Become genuinely interested in other people.

•

Smile.

•

Remember that a person’s name is, to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

OCTOBER | 2015

•

Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.

•

Talk in terms of the other person’s interest.

•

Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely.

If you simply focused and trained sales people to befriend customers, then sales and close rates would improve by default.

However, there’s more to be gained.

When we learn why a customer is buying today it opens a trove of useful information. As an example, when purchasing a new home, most customers don’t purchase all of their furniture and accessories at once. Research shows that new home purchases create a prolonged buying process. Finding out what the customer is doing now and what they plan to do in the future provides a road map for creating an ongoing friendly sales relationship. Knowing when a customer’s children might be going to college or when a couple is planning to retire is powerful stuff.

The list of scenarios for learning more about a customer goes on and on.

Of course all of this is predicated on a genuine and sincere interest in the customer. When customers sense that the salesperson is genuinely interested and sincere about meeting their needs then the long-term selling potential begins.

Seeking Permission Step two is simple. After building rapport and a relationship with a customer, gaining permission to reach out to the customer for future needs is logical and expected. Permission may be gained by asking questions along with making statements. “May I have your permission to contact you if I become aware of new products or promotions for that next room or project you will be working on? I promise to be respectful of your time. What is the best way to contact you?” Reaching customers today is easier

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than ever. Asking a customer how they would like to be contacted is the way to cement the process of permission-based follow up. Whether they prefer email, texts, phone calls, regular mail or social media, technology now makes it easier than ever to stay connected with a customer.

Track and Monitor The third step is using a system for systematic (yet sensitive) contact with previous customers. Some of the best prospecting sales professionals I know do not have a fancy system. Often it’s note cards and tickler files and sometimes it’s the dreaded sticky note process.

A system is only good if it’s used and accepted by the whole sales team. As a manager or store owner, the notion of having multiple systems in a store conflicts with a desire for standardization and efficiency.

Today’s technology makes it easier for the individual salesperson to track and contact customers. Online calendars with built-in reminders are natural for the process of staying in touch at the appropriate time. Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and even Pinterest boards allow salespeople and their new prospecting friends to stay in touch. Does your point-ofsale system help salespeople identify customers that bought a recently discontinued collection?

Imagine the impact of calling a customer and offering them the dining room armchair or night stand before it’s gone forever.

Study systems that your sales people may currently be using and take the best ideas to share with the other sales people. Establishing mandatory and rigid systems for the entire sales team may not be a

good idea. After all, customers are all different and salespeople are all different too. The key to prospecting success is teaching salespeople why it’s important and how to effectively build relationships with the customer. Look for ways to provide salespeople the tools they need to prospect customers. Successful individual systems will emerge and sales people will recognize they work then you can standardize a proven system for all.

Prospecting is developing long-term relationships with customers, and, more importantly, understanding their needs today and into the future. It then becomes a process of staying in touch to strengthen the relationship.

Of course there’s more to it than just prospecting. Your store must provide relevant and stylish merchandise along with good customer service. Marketing and advertising are needed to get them to the store in the first place. Prospecting is an extension of all the other aspects of running a store.

Mining for gold and running furniture stores is not easy work. However, when properly done the rewards are meaningful. So grab a shovel and start digging.

THE ARLINGTON COLLECTION

by Bolton Furniture

Furniche.com founder Marty Grosse has 35 years of home furnishings experience. You can contact him at martygrosse@furniche.com.

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43

GOVACTION

The Tipping Point Retailers should understand the standards in place for safer furniture

By Lisa Casinger

A

child is killed every two weeks when a TV or piece of furniture falls on them, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Another 38,000 Americans, mostly children, are injured due to tip-over incidents. Earlier this year the Commission launched its Anchor It! campaign to educate consumers about the importance of anchoring their furniture.

For nearly 15 years our industry has had a voluntary furniture tip-over standard. As a retailer it’s your job to know if the product you’re selling meets the standard and to educate your customers on the importance of purchasing compliant furniture and installing tip-over restraints once they get that furniture home.

The voluntary standard was adopted by the furniture safety subcommittee of ASTM International in 2000 and was updated in 2004, 2009 and 2014. It applies specifically to clothing storage units, 30 inches or taller. This spring the CPSC’s Commissioner Marietta Robinson said the standard is “insufficient” and added the industry must work toward “broader compliance.”

To meet the standard the piece of furniture has to meet all of these performance standards: • The empty piece must remain stable with all of its drawers open and all doors open to 90 degrees; it cannot tip over.

EVERY S 24 MINUreTdE ju a child is in d p p from ti e TVs. d n a furniture

.S. n is the U It! campaig r o ch n A e n Th missio ’s Safety Com ct u d o Pr er Consum parents and help ensure to n io ct a in call to ese dangers arn about th le rs e iv g re o ca low-c st ke simple, ta d n a e m the ho tr a g e d ie s. v e n t th e se re p to s p st e

• It must remain stable when 50 pounds of weight is gradually applied to the front edge of each drawer (individually), opened to the stop. (If there is no stop, the drawer must be opened two-thirds of its operating length.) The 50 pound weight is meant to simulate the weight of a 5-year-old child in the 95th percentile of weight.

• The tests are conducted without the use of a tip restraint but tip restraints “shall be included” with each item of furniture covered. The tip restraints also have to meet testing requirements of a separate ASTM standard, F3096.

• A permanent warning label must be attached in a conspicuous location that’s visible when the product’s in use. (Most manufacturers put it in the bottom of a drawer.) The warning label must include the following information: - WARNING: Serious or fatal crushing injuries can occur from furniture tip-over. To help prevent tip-over: - Install tip-over restraint provided - Place heaviest items in the lower drawers

LIKE CHILDRENB ON TO CLIM RE FURNITU e is a

e hom For them, th . However, n u playgro d are not many parents s cu nse red TV aware that u n e re are hidd and furnitu ing hazards lurk m. o ro ry e in ev

orIt.gov

www.Anch 44

OCTOBER | 2015

- Unless specifically designed to accommodate, do not set TVs or other heavy objects on top of this product - Never allow children to climb or hang on drawers, doors, or shelves - Never open more than one drawer at a time - Use of tip-over restraints may only reduce, but not eliminate, the risk of tip-over Who made the standard? ASTM International (American Society for Testing and Materials) is the international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a range of goods and services. The furniture safety subcommittee is chaired by Bill Perdue, vice president of regulatory affairs for the American Home Furnishings Alliance.

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There are about 130 voting members of the subcommittee, including furniture engineers from many major manufacturers, representatives of consumer groups, testing labs, and parents.

CPSC staff advise the committee but do not vote.

The subcommittee has jurisdiction over four standards.

Aside from the furniture tip-over standard, there is an ASTM standard for furniture tip restraints, one for horizontal glass used for desks and tables, and one for cedar chests.

How was the standard developed? The subcommittee considered accident data collected and analyzed by CPSC staff.

This data led to the focus on clothing storage pieces, as well as the height specification (30� or higher). It also revealed that the majority of accidents involve children age 5 and younger, hence the use of the 50-pound test weight.

The subcommittee can modify the standard based on data supplied by CPSC staff, but also based on changes in the marketplace. For example, media chests—a relatively new category—were specifically added to the list of covered products in the 2009 revision.

This spring AHFA hosted a symposium to discuss the voluntary standard and review the CPSC’s suggestions for revisions. ASTM and AHFA staff gave presentations and CPSC’s Robinson addressed representatives from UL, national child safety organizations, NAHFA, furniture manufacturers, the American Society of Furniture Designers, the Consumer Electronics Association and manufacturers of tip restraints.

An unofficial task group from the ASTM subcommittee also met to discuss and set priorities based on the day’s presentations and discussions. The task group agreed to review the introduction to the tip-over standard to eliminate any possible legal loopholes.

Another update to the standard as a result of the symposium could be an increase in the standard 50-pound weight required for the performance tests. Arthur Lee, an engineer on the CPSC staff who worked with the appliance industry on a tip-over safety standard for freestanding ranges, pointed out that 50 pounds was the average weight of a five-year-old in the 95th percentile of weight in 1977. The CPSC is now updating its data using more current weights. The task group agreed it should obtain the CPSC’s new data and update the tip-over standard if necessary.

The task group also discussed furniture anchoring systems that wouldn’t require tools to install or putting holes in the wall; making tip restraints more conspicuous to the consumer, including making them a brighter color or having the furniture side of the tip restraint bracket “pre-installed� on the back of the furniture; an industry label that distinguishes between compliant and non-compliant products and getting more involvement from the TV ind ustry, including the possibility of having tip prevention information included in the remote control set-up tutorials on new televisions.

The task group will report on these measures during its meeting this month. AHFA’s Perdue will give a seminar in NAHFA’s Retailer Resource Center on October 19 at 11:30 a.m. to demonstrate the standard and how retailers can inform their staff and customers about its importance.

Lisa Casinger is ReailerNow’s editorial director and NAHFA’s government relations liaison. You can reach her at lcasinger@nahfa.org or 916-784-7677.

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NAHFACOMMUNITY All Fore One More than 50 North American Home Furnishings Association members, industry reps and associates showed up for a little (OK, a lot) of golf and even more learning and networking at the 11th annual Inland Empire Furniture Dealers’ Golf Tournament at Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley, Idaho in August.

The event brought together NAHFA members who otherwise might not have the time to talk about their business and the industry in a relaxed environment. The day was one of several regional events offered by NAHFA throughout the year for members to connect, learn and grow their business, said Sharron Bradley, the association’s chief executive officer.

“Our members are busy and we know it’s not always easy for them to get away from their stores,” says Bradley. “That’s why we love putting on regional events like these.

They’re a great way to get away for a day, share ideas with other members and take a few tips home.”

TEE IT UP From left to right, Lance Heuscher of Bitney's Furniture, Mike Molitor of Watkins Shepard Trucking and Josh Stratton of Bitney's prepare to tee it up at the Inland Empire tournament.

IN THE BAG Tag it and Bag it winner, Scott Miller of Howard Miller USA. CONNECTING IN THE CLUBHOUSE NAHFA president Marty Cramer greets the more than 50 people who attended the Inland Empire golf tournament.

Members heard from three industry experts at NAHFA’s regional event: • Larry Shinkle, vice president of sales for Leggett & Platt’s adjustable bed group, showed retailers how customized sleep systems are helping sales associates and retailers gain a competitive advantage over their competition.

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OCTOBER | 2015

• Rob O’Neill, vice president of product development bedding textiles for Fashion Bed Group, offered NAHFA retailers a few simple sleep accessory selling tips retailers can employ to increase add-ion sales.

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• With 3.5 billion Google searches performed every day, Netsertive’s Bob Bradley showed NAHFA members a few secrets they can implement in their advertising campaigns to help convert more shoppers into buyers.

NAHFACOMMUNITY Gannon Sales Agency; Russ Jones, Ivystone Group; Joann Crawford, In-Detail; Richard Alan, Richard Alan & Associates, LLC.; Charlotte Urban, CODARUS; Andrea Combet, Art & Function; Doug Gould, California Lighting Concepts; and Leslie Taglio, Taglio & Co..

NAHFA Calls for Retailer of Year Nominees The North American Home Furnishings Association is accepting nominations for its 2016 Retailer of the Year Awards.

The award recognizes NAHFA members who demonstrate exemplary service to the industry and their communities and who provide an exceptional customer experience in their stores. Nominees will be considered in two categories—businesses with sales volume under $10 million and those with sales volume of $10 million or above.

Nominations must be submitted by November 20.

Visit NAHFA.org/retaileroftheyear to nominate the association’s next retailers of the year.

Nominees will be announced during the Winter Las Vegas Market in January and winners will be announced during the April High Point Market. Winners will be celebrated at a gala event at the NAHFA Networking Conference, May 22-24, in Long Beach, Calif.

Product designer finalists are: Ashley Childers, Emporium Home; Dann Foley, Dann Foley Lifestyle; Jason Phillips, Phillips Collection; Ron McIntyre, Square Feathers; and Sandra Hernandez Yedor, Lili Alessandra.

Interior design finalists include: Aimee Miller, DTM Interiors; Allison Paladino, Allison Paladino Interiors; Erinn Valencich, Erinn V. Design Group; and Traci Connell, Traci Connell Interiors.

27th Annual ARTS Awards Finalists Announced The Dallas Market Center and ART, the creative home furnishings network have announced the 27th annual ARTS Awards finalists.

“This year’s finalists exemplify the hard work and commitment that inspires the entire home furnishings community,” Cindy Morris, CEO of Dallas Market Center said.

“We congratulate all the finalists and look forward to an exciting evening at the awards gala in January.”

The single-store retail finalists include: 24e Design Co., Savannah, Ga.; Donna’s Home Furnishings, Conroe, Texas; and Palette & Parlor, Chapel Hill, N.C.. The multiple-store retail finalists include: Interior Illusions, West Hollywood, Calif.; Louis Shanks, Austin, Texas; and NAHFA member, The Arrangement, Dallas, Texas.

Home accent store finalists are: Outrageous Interiors, Suwanee, Ga.; The Blue Octagon, Malvern, Pa.; J Banks Design, Hilton Head

Island, S.C.; Dwell Home Furnishings, Coralville, Iowa; Leon & Lulu, Clawson, Mich.; SummerHouse, Ridgeland, Miss.; Bella Casa, Portland, Ore.; Urban Chic Home Furnishings, Las Vegas, Nev.; and Jonathons Coastal Living, Fountain Valley, Calif. Lighting showroom retail finalists are: Hermitage Lighting Gallery, Nashville, Tenn.; Pace Lighting Inc., Savannah, Ga.; Progressive Lighting, Duluth, Ga.; Hinsdale Lighting, Hinsdale, Ill.; Passion Lighting, Grapevine, Texas; The Collection on 5, Minneapolis, Minn.; Accent Lighting, Lake Oswego, Ore.; and Illuminations, Tucson, Ariz.. International retail finalists include: Aaron Stewart Home, San Juan, Puerto Rico; Design Lighting, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada; Robinson Lighting, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; and Station12, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Sales representative finalists include: Greg Lewis, jdouglas; Kevin Gannon,

Manufacturer finalists include: Gabby; Home Trends & Design; Noir; Selamat Design; Company C; Jaipur Rugs Inc.; Loloi Rugs; Safavieh; GO Home Ltd.; Phillips Collection; Regina-Andrew Design; Uttermost; Lili Alessandra; Ryan Studio; Bella Notte Linens; Coral & Tusk; Pom Pom at Home; Currey & Company; Fine Art Lamps; Hubbardton Forge; Visual Comfort & Co.; Emissary; Janus et Cie; Palecek; Seasonal Living; Summer Classics; Couture Lamps; Jamie Young Co.; Light & Living; Holtkoetter; Robert Abbey; Annieglass; Arte Italica; Beatriz Ball Collection; Vietri Inc.; Art Addiction; Leftbank Art; Spicher and Company; and Wendover Art Group.

“Every year we have the honor to recognize the abundant talent within our industry,” said Sharon Davis, executive director of ART. “We appreciate their passion for excellence, and we know the judges will have a very difficult task.”

The finalists each submit a streamlined digital presentation to a panel of distinguished judges. Digital submissions vary based on category and may consist of product development, marketing, merchandising or company differentiation examples. Next month, the judges will convene in Dallas to review submissions. Once all components of judging are complete, a designated accounting firm will tabulate and secure the scores until the winners are announced at the ARTS Awards gala event on Friday, January.

22, during the Dallas Total Home & Gift Market.

Continued on page 51

Do you have something for the NAHFA Community? Send your information and hi-res photos to Robert Bell, rbell@nahfa.org.

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OCTOBER | 2015

47

Welcome New NAHFA Members NAHFA is excited to recognize and welcome the following retailers to our association:

The North American Home Furnishings Association provides networking and educational events across the country throughout the year. Visit NAHFA.org/events (or email events@ nahfa.org) for information and registration or if you’d like to host an event in your area.

David Bridges Bridges Furniture Company, Ringold, Ga.

Kenny Nguyen Dila Furniture, Tracy, Calif.

Adam Jordan Hanks Fine Furniture, Sherwood, Ark.

Next Generation NOW’s Lunch with Leaders @HPM Next Generation NOW’s Bash @HPM October 18, 2015 High Point, N.C.

New England Holiday Bash December 3, 2015 Papa Razzi Framingham, Mass.

Kelvyn Truong Home Express Furniture, Sparks, Nev.

Mark Davis Home Stars Inc., Denver, Colo.

John Aungst iDeal Furniture, Holdrege, Neb.

Kenny Park Keystone Furniture, Los Angeles, Calif.

Lixsandro Villafan La Estella Furniture, Pasco, Wash.

Chris Salmonsen Mattress Mart Direct, Butte, Mont.

Jacoba Bermudez NIU Urban Living, McAllen, Texas

Larry Phillips Sofas 2 Furnishings, Simi Valley, Calif.

Howard Adkins Unclaimed Freight, Portsmouth, Va.

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OCTOBER | 2015

Joe Quintal (pictured here with wife Pat) of Rotmans Furniture received the Arthur Adelizzi Distinguished Service Award at the 2014 New England Holiday Bash.

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Delivering Education Every Month

NAHFA hosts monthly webinars (free to members) on topics ranging from technology, sales and marketing and operations to consumer studies, ecommerce and more. Webinars are scheduled for the third Thursday of every month from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. PT. Visit NAHFA.org/events for more information and registration.

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MOVE NOW

Our industry moves at a rapid pace.

You need to move with it.

RetailerNOW is the only association magazine dedicated to helping retailers like you move and stay ahead of the curve.

Each month we bring you expert analysis, industry insight and interesting stories to move your business forward.

Call Cindi now.

Williams 916.960.0277 Subscribe VisitatRetailernowmag.com.

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INSPIRATION+EDUCATION

NAHFACOMMUNITY Continued from page 47

WayFair pulls plug on Get It Near Me program Home furnishings e-commerce company Wayfair last month abruptly ended its Get it Near Me advertising program that was directing some of its consumer traffic to local furniture stores.

The geo-targeted ad program was created to direct consumers looking for home furnishings from the Wayfair site to brick-andmortar stores in their community. The NAHFA partnered with Wayfair in a promotion earlier this year.

When the program was created in 2009, the strategy was to give retailers a way to tap into Wayfair’s heavy volume of consumers.

At the time Wayfair and other industry experts argued that many consumers preferred to purchase big-ticket furniture items in a local store rather than online.

Since then local retailers have upgraded their own digital presence and dramatically improved their own online traffic.

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“The Sale has been beyond our wildest expectations!”

Patrick Cullinan Parson’s Furniture • Wolfeboro, NH June 22, 2015

Storis to support EMV liability changes for home furnishings retailers NAHFA member Storis announced last month that the company will offer its home furnishings clients credit card processing that supports EMV liability changes.

“Storis wants to stress the importance of changing over to EMV processing and the positive impacts this new technology can bring to retailers,” says technical project manager David Graham, who headed the initiative. “The risk of not upgrading to more secure processing methods could be devastating to retailers of any size.

Storis has been working diligently to make sure the services we provide to our customers put them in a strong, secure position.”

As reported in September’s RetailerNOW, credit card breaches present a prevalent threat for corporations and small businesses alike in the United States. The leaders in the industry, Europay, MasterCard, and Visa, are jointly enforcing new liability policies due to take effect in October 2015. Many European nations and Canada have been using advanced EMV technology, commonly referred to as “chip and pin”, for years and soon the U.S. will too.

Retailers will have the responsibility for any fraudulent activity that occurs in their stores if they are not compliant with EMV changes set forth by the major credit card companies. Whichever party, the retailer or the credit card institution, is more liable for putting the consumer at risk will take on the financial burden of the theft. Previously the responsibility would have been solely that of the credit card company.

“As the leading provider of retail software solutions to the home furnishings industry, we have a responsibility to the hundreds of retailers we service and to their customers to deliver the most secure technology in the market,” says Donald Surdoval, Storis’s CEO. The adoption of EMV in a retail store is important, because this sophisticated system helps to thwart security hacks by an estimated 70 percent, according to New Science. EMV is designed to make the process of stealing data much more difficult, protecting the account owner from theft.

“It was the best sale we have ever had with no complaints and 99.999% of our sales were implemented and completed - an amazing statistic.”

Jim & Linda Shubert Shubert Design Furniture • Manchester, MO March 4, 2015

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Call (800) 824 - 2238 or visit www.LynchSales.com OCTOBER | 2015 Copyright 2015 Lynch Brothers Licensing Corporation 51

NORTH AMERICAN HOME FURNISHINGS ASSOCIATION’S 2015 SPONSORS

Premier Sponsors

Coaster Company of America Furniture Today North American Retail Service Corp.

Titanium Sponsors

Ashley Furniture Industries Emerald Home Furnishings FurnitureDealer.net Furniture Wizard MicroD, Inc. Myriad Software Nourison STORIS Synchrony Financial

Platinum Sponsors ACA Advertising Concepts of America • Best Buy for Business DataMentors • Diakon Logistics • Furniture of America High Point Market Authority • Leggett & Platt • Mail America 5VY[O^LZ[ -\YUP[\YL ,_WYLZZ 7YVÄ[HIPSP[` *VUZ\S[PUN .YV\W PROFITsystems, Inc. • R & A Marketing • Simmons USA

Gold/Silver Sponsors

1HPW\Y 7OVLUP_ ( 4 + /VYPJO /LJ[VY 3LIV^ (K]LY[PZPUN Restonic Mattress Corp • Steve Silver Co. • Why Not Lease It

Bronze Sponsors

Banner Marketing • BrandSource AVB • Ekornes • Moso Graphics Netsertive • Rooms to Go • Rooms to Go Kids • Therapedic Idaho Wahlquist Management *List as of AUGUST 20, 2015

To become an industry sponsor contact: North American Home Furnishings Association Call Cindi Williams @ 800.422.3778 | cwilliams@nahfa.org 52

OCTOBER | 2015

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INDUSTRYCALENDAR 2015 Fall High Point Market October 17-22 High Point, N.C. highpointmarket.org

Next Generation NOW Lunch with Leaders and Bash October 18 High Point, N.C. nahfa.org/events

New England Holiday Bash December 3 Framingham, Mass. nahfa.org/events

Showtime December 6-9 High Point, N.C. showtime-market.com highpointmarket.org

2016 Atlanta International Area Rug Market January 13-16 Atlanta americasmart.com

Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market January 13-19 Atlanta americasmart.com

Dallas International Lighting Market January 20-24 Dallas dallasmarketcenter.com

Dallas Total Home and Gift Market

Dallas International Lighting Market

January 20-26 Dallas dallasmarketcenter.com

June 22-25, 2016 Dallas dallasmarketcenter.com

Winter Las Vegas Market

Dallas Total Home & Gift Market

January 24-28 Las Vegas lasvegasmarket.com

June 22-28 Dallas dallasmarketcenter.com

NY NOW January 30-February 3 New York City nynow.com

Tupelo Spring Furniture Market February 4-7 Tupelo, Miss. tupelofurnituremarket.com

High Point Market April 16-21 High Point, N.C. highpointmarket.org

Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market July 12-19 Atlanta americasmart.com

Atlanta International Area Rug Market July 13-16 Atlanta Americasmart.com

Summer Las Vegas Market

International Contemporary Furniture Fair

July 31-August 4 Las Vegas Lasvegasmarket.com

May 14-17 New York City icff.com

Tupelo Fall Furniture Market

Home Furnishings Networking Conference May 22-24 Long Beach, Calif. thehfnc.com

Canadian Furniture Show May 28-30 Toronto, Ontario, Canada canadianfurnitureshow.com

Showtime June 5-6, 2016 High Point, N.C. showtime-market.com

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August 18-21 Tupelo, Miss.

Tupelofurnituremarket.com

Casual Market Chicago September 20-23 Chicago Casualmarket.com

High Point Market October 15-20 High Point, N.C. Highpointmarket.org NAHFA-hosted events are highlighted in red.

OCTOBER | 2015

53

ADINDEX 220 Elm (336) 884-8220 220elm.com 220elm @220elm Page 5

Lynch Sales (616) 458-6662 lynchsales.com lynchsales @lynchsales Page 51

STORIS (888) 4-STORIS storis.com STORIS.solutions @STORIS Page 21

Bolton Furniture (802) 888-7974 boltonfurniture.biz Bolton-Furniture @BoltonFurniture Page 43

NAHFA Sponsors (800) 422-3778 retailerNOWmag.com retailernow @retailerNow Page 52

Surya (877) 275-7847 surya.com SuryaSocial @SuryaSocial Inside Cover

Cargo Consolidation Services, Inc. (828) 459-3160 cargoconsolidation.com cargoconsolidation Page 41

NAHFA Products (800) 422-3778 nahfa.org NAHFA @NAHFA Inside Back Cover

TEMPOE 844-TODAY4U tempoe.com TEMPOEsocial @tempoe Page 39

Northwest Furniture Xpress (828) 475-6377 nwfxpress.com Page 19

Tidewater (800) 535-4087 x6553 tidewaterfinance.com Tidewater Finance Company @TidewaterMotor Page 45

Connie Post (304) 736-7283 conniepost.com Page 54 Cresent (615) 975-4862 cresent.com Cresent.furniture @cresentfurniture Page 13 Furniche (210) 473-9508 furniche.com Furniche.USA @Furniche_usa Page 25 Furniture Wizard (619) 869-7200 furniturewizard.com furniturewizard @furniturewiz Page 7 High Point Market (336) 869-1000 highpointmarket.org http://tinyurl.com/ HighPtMarket @hpmarketnews Page 3 Horich Hector Lebow (800) 878-8989 hhladv.com Page 27 To advertise in RetailerNow, contact Cindi Williams at (916) 960-0277.

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ProfitSystems (800) 888-5565 profitsystems.com PROFITsystems @PROFITsystems Page 9

Truckskin (877) 866-7546 truckskin.com TruckSkin @TruckSkin Page 49

CONNECT NOW

You’ve got product, we’ve got buyers.

Let us help you connect.

RetailerNOW is the only association print and digital media dedicated entirely to your target retail audience. Our readers are the CEOs, owners and decision makers you want to reach. Ready to connect?

Advertise now.

Call Cindi Williams at 916.960.0277.

INSPIRATION+EDUCATION

NOWLIST A Moving Piece

The Views Have It

Cascade is a sculptural chest of drawers from Irish furniture maker (and surfer) Martin Gallagher.

61%

... get their political news from Facebook in a given week

of online Millennials...

60% of Internet-using Baby Boomers get their political news from local TV

Source: Pew Research

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crafted in ash, finished in a white pigmented stain with handsculpted channels on the face of the five touch-operated drawers.

Source: Martingallagherfuniture.com

Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trillion with a T Worldwide e-commerce sales are expected to reach

$

2 trillion by 2016

%

Source: Acceleration Partners via NRF Retail Library

90%

More than of the 50 leading retail brands use at least two social networks.

Source: Yesmail Interactive

62

of survey respondents expressed interest in joining a rewards/loyalty program

75% 77%

of people ages 18 to 24 would consider joining one of people ages 25 to 34 would consider joining one Source: Loyaltyone

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OCTOBER | 2015

55

THE WAY WE WERE

T

his is the first Waldrop store my grandfather, Barney Waldrop, opened in 1952. After serving in the military, my grandfather went to work for Sears, where he sold furniture in their furniture department. After a while I guess he figured he’d gotten pretty good at selling furniture that he decided to open his own store and give it a shot on his own. He opened the store with a partner, Mr. Miller. The store opened on Avenue D in Lovington, New Mexico, the county seat for Lea County. After a few years they moved things closer to where other businesses were hopping in the county and

that's when business really started to take off for them and they grew.

To be honest, I haven't been out that way in a while, but I’m pretty sure this building doesn’t exist anymore. That doesn't mean I don't think about it from time to time. It’s nice to remember our roots and how far we’ve come as a family business. That first store of my grandfather’s was little, maybe 2,000 square feet. Today we have two stores and 60,000 square-feet of showroom. It's not a really long distance from that first store and where we are today, but, yeah, you can say we’ve come a long way.

Kent Waldrop, President, Miller Waldrop Furniture, Hobbs, New Mexico

Y Share your old photograph and memory by contacting Robert Bell at 916.757.1169 or rbell@nahfa.org

56

OCTOBER | 2015

RetailerNOWmag.com

Warehouse & Operations Products for the Furniture Industry Order today from our extensive product offering. We’re sure you’ll find just what you’re looking for to help your business and boost your level of customer service.

Order during High Point Market in NAHFA’s Retailer Resource Center

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