HGO Merchandiser Spring 2017

Michael Knell’s

HGO merchandiser HomeGoodsOnline.ca

SPRING 2017

Volume Six, Issue 1

WHAT'S HOT IN

wood furniture Bennett’s flagship shows its age beautifully Donald Cooper on the four steps to fixing what’s needed

Make your store traffic count!

Apparent market for mattresses breaks $1B barrier

CONTENTS

8

by Canadian manufacturers made gains in 2016 they still aren’t back to where they were then. What’s changed is the growth in imports, particularly from the U.S. They now account for 19.6% of the apparent market. This report was authored by Michael J. Knell.

24 6

EDITOR’S LETTER THE CHANGING MATTRESS MARKET

Elsewhere in this issue, we report that after a tough decade the apparent market for mattresses finally climbed back to where it was before the financial markets went sideways. But looking at the numbers in greater detail reveals how drastically the market has changed since 2007. Canadian mattress manufacturing still hasn’t returned to its pre-recession heights.

16

8 24

PRODUCT STRATEGIES WHAT’S HOT IN WOOD?

As in fashion, trends in wood furniture shift and change over time. It also produces pieces and collections which stand the test of time because they’re made of a classic material that never truly goes out of style. Despite the challenges in the market and the shift towards glossier looks, wood remains popular among those consumers who are looking for classic pieces with traditional appeal. This category update is from HGO contributing editor Ashley Newport.

16 26 4 HGO merchandiser

BY THE NUMBERS THE APPARENT MATTRESS MARKET BREAKS $1B IN 2016

It took ten years, but the apparent market for mattresses climbed back to where it was in 2007. While shipments

BY DESIGN BEAUTY BEFORE AGE

In creating the new interior for the Peterborough flagship store being constructed by Bennett’s Home Furnishings, well-known U.S. furniture store designer Connie Post choose to not just look to the 85-year-old family owned-and-operated retailer’s future but to celebrate the building’s old bones while doing so. In this essay, she shares her insights into the project.

26

ON RETAIL THE FOUR STEPS TO FIXING WHAT NEEDS FIXING

Every business owner knows when there is something wrong. It’s almost instinctive. The hard part comes next.

Donald Cooper, HGO’s resident guru of retail takes you through the four steps needs to take that feeling and turn it into a workable solution.

30

IDEAS MAKE YOUR TRAFFIC COUNT!

Your store traffic is a precious, nonrenewable resource – treat it like one and sell more. In his first essay for the Merchandiser, Canada’s leading expert on the subject starts the process of showing you how it’s done. Written by Mark Ryski.

33

INDUSTRY CALENDAR & ADVERTISERS’ INDEX ON OUR COVER: Designed by Blake Tovin for West Bros Furniture, the soon to be introduced (at the upcoming High Point Market) Strada collection is constructed from solid white oak and features sleek, elegant lines for placing in the modern home. It also features patina brass bases and matching hardware.

THE ENDURING CRAFTSMANSHIP OF STEARNS & FOSTER® Stearns & Foster mattresses are built on the belief that there is no greater luxury than the finest bed. Each bed is meticulously handcrafted by master craftsmen, paying relentless attention to detail. We fuse innovative time-honoured traditions, for precisely engineered construction and lasting quality.

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5

EDITOR’S LETTER

HGO merchandiser

The changing mattress market

MICHAEL J. KNELL

Elsewhere in this issue, we report that after a tough decade the apparent market for mattresses finally climbed back to where it was before the financial markets went sideways. But looking at the numbers in greater detail reveals how drastically the market has changed since 2007.

B

EFORE 2007, THE MATTRESS MARKET WAS DEFINITELY A

‘Canadian’ one. Because mattresses and box springs are relatively heavy, their production and distribution tended to be fairly regional.

This is why the leading manufacturers operated factories across the country – mainly in Ontario, Quebec and Alberta. This made shipping, either to independent retailers or the regional distribution centres operated by the nationals and the major chains, simpler and more cost effective.

This also meant mattresses were not import driven. The recession changed these fundamentals.

In 2016, the largest importer of mattresses into the Canadian market was Tempur Sealy Canada (TSC) and is evidence of the Tempur-Pedic brand’s emerging importance in this country. When the then standalone Tempur-Pedic International acquired its Canadian distributor in 2009, the brand was a niche player at best. It’s now one of the fastest growing brands on the market.

As our report shows, mattress imports from the U.S. broke the $100 million mark for the first time ever in 2016 – it would not be unreasonable to suggest Tempur accounts for as much as 70% of that total, considering the growth of its network (which includes Sleep Country Canada, Leon’s, Brault & Martineau and The Bay) in recent years.

However, the downside of this year’s report on the apparent market (which is defined as domestic shipments plus imports less exports valued at wholesale prices) is the light it has shown on Canadian mattress manufacturing. Yes, it grew last year. In fact, domestic shipments grew for the second consecutive year in 2016. But they are still more than $100 million down from the all-time high set in 2007 at $987.6 million.

While the market has clawed its way back, it’s not the market we knew before the recession. It has changed in fundamental ways. I suspect more change is on the way.

SPRING 2017 • VOLUME SIX, ISSUE 1 ISSN 2291-4765

www.HomeGoodsOnline.ca PUBLISHER & EDITOR Michael J. Knell mknell@homegoodsonline.ca MARKETING DIRECTOR Corrie-Ann Knell marketing@homegoodsonline.ca CONTRIBUTORS Donald Cooper Connie Post Mark Rybicki CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Ashley Newport ashley.newport@gmail.com ART DIRECTOR Samantha Edwards Sam I Am Creative samiamcreative@gmail.com IT DIRECTOR Jayme Cousins In House Logic websmith@inhouselogic.com PUBLISHED BY Windsor Bay Communications Inc. P.O. Box 3023, 120 Ontario Street Brighton, Ontario K0K 1H0 T: 613.475.4704 F: 613.475.0829 Michael J. Knell, Managing Partner PUBLISHERS OF

HGO This Week Home Goods Online.ca

© 2017 Windsor Bay Communications Inc. All rights reserved.

Windsor Bay Communications does not accept any responsibility or liability for any mistakes or misprints herein, regardless of whether such errors are the result of negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever. Reproduction, in whole or in part, of this magazine is strictly forbidden without the prior written permission of the publisher.

AFFILIATE MEMBER

Michael J. Knell Publisher & Editor mknell@homegoodsonline.ca

6 HGO merchandiser

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PRODUCT STRATEGIES This stylish rectangular table from the Bermex division of BDM Furniture can seat anywhere between eight and ten diners. Tables from the brand are available in 182 finishes and colours.

What’s hot in WOOD? As in fashion, trends in wood furniture shift and change over time. It also produces pieces and collections which stand the test of time because they’re made of a classic material that never truly goes out of style.

F

BY ASHLEY NEWPORT

8 HGO merchandiser

OR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS, THE

ho-hum narrative has too often been the same: challenges spurred by the economic downturn (which peaked almost a decade ago, believe it or not) are still prevalent and compounded by disruptions to the manufacturing industry and a persistent dip in consumer spending.

While it’s no secret the furniture industry – much like any other industry – still has hurdles to overcome, most Canadian wood manufacturers are confident economic conditions are improving and they are adapting to a fast-paced market where consumer wants and needs are changing.

In many ways, wood furniture manufacturers

are fortunate. Wood, though incredibly traditional, is both timeless and customisable.

An ordinary dining table or bedroom dresser can be transformed by a daring finish, rustic surface, unique handles or some other carefully considered detail. The final piece can be grandiose and perfect for a large kitchen or spacious cottage or compact and sleek for a cozy townhouse or apartment-style condo.

That said, how are wood products performing and do consumers still want them?

How were sales in 2016?

While it’s always difficult to keep pace with changing demands, a lot of manufacturers are, at

the very least, seeing some stabilisation in their sales numbers and most are optimistic that the years ahead will be kind.

“Last year was better than 2015 definitely, but we expect business to really pick up in 2017,” says Denis Darveau, vice president of sales for BDM + Furniture Inc., the Louiseville, Quebecbased parent of five case goods producers including Bermex, Bertanie, Dinec, Midi and Shermag. “It has been a long recession and we are glad it is over.”

Although the climb from the low-lows of 2008 has been difficult (not to mention long), Darveau is right that the downturn is effectively over. Although some might argue the great recession has prompted something of a new and less prosperous normal, the most challenging times are, ideally, behind most Canadian manufacturers.

“Last year was pleasantly up for a change,” says Greg Brown, the owner and vice president of sales and marketing for solid wood specialist Camlen Furniture, located in Knowlton, Quebec.

“Things were better than they’d been and we had to hire a couple of people. We’re not a manufacturing company in the sense of putting out the same item in multiples and we’ve gotten more business. It was a good year for commercial business. We refurbish hotels and restaurants and right now we’re doing tabletops for restaurants. Residential jobs are also becoming full installation jobs.”

While Camlen and BDM both had positive years, other wood manufacturers have seen little change in sales activity.

“Business was generally flat compared to the prior year,” says Amanda McQueen, marketing and sales support manager for solid wood bedroom specialist Durham Furniture, located in Durham, Ontario.

Other businesses also noticed little change in sales, but differences in terms of demand.

“Last year and 2015 for us was nearly a dead heat in sales,” says Samantha Mund, a customer service and sales representative for West Bros Furniture, a family-owned solid wood producer based in Hanover, Ontario. “We experienced a shift from dining to bedrooms and a significant increase in sales in the U.S., but overall sales were nearly identical in volume.”

What looks are consumers gravitating towards?

At last year’s Canadian Furniture Show, the floor at Mississauga’s spacious International Centre was filled with modern, glossy case goods made with glass, mirrors and shining lacquered finishes.

Steven Sabados, one half of the acclaimed design

duo behind Steven & Chris (a brand he started with his late business and romantic partner, Chris Hyndman) and popular television personality, even spoke at length at the show about the market’s return to gloss and glamour.

During Sabados’ well-attended talk, the design guru mentioned the long-standing popularity of reclaimed wood was fading out to welcome a shift towards glitzier finishes and noting that greys were petering out as the hot new neutral.

While he was careful to add that rustic wood and grey pieces will still sell, he did warn that a shift in consumer tastes was unfolding and his presentation begged the question of what kind of wood furniture products retailers would be demanding in the future.

“Ninety per cent of Bermex and Bertanie furniture is made of solid wood, and it will remain the same,” says BDM’s Darveau. “Consumers do see an added value to solid wood still.”

That said, Darveau has noticed a shift from traditional looks to more permanent pieces.

“We’ve definitely seen a decrease in sales for our buffets and especially hutches. Being midto high-end, a lot of our consumers now have built-in case goods, but hutches don’t seem to be popular lately.”

Other manufacturers agree traditional looks still sell – and sell well.

“We traditionally manufacture solid wood that’s rougher wood. We were always more country rustic and there’s a big spread between what people like now,” says Camlen’s Brown.

“We do contemporary white, clean finishes or }

Bermex, one of the five brands produced by BDM Furniture, produces more than 96 sizes and shapes of dining room tables, including this rectangular model with special leaves. It can seat up to 12 people, as it expands to suit the diner’s needs.

HomeGoodsOnline.ca

9

Top:This Hatteras table is a little more neutral and traditional with its earthtoned colour palette and upholstered chairs. It seats six comfortably and offers that same East Coast appeal.

Bottom: This light, beach-inspired table is part of BDM Furniture’s new collection Hatteras.

The collection includes 10 new finishes that were specifically developed for an East Coast clientele or anyone close to water or beaches.

dark finishes for that division, but I still have clients looking for the rougher finish and that Restoration Hardware look.”

According to Brown, some consumers want gloss and others still want industrial-looking pieces. One challenge in adapting and creating pieces for both tastes is training staff to become adept at mastering both looks.

“Some people might want clean and modern and someone might want older or industrial. We’ve adapted a lot to use veneers in side panels and wood veneer tops. We’re making about half and half. It’s challenging from a production point of view, because you have to train staff to do everything. Rough finishes are more forgiving and we don’t use lacquers. We use water-based latex and it can have an adverse effect on wood, but it looks good. With a clean finish, it can’t have a flaw.”

Camlen has decided to do its best to adapt rather than stick with one look over another – especially at a time where consumers are more style-savvy due to the popularity of home shows and decor-oriented web sites like Pinterest and Houzz.

“We offer Benjamin Moore finishes as a result. A lot our business is driven by interior designers. It’s hard to cut something out of your line if it’s a big part of your business.

People are more likely to change tastes more quickly,” Brown responded, adding, “At first, a lot of people can only afford lower-end pieces and then they learn to invest more heavily

10 HGO merchandiser

in furniture. Because of Houzz and other design sites, people want what they see.”

Other companies are also getting more creative.

“In 2017, we launched a nice collection of Live Edge tables with a wide choice of sizes and bases and over 160 different finishes,” says Darveau. “[It’s been] a true success so far.

We’ve also introduced a new collection called Hatteras, which includes ten news finishes that are very light colored that’s specially developed for the east coast clientele or anyone close to the water and beaches.”

BDM also worked on strengthening some other segments.

“Furthermore, we have extended our barstool segment quite a lot by adding a new style of barstools and adding quite a few new bases that are 24 and 30 inches, as well as adding new counter and bar height table sizes.”

Other companies have stuck with solid wood and a satisfied customer base as a result.

“Major trends in terms of finishes are still towards ‘in’ colours like grey and soft blacks,” says Durham’s McQueen, adding the 118-year old company works exclusively with solid wood pieces. “The consumer is also looking for a broad choice of finish options, so our offering of over 60 finishes meets the needs of most any consumer.”

While some argue case goods are not as vulnerable to sudden trend shifts in the same way upholstered pieces are, others disagree saying they have to watch evolving looks closely and respond accordingly.

“I disagree to a certain degree that case goods are not at the mercy of trends,” West Bros’ Mund says, noting, “We produce a mix of transitional, traditional and contemporary looks.

We noticed five years ago there was a significant shift from formal dining and bedroom to the more fashion forward midcentury modern looks that have flooded the market these past few years. }

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11

Left: A new addition to the Durham Furniture’s core bedroom assortment, this chic upholstered bed combines a brushed stainless steel base with solid wood.

Available in two different colours, the piece can be configured in multiple ways.

Right: This Serpentine wall console from solid wood specialist Durham Furniture can be customised to a client’s liking, as it’s available in over 40 maple finishes.

“Millennials continue to seek out new exciting and unique collections and one such collection is our brand new Strada bedroom,” she continued. “It’s sleek and contemporary with lush white oak grain and it’s one that we are extremely excited about.”

In concert with the majority of other Canadian manufacturers, West Bros has noticed a distinct shift in size requirements, especially in terms of dining sets. As far as finishes go, she says it’s hard to identify one singular, prevalent trend.

“We also have seen a shift from large scale dining to less formal, smaller scale such as Fulton and Phase dining. Because we ship internationally, it’s really hard to pinpoint an overall finishing trend. Each area in the U.S. is unique, as is abroad. A dealer in Montana may request all items to have distressing, a dealer in Montreal may favour dark cherry finishes and a west coast dealer may favour light walnut. It’s really regional and that is great for us,” Mund says.

What are people buying?

While wood is classic, consumers have expressed more desire for upholstered beds, glass dining sets and, in some cases, mirrored or metal dressers. Since more modern looks might seem too daring for more traditional shoppers (and the retailers who cater to them, by extension), it’s interesting to explore the difference in sales between bedroom and dining sets.

“The shift from bedroom to dining business has been noticeable,” Mund observes. “Our mix in previous years has been as high as 60-40, but now it’s more 80-20. We have shifted our focus to building and designing more bedroom collections.

“We also have been producing workspace collections for our ‘best sellers’,” she added. “The clean-lined desks, bookcases and occasional tables look equally at home in a living room, dining area, bedroom or traditional, residential office space.”

Other manufacturers have seen stronger growth in demand

12 HGO merchandiser

for dining sets. In fact, BDM has discontinued bedroom altogether to focus on dining while Camlen is considering dropping bedroom because the demand simply isn’t there.

“There’s always been more demand for our dining sets,” says Camlen’s Brown. “We’re not a big manufacturer, so we don’t put together a ton of product. People reserve us for when they want something customised and unique. Dining is stronger – I customise it too, and it’s simpler to customise.”

Grappling with price points

The recent annual Consumer Price Index report from Statistics Canada shows prices for wood furniture haven’t kept pace with either inflation or other goods in the consumer basket. In fact, the index for this category was set at 100 in 2002 and was measured at 98.3 in 2016. In fairness it should be noted the 2016 CPI for wood furniture was at its highest seen since 2010, but still below the record high 100.8 reached in 2009. (The CPI for wood furniture is also higher than it is for both upholstery and mattresses.)

Since price points remain challenging, manufacturers have had to trend cautiously and balance the competing forces of escalating costs and the need to be price competitive at retail.

“Well, I think we’ve followed the inflation rate since we’ve had no choice but to increase our prices every year. Salaries are up, as well as raw material,” says BDM’s Darveau.

There is also a real need to be sensitive to the need of retailers.

“We have really tried to be fair to our retailers and keep price increases down to a minimum,” says Mund. “That being said, we have experienced significant cost increases }

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13

collections. We have also become leaner, running smaller runs of collections so that our customer wait times have decreased. We do not want to sacrifice our quality to be quicker, but rather run more efficiently to allow our production have the time to do what it does best.”

Others, such as Camlen, are diversifying their offerings to better compete in a changing market.

“In 2015, we tried to go harder on new collections,” says Brown. “We’re experimenting with murphy beds that don’t need to be installed. It was slow to begin, but now that’s finally kicked in and we finalised orders at the end of 2016. We’re building them self-contained so they just have to be screwed in when they arrive. We did a model that converts to a desk.

We had to find other venues and the majority of our furniture is large scale, so we had to go smaller. We want to get more streamlined in what we’re doing.”

Designed for West Bros Furniture by Blake Tovin, the Jensen shelter bed with a Euro footboard comes in queen and king size configurations and offers clients two different finishes to choose from.

from the majority of our suppliers. Our retailers are not part of the lower end, but their customer has become more price conscious. Our biggest advice to our dealers is to educate the staff and their customers to not just price compare, but quality compare. Our finishes, construction and quality of materials set us apart from the rest.”

Others admit it’s an ongoing challenge, especially when manufacturing becomes more expensive at a time when consumers are reluctant to spend more.

“It’s a challenge,” Brown admits. “I’m in the midst of reviewing my prices now and honestly, my prices have barely changed in 10 years. They’ve gone up a little in response to the drop in demand for manufactured goods. There’s a lot of downward pricing pressure on us. We’ve had to deal with it by pricing it out based on what I spent, and it’s hard because production can go over by several hours. The cost of living goes up, wood goes up and shipping goes up. Everything increases, but it’s hard to increase the price of the furniture.”

In order to adapt, Brown has had to price goods the best way he can. “I used to feel bad about pricing things, but now there are no options. We’ll probably be raising some prices, but we sell to U.S. and we’re helped by the exchange rate. We’re benefitting there. I don’t think it would benefit us to reduce our pricing. There’s been downward pressure on all furniture manufacturers.”

What’s in store for 2017?

Having seen, at best, a modest uptick in sales in recent years, this country’s wood furniture makers aren’t resting on their laurels and a continually seeking to grow their businesses.

These efforts run the gamut from improving productivity on the factory floor to designing new single pieces and collections to add to their product assortments.

“We have launched several new plant initiatives to increase our productivity,” Mund says. “Cross training staff has been on going so that we can become less reactive to spikes in certain

14 HGO merchandiser

The trade show circuit

Each year, the majority of Canadian wood furniture makers take part – as an exhibitor – in one of the many furniture trade events held each year across North America as they remain the best available platform to show off their latest functional, on-trend pieces and collections while making new connections with retail buyers.

For instance, BDM+ Furniture, Durham and West Bros only show at the High Point Market, which is held each April and October in High Point, North Carolina. Each has its own permanent showroom in the North Carolina home of what many to believe to be the world’s largest furniture industry trade event.

“The only market we intend to show at this year and next year are the High Point Markets,” BDM’s Darveau says. “We purchased our own 100,000 square foot building in High Point in 2011, and we’ve been improving the building ever since.”

The Factory, as BDM’s showroom facility is known, is located 400 W. English Road.

Both Durham and West Bros can be found in the International Home Furnishings Center (IHFC). Durham is in space G1082 and West Bros in D1144.

Durham also maintains a small presence at the Canadian Furniture Show, sharing a permanent showroom on the second floor of SOFA, the International Centre’s permanent showroom annex while Camlen can be in the temporary exhibits in Hall One during this country’s only furniture trade event.

A number of other Canadian wood furniture makers are also expected to show at CFS, including: Cabinet Bed; BG Furniture; Buhler Furniture; Canadel Furniture; DeFehr Furniture; Ruff Sawn; Crate Designs and Vokes Furnitiure, among others. CFS takes place from May 26 to 28, 2017. HGO A regular contributor to HGO Merchandiser, ASHLEY NEWPORT is a Toronto-based freelance journalist who writes primarily for trade and business publications. Her specialties include food, hospitality and emerging social/business trends.

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15

SLEEP IS LIFE’S GREATEST PLEASURE.

BY THE NUMBERS

Canadian mattress shipments reached a seven-year high in 2016, valued at some $885 million.

Whileprecise figures aren’t currently available, it’s believed the Sealy brand is the largest and most widely distributed in the country.

THE APPARENT MATTRESS MARKET BREAKS $1B IN 2016 It took ten years, but the apparent market for mattresses climbed back to where it was in 2007.

While shipments by Canadian manufacturers made gains in 2016 they still aren’t back to where they were then. What’s changed is the growth in imports, particularly from the U.S. They now account for 19.6% of the apparent market.

BY MICHAEL J. KNELL

16 HGO merchandiser

T

HERE WAS A TIME, NOT SO LONG

ago, when the mattress industry didn’t see its product as a commodity to be traded over international borders. It was very much a domestic concern with Canadian producers fighting it out for floor space on Canadian retail stores to reach a Canadian consumer. But a quick review of apparent market shows how drastically things have changed in recent years. It’s not that Canadian mattress makers have become expert exporters, although their efforts on that front have improved in recent years, it’s that Canadian retailers are buying more sleep sets from outside our borders – and from three countries in particular: the United States, China and Mexico.

A review of the apparent market – which measures the value of domestic shipments less exports plus imports and measured at

For the past three years, the fastest growing importer of mattresses into the Canadian market has been Mexico. For the first time, shipments from the junior member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were almost equal to those from China at $42.3 million last year – which was a 9.8% uptick over 2015. wholesale prices (net of freight costs, retail mark-ups and sales taxes) – grew slightly in 2016 to $1.04 billion. This brings the industry back to where it was in 2007 if inflation is ignored. What has changed significantly is the composition of the apparent market.

Back in 2007, imports accounted for 9.0% of the Canadian apparent market for mattresses.

In 2016, imports accounted for 19.2%. In fact, they grew for the second consecutive year last year and have grown in eight of the past ten years.

Indeed, imports broke the $200 million mark for this first time ever in 2016. More than half of those imports came into the country from the United States. Imports from the U.S., have been particularly strong over the past two years – growing 9.8% in 2016 to $107.4 million (a new record high), after growing 29.4% the year before. Indeed, U.S. imports have doubled since 2007.

Much of this growth has been attributed to two factors. One is the growth of the TempurPedic brand in the Canadian market. Sold and distributed here by Tempur Sealy Canada (TSC), the product is made by its parent company – Tempur Sealy International – at its manufacturing facilities in Duffield, Virginia and Albuquerque, New Mexico. “As TempurPedic products continue to gain momentum in Canada, U.S. imports will continue to increase,” TSC vice president and general manager Steve Millar said.

In fact, when what is now Tempur Sealy International acquired its London, Ontariobased Canadian distributor in 2009, the brand was at best a niche player in the market north of the 49th parallel. In 2016, the Tempur brand is carried by almost every major furniture and mattress retailer in the country.

While there are no accurate figures to confirm this, most industry observers also point out }

APPARENT MARKET FOR MATTRESSES 2007 TO 2016 IN CURRENT MILLIONS OF CANADIAN DOLLARS • NORTH AMERICAN INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION (NAICS) 337910

Domestic Shipments

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

987.6

922.2

751.8

758.0

741.3

700.3

832.8

832.1

864.2

885.7

-6.6

-18.5

0.8

-2.2

-5.5

13.0

-0.9

3.6

2.5

94.3

120.0

113.4

115.3

129.7

141.0

152.7

151.7

187.5

200.1

27.5

-5.6

1.7

12.5

8.7

8.3

-0.4

23.6

6.7

52.9

70.4

63.9

64.3

77.5

76.4

77.0

75.6

97.8

107.4

33.1

-9.2

0.6

20.5

-1.4

0.8

-1.8

29.4

9.8

26.8

26.5

26.1

28.2

39.0

42.1

39.6

44.6

42.6

9.8

-1.1

-1.5

18.0

38.3

7.9

-5.9

12.6

-4.5

35.8

34.3

39.2

36.5

33.3

37.1

36.2

45.9

49.9

-14.5

-4.1

14.3

-6.8

-8.8

11.4

-2.4

26.8

8.7

Percentage change Imports (all countries) Percentage change From the United States Percentage change From China (People’s Republic)

24.4

Percentage change Exports (all countries)

41.9

Percentage change To the United States

35.1

Percentage Change Total Apparent Market

1040.0

Percentage Change Imports - Market Share (%)

9.0

30.7

27.6

31.8

29.0

30.0

30.4

30.8

39.2

44.3

-12.5

-10.1

15.2

-8.8

0.3

1.3

1.3

27.2

13.0

1010.0

830.9

834.1

834.5

808.0

948.4

947.6

1005.8

1043.2

0.0

-17.7

0.0

0.0

-3.2

14.8

0.0

6.1

3.7

11.9

13.6

13.8

15.5

17.4

16.1

16.0

18.6

19.2

Note: All figures given in current Canadian dollars (millions) Sources: Statistics Canada; Industry Canada; Home Goods Online/Windsor Bay Communications © 2017 HomeGoodsOnline.ca

17

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Imports now account for about 19% of the Canadian mattress market, in large part because of the increasing popularity and broadening distribution of the Tempur-Pedic brand, which helped push shipments from the United States into Canada to over the $100 million mark in 2016.

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that most adjustable beds sold in Canada are made in the U.S. And they are one of the fastest growing bedding categories in the market.

In what’s probably not a surprise to anyone in the industry, China is the second largest importer of mattresses in Canada – a position it has held, without challenge, for the past decade.

However, their imports fell 4.5% last year to $42.6 million, according to data published by Industry Canada.

For the past three years, the fastest growing importer of mattresses into the Canadian market has been Mexico. For the first time, shipments from the junior member of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were almost equal to those from China at $42.3 million last year – which was a 9.8% uptick over 2015.

What’s not easily discernable is where these imports from China and Mexico are being sold at retail. For example, at least one of Costco Canada’s best-selling mattress lines is made in China. Many industry insiders believe Mexico is an important mattress resource for IKEA Canada. Both Costco and IKEA are among the fastest growing mattress purveyors in the country and are counted among the seven retailers that dominate sleep product retailing in this country.

A word about exports

As mentioned in the opening, mattresses haven’t traditionally been seen as an item for export by producers in this country. And, in fact, whatever mattresses are made for export, they are almost certainly destined for the U.S. market.

The total value of all exports was $49.9 million last year. That’s up 8.7% over 2015. It should be noted exports account for about 5.6% of Canadian mattress shipments, which is far less than either of the two broad categories of furniture – upholstery and case goods – or any other durable goods category.

Exports to the U.S. were valued at $44.3 million – a gain of 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. In fact, they’ve grown every year for the past five years and account for 89% of all Canadian mattress exports.

What’s less clear is who is shipping these products to U.S. retailers and other institutional buyers.

Domestic shipments

Domestic shipments of mattresses by Canadian manufacturers were up 2.5% to $885.7 million in 2016, the second consecutive year in which they registered a small gain. }

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Both Costco and IKEA are among the fastest growing mattress purveyors in the country and are counted among the seven retailers that dominate sleep product retailing in this country.

However, that’s still well below $987.6 million that was shipped in 2007. Many industry insiders attribute this shrinkage to a number of factors. Aside from sales lost to the recession that followed in the wake of the 2008 financial mess, most industry insiders noted the average ticket fell substantially as the recovery took hold. Before the recession, the industry’s average ticket at retail was climbing as consumers seem to be increasingly willing and able to buy better.

Despite this, the mattress industry in Canada has been remarkably stable in recent years.

Over the past decade, the big news really has been Tempur’s takeover of Sealy in 2013 and the merger of the Serta and Simmons brands a few years before that. The bankruptcy of Sommex Bedding Corporation in December 2015 was the first such event in more than a decade, but as a relatively small player its exit hasn’t appeared to damage the industry’s overall growth to any great extent.

In Canada, the industry is dominated by four companies that produce a total of six brands.

They are: Tempur Sealy Canada, who make Sealy branded goods in their four Canadian factories and import Tempur labeled products; SSH Bedding Canada, which produces Serta and Simmons; Owen & Company, the Toronto-based producer of the Kingsdown brand in Canada; and, Springwall Sleep Products, which has factories in Mississauga, Moncton and Calgary.

Between them, they are believed to account for about 80% of all mattress shipments in Canada. The rest are divided between as many as three dozen different companies. Some are regional or local producers such as North Star Bedding, based in Sudbury, Ontario. Some of the other and perhaps better known include Zedbed, the Shawinigan, Quebec-based maker of speciality mattresses; Marshall Mattress, the Toronto-based producer of high-end mattresses; and the Calgary-headquarter Park Avenue Furniture, which produces mattresses

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under the King Koil, Posture Beauty and Regal Bedding labels.

In compiling its reports, Statistics Canada doesn’t distinguish between mattresses made for the residential, that is retail market and those made for the health care, hospitality and institutional sectors. It also only measures shipments by dollar volume – not by units.

So, its $885.7 million figure for manufacturers’ shipments accounts for all sectors. Most industry insiders believe sales to hospitals, hotels and other contract and institutional buyers account for between 5% and 8% of shipments annually.

As far a unit shipments are concerned, most in the industry suggest they’ve averaged 2.7 million or so in each of the past five years.

However, this doesn’t break down to 1.35 million sets (one mattress plus one box spring) as the number of mattress sold without a box spring seems to be climbing.

There is also a fair amount of speculation about the average price per unit at the factory level. While most in the industry agree it has been slowly moving upwards in recent years – mostly in reaction to price increases on components such as steel, foam and fabric – pegging an average out-the-shipping-door price is difficult. Most execs believe it stood somewhere between $240 and $260 at the end of 2016.

While there’s a lot about the industry that isn’t known, we do know the industry is enjoying steady growth with upticks seen both in domestic shipments and the overall apparent market. And most leading mattress executives are confident this will continue in 2017. HGO MICHAEL J. KNELL is the publisher and editor

of Home Goods Online and all of its platforms.

He has observed, researched and written about Canada’s furniture and mattress industry for the past three decades. He can be reached at mknell@homegoodsonline.ca.

HomeGoodsOnline.ca

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BY DESIGN

Beauty

BEFORE AGE In creating the new interior for the Peterborough flagship for Bennett’s Home Furnishings, Connie Post choose to not just look to the 85-year-old family owned and operated retailer’s future but to celebrate the building’s old bones while doing so.

Top: Modern lighting was added to the interior of the 31,000 square foot space to help give the store a fresh look.

Right: Bronze metal cladding was adding to the exterior of Bennett’s Home Furnishings flagship store in downtown Peterborough, Ontario. The family owned retailer also operates a store in nearby Campbellford, Ontario.

A

BY CONNIE POST

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article first appeared in the February/ March 2017 edition of RetailerNOW, the official journal of the Home Furnishings Association.

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S AN ARCHITECTURAL

enthusiast myself, I get it when a retailer sees the “cool” in an old building. Of course, when that building is a former cardboard factory, as was the case for Bennett’s Home Furnishings in Peterborough, Ontario, the building can come with all sorts of small rooms, nooks and crannies that cannot be removed due to sheer expense, along with boarded-up windows that are not necessarily conducive to selling furniture.

Nevertheless, Eric Bennett saw potential in the 70,000-square-foot space, particularly since his goal was to take Bennett’s, a traditional furniture store in business for more than eight decades, in an entirely new direction. He turned to us to help create his dream store, a bright, fresh and open warehouse format with 31,000 square feet of retail selling space.

Since the old factory was actually a combination of two buildings—one of brick and the other cinderblock, the exterior needed to be addressed with a fresh new façade. Existing structural walls to the right of the entry, and another two-foot wall about 20-feet in, dictated that we would have a smaller, 3,000-squarefoot entry. I always favor huge front entryways because you only have one chance to make that first impression, so we knew this smaller entry would have to make a big impact.

We added bronze metal cladding to the buildings’ exteriors to create a more modern vibe and to unify the structures. Inside, we wanted to immediately wow customers, so we led with a pearlized floor from Centiva, embedded with an elaborate custom design: The Bennett’s logo mascot, a peacock. A soffit was added above with specialty lighting dropping down directly above the logo. We know that 75

Top: An existing garage door was painted bright red to attract customers’ eyes and steer them in the right direction on the showroom floor while adding to the industrial feel.

Bottom left: A long-ago shuttered clerestory was resurrected, flooding the factory-turnedstore with plenty of natural light.

BEFORE percent of shoppers will naturally turn right when entering a store; to help ensure all did, we painted an existing garage door bright red to attract the eye and add to the industrial feel of the project.

We uncovered and resurrected an existing clerestory down the center of the store which helped us open site lines and flood the space with natural light. We left the factory’s original beams in place along with some original brick interior walls and posts. The effect is fashionable, industrial and urban. Wherever possible we used existing structures instead of trying to hide them. On non-bricked walls we emulated the existing conditions with white brick wallpaper behind key settings and vinyl wood flooring, both of which are very affordable solutions. Since special order represented a huge opportunity for growth, we brightened that department with sleek white laminates

covering large display counters for a clean, modern look.

Most important, since Eric Bennett is the grandson of the founder, and his daughter and new son-in-law—Jasmine Bennett and Tyler Steeves—are part of the next generation involved with the business, we wanted to celebrate the family and expert sales staff with a wall of photos of the owners and smiling employees behind the service counter. A wall graphic near Jasmine’s wedding photo spells out “You Will Love Bennett’s,” and by all reports, customers absolutely do. HGO

The former cardboard factory was turned into a traditional furniture store with a fresh and open air format.

Marlaine Bennett, wife and partner of Eric Bennett, is seen here in the space as construction begins.

CONNIE POST is a retail design strategist, trend

expert, author and owner of Affordable Design Solutions Connie Post International, based in Greensboro, North Carolina. She specialises in designing retail home furnishings stores and can be reached at missconniepost@aol.com.

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ON RETAIL

FOUR STEPS TO FIXING WHAT NEEDS FIXING

Every business owner knows when there is something wrong.

It’s almost instinctive. The hard part comes next. Our resident retail guru takes you through the four steps needed to take that feeling and turn it into a workable solution.

I

N WORKING WITH BUSINESS OWNERS

and managers throughout the world, I’ve discovered there are four clear steps to fixing what needs fixing in any business. Here they are.

(STEP 1) AWARENESS

BY DONALD COOPER

26 HGO merchandiser

Awareness is simply knowing some part of your business isn’t ‘right’ yet. You’re not where you want or need to be to be a profitable market leader or to achieve your vision.

Perhaps your products or services aren’t the best they could be. Or you’re falling short in delivering the customer experience you’ve promised. Perhaps you’ve not created the internal business environment required to attract and keep the best people.

Perhaps you’re falling short in planning and budgeting, control, accountability, profitability or implementation and follow-up. Your shortfall could be in technology, systems or communication. It could be that you’ve not yet met your commitments to your community or the environment.

There is an old saying proclaiming: “The beginning of wisdom is the recognition of reality.” Are you aware of the specific areas in your business that aren’t ‘right’ yet? Can you list them and prioritise them? Without ‘awareness, there will be no improvement. To quickly determine which areas of your business need work, go to my web site and download

my one-page Key Challenge Audit Sheet.

But ‘awareness’ alone will get you nowhere!

This brings us to:

(STEP 2) A PASSIONATE AND URGENT COMMITMENT TO FIX WHAT NEEDS FIXING

Many businesses know that they’re falling short but lack the ability, energy, urgency or passion to fix it. They’re over their heads; burnt out or just don’t give a damn.

Years ago my father drove a Jaguar XJ6 with the world’s most unreliable windshield wipers which he thought rather odd, given that it was built in the United Kingdom where it rains a lot of the time. By chance, father met the chairman of Jaguar at some big-shot business event. When he mentioned he was a Jag owner, the chairman enquired, “And how do you like your Jag?” Not wanting to miss an opportunity to go right to the top with his problem, father told him about his huge frustration with the windshield wipers – to which the chairman offhandedly replied, “Oh Jack, we don’t seem to have that one quite right yet, do we?”

Clearly, the chairman was aware of the problem. He had arrived at Step 1. But, judging by his offhand remark, there was no passionate or urgent commitment to fix it. Are you passionately committed to fixing the things that need fixing in your business? }

HomeGoodsOnline.ca

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(STEP 3) ANALYSIS / CREATIVITY / DECISION / AND AN ACTION PLAN

What has never been done? What ideas, when implemented, would blow your customers away or give you an operational advantage that would transform your bottom line?

28 HGO merchandiser

Here’s where the real work begins. For each thing you’re committed to fixing or creating in your business, work through the stages of analysis / creativity / decision making / and committing to an action plan that states clearly what will be done, by whom, by when, and measured how.

ANALYSIS: Get the facts! If it’s a problem you’re solving, get to the real root cause.

Don’t just attack surface problems. If it’s an opportunity you’re pursuing, make sure you have all the important facts. Either way if your analysis is wrong your action will likely be wrong – and, therefore, your outcome will be wrong.

CREATIVITY: Encourage creativity within your organisation and know when to ‘rent’ creativity from the outside. Ask your team, your suppliers and your customers for their ideas. In doing so you will learn from them – and you will honour them. Find out who the real experts are on what you’re trying to fix or create. The good ones will save you a bundle and the bad ones will cost you a fortune.

Don’t try to ‘reinvent the wheel’. What are other successful businesses doing about whatever problem or opportunity you’re working on and then figure out how to do it even better!

What has never been done? What ideas, when implemented, would blow your customers away or give you an operational advantage that would transform your bottom line?

Ask the ‘wonderful’ question, which is: “What would be the most wonderful thing that we could do in solving this problem or creating this opportunity?” Years ago, in our ‘almost famous’ lady’s fashion store we came up with ‘wonderful’ in the form of a choice of seven free beverages; four hooks in the change rooms; electric massage chairs for husbands and boyfriends; a pirate ship play area for kids; change tables with free diapers, diaper wipes and cream in the customer washrooms; and, an invitation to “Please take as many items in the change room as you wish!”. We came up with all these great ideas simply by asking the ‘wonderful’ question.

So, get creative. What are the possibilities?

What would be a ‘big idea’ here? Remember big ideas ‘grab’ customers, clearly differentiate you from your competitors, make you famous and make you money.

Finally, what are the costs and the benefits of each of your ideas?

DECISION: Don’t analyze and create forever.

Commit to a course of action in a reasonable time frame. There’s more money lost through indecision than wrong decision. Nike’s slogan is not ‘Just talk it to death!’ Don’t over-analyse.

THE ACTION PLAN: Document specifically who will do what, by when, measured how and rewarded how. Involve all those whose support you need in the implementation process.

Make sure they understand why this project is important to the business and to them.

Determine from your team what additional information or resources they’ll need to be successful, and make sure that they get what they need.

(STEP 4) EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND FOLLOW UP: GET IT DONE!

Businesses don’t die from a single shot to the head. They die slowly but surely from a thousand uncompleted tasks. Effective implementation is one of the biggest challenges in most businesses today.

Here’s the simple solution: every time you assign a task, agree on a specific date by which it will be completed. Document that commitment and always follow up. Then, you must hold people accountable, celebrate success, reward performance and deal firmly with non-performance.

So there you have four simple but powerful steps to fix what needs fixing in your business.

Where are you in the process? First, are you aware of what needs fixing? Then, are you passionately and urgently committed to getting on with it? Is it the analysis, creativity, decision making or planning where you need more focus? Or, is it in the implementation that you need to improve? How will you use the insight of these four clear steps to fix what needs fixing in your business? HGO A regular contributor to Home Goods Online, DONALD COOPER has been both a world-class manufacturer and an award-winning retailer.

Now a Toronto-based business speaker and coach, he helps business owners and managers rethink, refocus and re-energize their business to create compelling customer value, clarity of purpose and long-term profitability. For more information, or to subscribe to his free, monthly management e-newsletter, go to www. donaldcooper.com

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29

IDEAS

BY MARK RYSKI

Make your traffic count!

Your store traffic is a precious, non-renewable resource – treat it like one and sell more. In his first essay for the Merchandiser, Canada’s leading expert on the subject starts the process of showing you how it’s done. BY MARK RYSKI

A

S A STORE OPERATOR, THERE ARE A MILLION

things you need to know, but there’s only a few you must know. Store traffic is one of them.

Every day people visit your store and while some of these visitors will become customers, others will leave without making a purchase. These unconverted visitors represent the missed opportunity in your store, and if you don’t measure your store traffic, you’ll never even know they came or what your store’s true sales potential is.

There’s another thing you won’t know without store traffic data: how well you’re actually performing.

TRAFFIC COUNT VERSUS TRANSACTION COUNT

Before we get into the benefits of tracking traffic, we need to clear up a misconception many retailers have about traffic counts versus transaction counts. Some retailers believe the number of sales transactions provide a close enough estimate for store traffic. It doesn’t. To say transaction count represents a reliable proxy for store traffic is analogous to saying that ‘hits’ are a reliable proxy for ‘at-bats’ in baseball.

Yes, the two stats are related, but they are not proxies — not even close.

Store traffic is a measure of all the people who visit the store, including buyers and non-buyers where transactions obviously only account for the number of buyers. By using sales transaction counts as a proxy for store traffic, you are significantly under-estimating how much traffic your store actually receives. Here’s the point: using transaction counts as a proxy for store traffic will lead to wrong conclusions; wrong conclusions lead to bad decisions; bad decisions lead to poor results.

COUNTING ‘UPS’ MANUALLY

Another approach to counting traffic that’s commonly used in the furniture industry is manually counting ‘ups’. This is especially common in stores where traffic is low. While there are some advantages to counting traffic this way, there are also some real disadvantages too.

30 HGO merchandiser

First, the advantages. Proponents of ‘up counting’ say it’s a more accurate way to track store traffic since counts generated from people shopping together as a family or group don’t get double counted, instead the group is counted as a singular ‘up’. Also, since manually counting ups is done by store personnel, there’s no need to buy an electronic traffic counting device. Both fair points.

However, manually counting ups has a number of disadvantages. At the top of the list is accuracy and consistency. A manual system relies on store personnel to track counts, but this falls apart when the store gets busy and all your associates are serving customers. Also, manual counting raises the question of what defines an up or count.

For example, the human counter may deem the store visitor to be a ‘tire-kicker’ and not a legitimate count, and then exclude the count from the total. This may seem harmless enough, but it’s not – it’s actually a form of data manipulation.

Retailers who capture traffic counts manually definitely have the right idea, but an electronic traffic counter will provide a more accurate, consistent measure of your store’s traffic and free-up your sales personnel to focus on serving customers instead of counting ups.

CONVERSION: MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR STORE TRAFFIC

Traffic is important because it defines a store’s sales opportunity. If 100 people visit your store in a day, you can’t sell to 101 people. Not only is it important for you to know how your traffic is trending – less traffic means fewer sales opportunities – but you need to know the traffic count in order to calculate your conversion rate.

Conversion rate is simply the percentage of visitors who actually purchased and is easily calculated by dividing your sales transactions (or orders written) by your total store traffic count.

Conversion rate is an important retail performance metric. Think of conversion rate as a measure of how well your store is collectively serving shoppers. High conversion rate means your store is doing a good job servicing customers; a low conversion rate means you’re missing opportunities.

Traffic and conversion data can also help you understand what’s driving sales in your business, and even more importantly, what you need to do to improve sales.

THREE WAYS TO DRIVE SALES

If you’re like many retailers, you’re probably thinking the only thing that really matters is sales – if my sales are going up compared to last year, who cares about traffic? Here’s why it matters.

Let’s say your store did $400,000 in sales this month, which was up from $380,000 you did for the same month last year. Great, your sales are up 5%. This seems like an impression result, but you really can’t say for certain without comparing your sales results to the sales opportunity.

What if you actually tracked traffic in your store, and learned that store traffic for the month this year was 2,000 counts, up 180 counts from the 1,820 counts logged last year – that’s a 10% increase in store traffic. Sales are up 5%, but the sales opportunity got 10% bigger. Curious, isn’t it? A 5% increase in sales looked good until you knew what happened to traffic. Now that you know the sales opportunity (i.e. traffic) increased by 10%, 5% doesn’t look as interesting.

Your sales results are a function of three things: (1) traffic count, (2) conversion rate (i.e., the percentage of visitors who actually make a purchase) and, (3) average sale amount.

Without traffic data, you can’t know how many people visited your store or what your conversion rate is since conversion rate is calculated by dividing sales transactions by your traffic count.

Understanding these three simple metrics is important – really important. Not only will these metrics help you understand how big your sales opportunity is and how well you’re performing relative to the opportunity, but it will help you understand what to focus on to perform even better.

As in the above example, if this retailer wants to improve her results, she has three ways to do it. One is to drive more traffic into the store. This typically involves some form of advertising or promotional spending. Second, increase her conversion rate – sell to more of the shoppers already visiting the store, and three, increase average sale value – sell more to buyers. While most retailers have focused on

driving traffic and average ticket, conversion is the one area many retailers have not fully exploited, in part, because they simply don’t measure it.

OK, so how do you increase your conversion rates?

SCHEDULE STAFF TO TRAFFIC

One of the most important uses of traffic data is for staff scheduling. This is especially true for furniture retailers where all sales are assisted by an associate. Knowing when and how many people visit the store, right down to the hour, will enable you to fine-tune your scheduling and ensure your labour coverage matches prospect visits thereby putting you in the best position to convert as many shoppers as possible.

I recently completed an analysis of a furniture retailer’s hourly traffic patterns. Charts for the average Friday and Saturday are shown below. On Fridays, traffic was busier in the morning and peaked at 1pm. In this case, scheduling more staff during the busier hours from 9am to 2pm will put this retailer in the best position to maximize conversion.

On Saturdays, it’s a completely different story. Store traffic starts slow, but ramps up to peak at 1pm, but unlike Friday, traffic remains relatively strong until close.

Adjusting staff scheduling to account for this traffic timing difference can have a material impact on sales over the weeks, months and years. } HomeGoodsOnline.ca

31

traffic and conversion data, I learned our promotions were way more effective than the sales results indicated. We were great at driving traffic to the store; we weren’t as good at converting traffic into sales. Without traffic and conversion data I could never have understood this. Forget about ‘promote and hope’ – that’s just not good enough today.

4

FORECASTING AND PLANNING: How is your store traffic trending? How are your conversion rates trending? We all know crystal balls don’t exist, but historical traffic and conversion trend data can help you plan and forecast in a significantly more meaningful way than merely looking at sales or transactional data. For example, if your store traffic is trending up months in a row but conversion rates are sagging, you might consider increasing your staff count or think about the efficacy of the staff that you have – traffic and conversion data will give you an entirely different perspective on your business and importantly the decisions you make in the future.

To the retailers who say, “I don’t need traffic counters…I know when my store is busy!” I say categorically, you don’t – not if you don’t actually track traffic in your store. I do agree that your ‘gut’ sense of it is directionally close, but there’s no substitute for actual data.

Staffing to traffic is one of the most important uses for traffic data, but it’s not the only one. Here are five more for you to consider.

FIVE REASONS RETAILERS SHOULD TRACK TRAFFIC AND MEASURE CONVERSION

Beyond staff scheduling, there many more reasons retailers should track store traffic and measure conversion rates, here are five of the most important that should be considered.

1

UNDERSTANDING SALES DRIVERS: as described above, knowing what is driving your sales results is critical if you hope to improve results. It’s not enough to know if sales are up or down year-over-year, you need to know why. Having store traffic and conversion data fill in two critical missing pieces of information every retailer should know.

2

SPOTTING MISSED OPPORTUNITIES: sags in conversion rate are tell-tale signs you’re missing opportunities and it behooves every retailer to know when these missed opportunities are occurring. Every day, shoppers visit your store and leave without buying. Knowing how often this is occurring and precisely when will enable you to plug the conversion leaks and sell more.

3

MEASURING MARKETING IMPACT: Did your promotion work? It’s an easy enough question, but really hard for most retailers to answer. It’s exactly the question that led me to traffic and conversion analytics when I was the marketing manager for a retail store decades ago. Sales alone are not a good measure of success. Using

32 HGO merchandiser

5

CREATING ACCOUNTABILITY: How often have you heard store personnel say, “sales were slow because the store was dead.” They may be right, it’s possible the store was indeed dead, but instead of accepting this subjective opinion, why not look at the actual data? It never ceases to amaze me, or the retailers I work with, just how much traffic their stores actually receive compared to what they thought or felt it was. This happens because store personnel can’t help but be influenced by their own perceptions. It may not feel busy to the associate, but that’s often just his or her perception. Traffic data puts everyone on the same page and creates a sense of accountability among the store team. The question becomes less about how much traffic there was as it is about what the store team did with the traffic they actually did have. Without traffic data, you’ll always be guessing.

FORGET ANALYTICS, IT’S COMMON SENSE

When I talk to retailers about traffic data, some of them say they don’t have the time or interest in becoming a data analyst – they already have too much data! As someone who has spent a lifetime working in retail, I completely understand. However, in the world we live in today, no retailer can rely solely on gut instincts and sales data.

Knowing how many people visit your store and when, isn’t just data, it’s basic, common sense information every retailer needs to understand – regardless of your size or category and especially in the furniture category where the average transaction value is so high.

Retailers need to think of their store’s traffic as a precious, non-renewable resource, and like anything precious, you should keep track of it. HGO MARK RYSKI is the author of Conversion: The Last Great

Retail Metric and When Retail Customers Count. He is also the founder and chief executive officer of the Edmonton-based HeadCount Corporation (www.headcount.com).

INDUSTRY CALENDAR July 30 to August 3, 2017 LAS VEGAS MARKET World Market Center Las Vegas, Nevada lasvegasmarket.com August 13 to 16, 2017 TORONTO GIFT FAIR Canadian Gift Association International Centre Toronto Congress Centre Mississauga, Ontario cangift.org

April 22 to 26, 2017 HIGH POINT MARKET High Point, North Carolina highpointmarket.org

ADVERTISERS’ INDEX

May 25, 2017 CHFA AWARDS GALA Canadian Home Furnishings Alliance Universal Event Space Vaughan, Ontario chfawards.ca

May 26 to 28, 2017 CANADIAN FURNITURE SHOW Quebec Furniture Manufacturers Assn.

International Centre Mississauga, Ontario canadianfurnitureshow.com June 8 to 11, 2017 TUPELO FURNITURE MARKET Tupelo, Mississippi tupelofurnituremarket.com

August 15, 2017 CHFA ANNUAL GOLF CLASSIC Canadian Home Furnishings Alliance Caledon Woods Golf Club Bolton, Ontario chfaweb.ca August 20 to 23, 2017 PRIMETIME Cantrex Nationwide Sands Expo Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada nationwideprimetime.com

Pages 2-3 Phoenix AMD International 41 Butler Court Bowmanville, ON L1C 4P8 T: 800.661.7313 phoenixamd.com

Page 7 Canadian Furniture Show 101-1111 Saint-Urbain Montreal QC H2Z 1Y6 T: 514.866.3631 canadianfurnitureshow.com

Page 15 Magniflex 1000 5th St., Suite 220 Miami Beach, FL 33139 T: 905.481.0940 magniflex.com

Page 5 Stearns & Foster Tempur Sealy Canada 145 Milner Avenue Scarborough, ON M1S 3R1 T: 800.268.4414 stearnsandfoster.ca

Page 11 Zucora 552 Clarke Road London, ON N5V 3K5 T: 800.388.2640 zucora.com

Pages 18-19 Serta Canada 40 Graniteridge Road, Unit #2 Concord, ON L4K 5M8 T: 800.663.8540 sertacanada.com

Page 13 Tempur-Pedic Tempur Sealy Canada 145 Milner Avenue Scarborough, ON M1S 3R1 T: 800.268.4414 tempurpedic.ca

Page 21 Retail Sales Professional Awards rspawards.com

August 27 to 30, 2017 ALBERTA GIFT FAIR Canadian Gift Association Edmonton Expo Centre Edmonton, Alberta cangift.org October 1 to 3, 2017 ANNUAL CONVENTION MEGA GROUP Vancouver megaconvention.ca October 14 to 18, 2017 HIGH POINT MARKET High Point, North Carolina highpointmarket.org November 16 to 18, 2017 ANNUAL CONFERENCE QUEBEC FURNITURE Manufacturers Assn.

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Montreal afmq.com/en November 29 to 30, 2017 IIDEX Interior Designers of Canada Metro Toronto Convention Centre - North iidexcanada.com

Page 23 Zuo Canada 450 Port Royal O., Suite 402 Montreal, QC H3L 2B8 T: 514.382.6661 zuomod.ca Page 29 Protect-A-Bed 1500 S. Wolf Road Wheeling, IL 60090 T: 519.822.4022 protectabed.com Page 34 Home Goods Online P.O. Box 3023 Brighton, ON K0K 1H0 T: 613.475.4704 homegoodsonline.ca

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