November/December 2013—The Back of the House

NOV/DEC 2013

HIDDEN STATEMENTS

DELIVERY & TRAINING

MANUFACTURER PARTNERS

Vol. 2 Issue 9

“BA

CK

OF TH

E HO

USE” N

OV/DEC

Issue N

OV/D

EC 2013

www.RetailerNOWmag.com

ATLANTA HIGH POINT LAS VEGAS NEW YORKNEW DELHI TORONTO TUPELO [email protected]: SURYA.COMSURYASOCIAL SURYASOCIAL

ATLANTA AMERICASMART 11-A-1JANUARY 7-14, 2014 • OPEN 8AM - 8PM

LAS VEGAS WMC C400JANUARY 26-30, 2014 • OPEN 8AM - 8PM

YOUR COMPLETE SOURCE FOR HOME ACCESSORIES

200+ POUFS 100+ THROWS

4,000+ RUGS 1,000+ PILLOWS75+ ACCENT FURNITURE

ENDLESSWALL DECOR

www.retailerNOWmag.com N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R | 2 0 1 3 1

22. Hidden Statements24. An Interview with Kathy Ireland28. Manufacturer Partnerships30. Warehouse Safety34. Delivery Tracking36. In-House vs. Third-Party Delivery39. People Counting40. Responsive Design

BACK OF THE HOUSE On the cover: Your impression doesn’t end in the showroom.

count onIT

yourVOICE

featuresNOW

12. Retailer2Retailer Conversion Rate 13. Roving Reporter Casual Market32. Fresh Perspectives Who Needs a Back of the House?42. Getting to Know the NextGen46. What's Selling Now46. Retailer of the Year Nominations48. Community Today Warehouse Operations

I N S I D E

04. From the Association President May the Circle be Unbroken06. From the Editor Back of the House10. TechNOW51. Product Focus Dining Upholstery54. Membership Marketplace57. Quick-Fire Marketing Social Media Doesn't Make You Social59. Government Relations Minimum Wage60. Industry Scoop62. Industry Calendar

64. The Now List

Back of the House

15. October High Point Wrap-Up16. Regramming #HPMkt Tweets from High Point

18. Caught on Camera Inaugural NextGen Day

20. Hot Products

High Point Market Wrap-up

36.

15.

2 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R | 2 0 1 3 www.retailerNOWmag.com

Contact Information:Mailing – Editorial:

500 Giuseppe Ct., Suite 6

Roseville CA 95678

Mailing – Advertising

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Roseville CA 95678

Online: retailerNOWmag.comPhone: Editorial: (800) 422-3778 Advertising: (800) 422-3778 Social: Facebook.com/retailerNOW Twitter.com/retailerNOW Pinterest.com/retailerNOW

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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: Please address changes to: RetailerNOW, The 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 [email protected].

If you would like to only receive an electronic version of RetailerNOW, please send an email to [email protected]. © 2012 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.

What we are so passionate about. . .

To have the courage to pursue purposeful dialogues that challenge conventional thinking, to engage and entertain our readers by delivering content that creates a fervent following ready to change the landscape of our industry.

RetailerNOW is the magazine for today’s home furnishings professional. Developed for a specialized community, RetailerNOW brings a unique editorial focus on progressive and relevant issues concerning the home furnishings industry in the retailer’s voice, with a focus on issues impacting retailers NOW.

Magazine of the North American Home Furnishings Association

Published by the North American Home Furnishings Association 500 Giuseppe Court, Suite 6 Roseville, CA 95678 800.422.3778

Publication StaffJennifer Billock Editor [email protected]

Lisa Tilley Creative Director [email protected]

Tim Timmons Associate Publisher [email protected]

Michelle Nygaard Sales Executive [email protected]

Cindi Williams Business Development [email protected]

Editorial Collaborators

Andrew Tepperman Tepperman's Windsor, ON

Carol Bell Contents Interiors Tucson, AZ

Donny Hinton Colortyme Gaffney, SC

Rick Howard Sklar Furnishings Boca Raton, FL

Travis Garrish Forma Furniture Fort Collins, CO

North American Home Furnishings Association Sharron Bradley CEO [email protected]

Mary Frye EVP [email protected]

Executive Committee Chair Howard Haimsohn Lawrance Contemporary

President Rick Howard Sklar Furnishings

President Elect Marty Cramer Cramer’s Home Furnishings

Vice President Steve Kidder Vermont Furniture Galleries

Secretary/Treasurer Paul Sanford SHFA President Britt Sams Sams Furniture

SEHFA President Wogan S. Badcock III W.S. Badcock Corp.

With our traditional craftsmanship and attention to detail, Kincaid Furniture is the #1 solid wood furniture maker in the country. But did you know we also have transitional styles, beautiful upholstered furniture, customized furniture options and new collections for 2014? Find out more at KincaidFurniture.com or by calling 800-438-8207.

NEW STYLES FOR 2014SOLID WOOD UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE LEADING SALES TOOLS

K I N C A I D F U R N I T U R E

M O R E C H I C T H A N Y O U M AY T H I N K .


Our businesses, no matter how professionally they are organized and how wonderful our products and services are, require incredible attention to detail in order to succeed. All of our customers are special. Each has their vision of how they want their surroundings to match their lifestyle needs. Our designers have to pick up on this vision, to make the finished products come together matching their goal.

As we all know, there can be a lot of bumps in the road from the time the sales order is written until products are in our customers’ homes. The second half of the process involves the “Back of the House”—the unsung heroes of our businesses. The translation of the designer’s order to a purchase order must be written, checked and reviewed before it is sent to the supplier. Without this crucial step, we run a much higher risk of having special orders arrive incorrectly, and the frustration and negativity is very hard on a store’s credibility.

Our “Back Room” employees look after order expediting to insure timely deliveries or work through issues with the suppliers if delays should arise. We must have competitive rates to insure that we are able to make the gross margins that are so important to the health of our businesses.

Once the truck arrives at our warehouse, the product is unloaded and inspected, received in our systems, racked and added to our inventory. If it is a single item, it can be cross-docked and delivered the next day, but if it is part of a larger order, it must be stored until the balance of the items arrive. This can get complicated as many vendors have different lead times. This process can be exacerbated by client

construction delays and other factors out of our control. A superb team of experts balances all of this with great agility and, for the most part, makes it look easy.

The process of setting up the delivery and collecting the balance demands skill and a practiced set of disciplines to insure success. Routing must be correctly conceived and efficient or the driver’s frustration may impact our customers.

All of the product must then be picked, prepped, deluxed and readied for the load out. The next very important group, the delivery team, is now the final touch with the customer. Each team must have a practiced toolkit of skills. Negotiating traffic in our major cit-ies is a nightmare for most of us, but it is much tougher for a truck trying to meet delivery windows in a routing schedule. Once they reach the customer’s home, they need to take a deep breath, put on white gloves and booties, and smile. They are now ready to make the delivery such a pleasant experience that it rekindles the excitement the customer felt when they made their purchase.

Too often the conditions at the home are not what was reported, and the delivery team must employ Houdini-like tactics to get the product into the home without damage. On occasion, issues occur that require follow-up service. Customer service people must have patience and determination to get to the bottom of the issue, send a technician and reassure the customer. How we manage the resolution oftentimes cements a long-term relationship.

A high level of service requires working with our Back Room partners to ensure customer satisfaction. The goal is to have them return and refer our stores to their friends and families.

This issue is dedicated to the back of the house, and it is my belief that these employee teams are where we reach the highest level of our client care. The back of the house staff does not see the glamorous side of the business, so we must find ways to show our appre-ciation and let them know how vital they are to the company’s success and customers’ satisfaction. The winning formula is a superb front and back end.

May the circle be unbroken!

Rick Howard

President's Message

from the president

May the Circle be Unbroken

Rick Howard, President North American HFA

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Maybe it’s my distant culinary background of catering, making pastries and waiting tables, but when I hear “back of the house,” I think about restaurants. The kitchen, the cooler, the delivery operations… all the things that, aside from the waitstaff, keep the business running. Without those pieces of the puzzle, any restaurant, even a Michelin-starred place, would founder and run itself out of business. You can’t run a café without food, right?

It’s a cross-industry standard. You may not have functioning kitchens in your store (if you do, I’m coming by for lunch!), but every home furnishings retail operation has back-end processes. Without computer software or someone watching the door, you won’t know your traffic. Without a warehouse, you may not have stock available. Without delivery options, no one is going to get their furniture. Without manufacturer partners, you may not have furniture at all! And just like that—it’s the demise of a business.

So here’s to the delivery drivers. The great manufacturer partners. The staff sprucing up the bathrooms. Here’s to the warehouse managers and employees. Here’s to all the employees you keep to make your business run as smooth as glass. This issue’s for you! We’re sharing what you want to know, from investigating warehouse safety programs to accurately tracking customer traffic to making low-traffic areas pop. And we’d love to hear some more of your ideas. If you’ve got a great back-of-house strategy, email me or catch up with us on Facebook or Twitter.

Thanks to our Facebook and Twitter “where are we now” campaign, we’re continuing to see where RetailerNOW is popping up across North America. Here we are in McMinnville, Tenn., at Barr’s Fine Home Furnishings! You’ll notice the striped velvet pillow matches our September cover perfectly. Barr’s is certainly in vogue!

Take a photo of us in your store, and you can be part of the fun!

(224) 627-3288 [email protected] @retailerNOW

from the editor

Editor’s Message

What I’m LovingThe holidays are here! Don’t you just want to curl up next to a warm fire with a cup of hot cocoa? Me too. But since I don’t have a fireplace, I want to use one of these. I’m going to take my hot cocoa outside, sit at this black wicker fire table from The Outdoor GreatRoom Company and watch the snow fall (and believe me, here in Wisconsin, I’ll have plenty of snow to watch). Happy holidays!

Back of the House

Cocoa Brown

Orange Rust

Star White

Black Forest

Jennifer's Winter Pantone Picks

RetailerNOW!

Follow other products I love on pinterest.com/retailerNOW

For more than 30 years, Nourison has excelled as the premier resource for beautifully designed, luxuriously crafted rugs, broadloom and home accessories. The vast, comprehensive selection offers everything from signature handmade area rug collections… to prestigious designer lines… to home accents and scatter

rugs… to top-selling power loomed carpeting for commercial, residential and hospitality uses.

The best products at every price point With price points to fi t every budget, Nourison products deliver unparalleled levels of quality and sophistication. That’s why prominent retailers throughout the United States and Europe rely on Nourison for superior merchandise assortments. The name Nourison is your assurance of unique beauty, craftsmanship and value.

A Comprehensive Product LineNourison product line consists of area rugs, accent rugs, broadloom and home accents. It also offers custom rugs and broadloom in any imaginable color and texture.

Nourison products deliver unparalleled levels of quality and sophistication. That’s why prominent retailers throughout the United States and Europe rely on Nourison for superior merchandise assortments.

A leader in fl oor covering and home accessories

Luminance Collection by NourisonTaking inspiration from the intricate geometrics of antiquity, with a modern approach to color and design, the Luminance collection will complement a variety of décors, both traditional and modern.

For more than 30 years, Nourison has excelled as the premier resource for beautifully designed, luxuriously crafted rugs, broadloom and home accessories. The vast, comprehensive selection offers everything from signature handmade area rug collections… to prestigious designer lines… to home accents and scatter

rugs… to top-selling power loomed carpeting for commercial, residential and hospitality uses.

The best products at every price point With price points to fi t every budget, Nourison products deliver unparalleled levels of quality and sophistication. That’s why prominent retailers throughout the United States and Europe rely on Nourison for superior merchandise assortments. The name Nourison is your assurance of unique beauty, craftsmanship and value.

A Comprehensive Product LineNourison product line consists of area rugs, accent rugs, broadloom and home accents. It also offers custom rugs and broadloom in any imaginable color and texture.

Nourison products deliver unparalleled levels of quality and sophistication. That’s why prominent retailers throughout the United States and Europe rely on Nourison for superior merchandise assortments.

A leader in fl oor covering and home accessories

Luminance Collection by NourisonTaking inspiration from the intricate geometrics of antiquity, with a modern approach to color and design, the Luminance collection will complement a variety of décors, both traditional and modern.

Area RugsNourison offers a comprehensive range of area rugs in every imaginable style, color, shape, size, color pattern and construction. Customers can choose from hundreds of traditional, transitional, or contemporary styles in designs that match any decorating preference.

Nourison Licensed BrandsNourison partners with world-class brands that add diversity to our assortment of area and accent rug collections. Brands we partner with have designer recognition as leaders in quality products. Recognizable licensed brands increase sales at the retail level by targeting brand-conscious consumers. Licensed brands include: Barclay Butera Lifestyles, Calvin Klein Home, kathy ireland HOME by Nourison, Joseph Abboud, and Waverly.

Mina Victory Home Accents by NourisonThese luxury home accents are designer creations, inspired by modern lifestyles and utilizing a global perspective. Most styles are designed to coordinate with Nourison’s signature handmade rugs.

Nourison Rug Boutique:

Nourison was the fi rst to introduce a comprehensive, space-saving rug display. It is still the gold standard in area rug displays. Requiring only 20 square feet of space, Nourison’s Rug Boutique provides a great ROI. The attractive display includes 27”x18” samples of al-most 100 designs representing over 600 SKUs, and lifestyle POP boards with size and shape information.

Nourison has permanent showrooms in Atlanta, High Point, Las Vegas, New Jersey, New York and Zurich. For more information, please visit www.nourison.com

kathy ireland HOME by Nourison Lava Flow-Aqua

Shown here: Mina Victory Indoor/Outdoor pillows

10 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R | 2 0 1 3 www.retailerNOWmag.com www.retailerNOWmag.com N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R | 2 0 1 3 11

Cool Apps

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Good to Know

Tech

TechNOW

Do you use email marketing for your business? Your customers may not be getting your eblasts. Earlier this year, Gmail introduced a new inbox for its users that separates mail into three categories: Primary, Social and Promotions. More than likely, your company’s emails are being shuffled into the Promotions tab, making it more difficult for recipients to see the messages. Here’s what to do to make sure your emails end up in your customers’ Primary tab (the default inbox when Gmail opens): Send an eblast to everyone on your mailing list specifically stating to drag the email to their Primary tab. A pop-up window should open asking if users want to do this for every message from that email address—instruct readers to click “yes.” After that, every email you send from that address will be in the Primary inbox.

Score.org

SCORE lives its tagline, “for the life of your business,” in more ways than one. The website is home to a nearly free small business association that supports companies as they start and grow. Not only does the site offer incredibly valuable information and articles for businesses of all size, you can even sign up for mentoring and workshops, either online or in person. The site also hosts templates for business documents and information for handling international business. SCORE is a one-stop shop for everything you need to run your business, with a little help from others to help you along.

Have you connected with RetailerNOW? Like, Tweet or Pin with us and you’ll be able to experience more content and continue the conversations online!

Like: www.facebook.com/RetailerNOW Tweet: @RetailerNOW Pin: www.pinterest.com/RetailerNOW

What technology are you using in your store? Let us know at

[email protected]!

Kashoo Accounting

Built specifically for small businesses, Kashoo makes the accounting process simple and

easy with a user-friendly interface providing everything you need for a full accounting suite. The app is integrated with QuickBooks so you can port over your existing numbers and get started right away. Available for the iPad; Free

Shoeboxed Receipt Tracker

Maintaining an expense report for Market? Shoeboxed can help. Snapping pictures of your receipts allows you to archive your expenses immediately and translates that

information into an expense report. And if you’re driving, hit one button and Shoeboxed uses GPS to track your mileage, generate maps and determine your reimbursement amount. Available for Apple and Android; Free

Skitch

Collaboration goes visual with Skitch. Take a picture, make a sketch, capture a screenshot, and then you can mark it up with easy on-screen

tools and send it off to anyone you want. See a sofa in your competitor’s showroom you want to sell? Snap a picture, write the manufacturer name right on it, and send it to your staff. Research has never been easier. Available for Apple, Android and Windows phones; Free

Hot Site


@MicroDInc: Q1) How do I gain more customer engagement? #FurnitureChat

@MicroDInc: A1) A simple search on a social media site is the best start. Where are the customers and what are they talking about? #FurnitureChat

@FurnitureFirst: From what I have seen, many retailers create fun contests, such as the "Ugly Sofa" contest to gain customer engagement. #FurnitureChat

@FurnitureFirst: @MicroDInc Retailers can also share pictures of their showroom, product and events about their store #FurnitureChat

@enchantedblog86: @MicroDInc I'm such an advocate for #socialmedia in our industry! What a great way to engage with your customers.

@MicroDInc: @enchantedblog86 as a consumer, please tell us how retailers can engage with you online better! #furniturechat

@enchantedblog86: @MicroDInc I think it's important that retailers stay up on the latest trends. Find things that are interesting to consumers.

GO ONLINE TO SEE MORE ... RetailerNOWmag.com

Tech

#1 In High Impact Events. Take that first step. Call or Click today!800-472-5242 • www.PFpromotions.com

ongratulations to PFP Founder,

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American Furniture Hall of Fame

To read more about the American Furniture Hall of Fame

and their many projects, visit www.FurnitureHallofFame.com

How much do you know about social media? Join MicroD and Furniture First every Monday for a Twitter chat about all things retail. The inaugural #FurnitureChat focused on retailers’ social presences. Here’s what they had to say.


Retailer2Retailer

A: Most published data seems to be from the wish list rather than reality, and the calculation is less obvious than you would expect. Stores that use measured door traffic counters in some impartial way (like literal door swings) will generally show a lower number. If you rely on salesperson up data, it will artificially inflate the number. Find a baseline and use that as a starting point to measure whether your store or salesperson is getting better or worse, regardless of whatever known flaws are incorporated in the number, so long as you measure the same way each time.

Store location can impact the baseline, too. A mall or busy shopping center might have a lower close ratio due to more casual lookers who just happen by, versus an out-of-the-way standalone destination store that will have a higher percentage of purposeful shoppers. —David Gunn, Knight Furniture

A: Generally, I find industry averages to be inaccurate. Each store is unique. We determine an acceptable closing rate based on historical data and current data, and take the average as what is generally accepted as a minimum. If you ask 10 different retailers exactly how they track and exactly who is counted as an up, you will get at least seven different responses—maybe 10.

—Howard Haimsohn, Lawrance Furniture

Your Voice

How do you determine an appropriate conversion rate or close ratio?Q.

A: Ups can often be skewed by the sales staff’s interpretation of a true “up.” We provide in-house financing so we have a large amount of traffic every day in the form of customers who come in simply to make a paymenton their account. Some of these customers paying on account turn into true ups that never get written down. Likewise, we have customers who come in regarding a service issue and end up looking at merchandise. There are so many scenarios outside of your regular Joe walking in the front door asking about a recliner. It’s, unfortunately, just not that simple.

—Casey Evans, Pedigo Furniture

A: For new staff I use a starting goal to achieve after 120 days. For current staff we use an average of the previous three years.

A: We have the sales staff keep track of ups and we have a camera on the entry doors that an office employee uses to do a traffic count. Then the sales manager comes up with final figures by balancing out the two. Without having a full-time greeter, I think the camera format works the best for us and is pretty accurate.

—Dave Harkness, Harkness Furniture

—Marty Cramer, Cramer’s Home Furnishings

36?


—Marty Cramer, Cramer’s Home Furnishings

Roving Reporter

Your Voice

JENNIFER BILLOCK

Casual Market, Chicago, Illinois

Editor, RetailerNOW

This Market, I did something new. My first day, I shad-owed two retailers as they looked for new furniture to sell. (Thank you, Marty Cramer and Kevin Herron, for your hospitality!) The three of us were all in the same

boat, just stepping into the outdoor furnishings world for the first time. We trekked to multiple showrooms, went on tours, spoke with sales… well, you all know how it goes. But I was completely green, and I learned quite a bit! The first being that the amount of outdoor pieces available is mind-boggling. And along with that, there’s a whole new vernacular to learn—like triscuit weave, powder coat, cushion drainage, cast aluminum, chat group, slingback and parabolic mesh. The outdoor furniture world has its own particular color scheme, too. Whereas indoor furnishings can range from subdued pastels to hot pinks to tra-ditional browns and blacks, outdoor pieces are almost exclusively neutral tones. Bold color comes in small doses with accent pillows or a meticulously planned pinstripe.

One of the things I found particularly surprising was the durability of the items we looked at. I live in a volatile weather environ-ment. In the same day, it can be a heat wave in the morning, a thunderstorm in the afternoon, and snowfall in the evening. Every showroom I went to stressed that regardless of the weather, their pieces can stay out year-round, in all temperatures and precipita-tion. Now, I’m used to dumping all my lawn furniture back into

the shed when the first frost hits, not to be seen until spring. But solution-dyed acrylic fabric, engineered wicker, aluminum, cast iron, concrete and more opened my eyes to a whole new world of outdoor rooms. Some of these fabrics and pillows are insanely plush and comfortable; they feel and look just like indoor materi-als. If you haven’t looked into outdoor furnishings, I think you’ll be just as surprised as I was.

On my last evening in town, I attended the International Casual Furnishings Association Awards Gala at the Field Museum to celebrate achievements in outdoor furniture. Everyone be sure to congratulate Seasons Four in Lexington, Mass., and ABSCO Fireplace & Patio in Alabama for winning Apollo Awards in retail excellence!

One more thing. If you’ve been reading my editor’s letters, you know I can’t get enough of rocking chairs. At the Casual Market, I fell in love with the red Plantation Rocker from Troutman Chair Co. The back slats are curved for lumbar support and the seat is comfortably graded. Now, the exact chair is sitting in my living room with a matching side table and an accent birdcage pillow from Nourison. What a souvenir!

Are you visiting a show or new market event? Let us know at [email protected]!


Upholstery | Casual Dining | Occasional | Entertainment | Youth | Master Bedroom magnussen.com

Explore the possibilities and fi nd out why Magnussen is the best kept secret in the furniture business. With our new upholstery collection and new introductions in all categories, you’re sure to be impressed. Now with our Whole Home Solutions and QuickFlex shipping program, you can mix and ship product from our Asian Distribution Center making it easy to get what’s right for your business.

To learn more and locate a sales representative in your area, call 519-662-3040 ext. 733

Solutions for the Whole Home


Market Wrap-Up

High Point

Attendees

Capture it

on Mobile ➨


Regramming #HPMktWe scoured Twitter searching for the best Instragram photos from High Point Market. Here are some #regrams of our favorites.

@HUDSONSTORE You think they're vintage right? wrong! Love them, not getting them until April. Youch! #hpmkt #hudsonspring2014 #hatelongleadtimes

@zkgraff #hpmkt jacques garcia sofa by @bakerfurniture + art inspired by homer's odyssey

@covetedhome Loved meeting Mi-chael & Stacy of Dunes & Duchess at #hpmkt Great line of bold colors and fun designs.

@TYNDALLFURN Obsessed #hpmkt

@FranklinEighth Lovely Moroccan inspired mirror at @vancollier #hpmkt

@Design_the_Gap Can you say Mad Men? @youngerfurnitur #dtg #hpmkt #dondraper

@THENESTEGG New triptych on its way to our nest soon! #wallart #hpmkt

@ScoutDeb One of my favorite new fabrics from @leeindustries Great chair #hpmkt #vintagescout #squaready

@Sandra_Espinet Right in time for #Halloween, lots of #orange accessories and #decor at #HPmkt #carrots #ho-medecor #shopping #interiordesign

Market Wrap-Up


@AntiqueDesignCt #selfie in a Queenie Tin mirror #hpmkt

@StudioM_ Lovin me some Design Legacy at #hpmkt. Never disappointed here! #stylespotter

Check out more of your Market photos at www.retailerNOWmag.com/click/photos

@RueMagazine Can't get enough of the woven detailing we spotted at #hpmkt this season. Particularly loved this #BakerFurniture chair!!


CAUGHT ON CAMERA AT THE INAUGURAL NEXT-GEN DAY

Market Wrap-Up

High Point University students and furniture market visitors got an inside look at the furniture industry during Market. Next Generation NOW, the North American Home Furnishings Association’s (NAHFA) young professionals group, joined forces with High Point Market and High Point University (HPU) to give students and furniture market attendees personal access to the industry’s experts and business leaders during a networking event and two panels.

The students attended a luncheon and job-shadowing event at Market hosted by Ray Allegrezza, editor-in-chief of Furniture Today. Panelists from Mann, Armisted & Epperson; El Dorado Furniture; Steve Hodges Associates and Stanley Furniture shared stories of how they became involved in the industry, talked with students and answered their questions.

The luncheon followed the first panel, “Fashioning a Career in the Home Furnishings Industry,” which was held at HPU and featured speakers from Ashley Furniture Industries, Raymour & Flanigan Furniture, Best Home Furnishings and MicroD. Ashley Furniture founder and CEO Ron Wanek was one of the panelists who discussed the “executive vacuum,” explaining that baby boomers are retiring and the industry needs young professionals in a variety of areas.

The opportunity to learn from the bumps and bruises as well as the triumphs of these seasoned professionals will serve the next generation as they acquire the knowledge and skills to make them a success in this industry.

With the success of the inaugural NextGen Day, the NAHFA is moving fast on plans for another at the upcoming Las Vegas Market in January.

The "executive vacuum": Baby boomers are retiring

and the industry needs young professionals in

a variety of areas.

High Point University students look on as panelists discuss what a career in the industry has to offer.


Market Wrap-UpOn left and below: Ashley Furniture Industries founder and CEO Ron Wanek stops for picture and autograph requests from HPU students.

Young market-goers and HPU students enjoy lunch at High Point Market

Panelists (left to right) included: Alex Macias, Lael Thompson, Stuart Curtis, Seth Goldberg, Hayley Leocha, Jason Goldman, Ron Wanek, Kerry Lebensburger.


Market Wrap-Up

HOT PRODUCTSOctober’s Market was all about modern lines and updated antique inspiration. From futuristic styled chairs to pieces inspired by celebrities and traditional designs, the selection offered enough to satisfy any picky buyer’s tastes. Here are some of the top products from October’s High Point Market.

Regina Andrew | reginaandrew.comThe Gables Chair brings both futuristic lines and traditional log-inspired styling to any room.

American Leather | americanleather.comSoft, curving lines with a pop color on the Niagara Curved Two-Piece make this unique sofa stand out.

Taracea | taracea.comTaracea is known for sustainable wood furnishings, and the Partida Dining Table's wood-cut top is no exception.

SkLO | sklostudio.comHang this sleek, modern New Blue Opaque Object from your wall for an instant vase.


Market Wrap-Up

Massoud Furniture | massoudfurniture.comThe whimsical Baby D Chair features fabric from Wesley Mancini for Home. Mancini’s favorite pup, Dexter, promises to bring a smile to anyone who enters the room.

SELVA | selva.comThe Peggy Norris Chair creates interplay between fresh design and coziness with its vivid, feminine lines and contemporary upholstery.

Legacy Classic Kids | legacyclassickids.com

The modified sleigh Avalon Platform Bed, inspired by Wendy Bellissimo, has a

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Stein World | steinworld.comStein World’s distinctive chests, like the five-drawer Wilcox, focus on upcycled and reclaimed elegance in design and style.

Gus Design Group | gusmodern.comA low profile and minimalistic design ensure the Carmichael Bed will fit into almost any bedroom design scheme.


Back of the House

What your showroom property is telling customers by Richard Sexton, founder

and CEO of Carolina Rustica

In our omni-channel retail universe, much of our focus tends to be on the condition of our online presence. And with good reason—online commerce may only

be 7 percent of overall retail sales right now, but it is the primary driver for many industries, and has the greatest potential for growth. Even those entrenched brick-and-mortar businesses (grocery stores, car dealers, hardware stores, etc.) tend to focus much more on their product offerings, pricing and promotions. Our attention wavers when it comes to presentation of the product (particularly important in our home furnishings vertical), and we can be downright neglectful when it comes to the less glamorous components of our retail space. Though not as exciting as floor merchandising, the condition of our public areas—storefront, parking area, restrooms, front counter, customer pick-up—makes a hidden statement about our business. If you take a look at these areas in your own operation, what do you think they may be telling customers?

Did you know studies show 60 percent of callers left on hold, hearing nothing but dead silence, will hang up? And worse yet, 70 percent of all business calls are placed on hold at some point in the conversation. What does that Hidden Statement say about those businesses? On-hold music and other messages help to alleviate the boredom experienced by customers while they wait their turn in long telephone queues. The more deeply they are engaged and interested, the faster time seems to pass, making customers feel like their hold time was shorter than it may have actually been. Messages informing customers of their place in line increase customer satisfaction across demographics, but marketing messages can also make customers less testy.

Nearly every business offers specials or has new, upcoming products or services that may not be well known by the general public. Although a company may still want to appeal to the majority of people, they can break up on-hold music with informative messages about daily specials, new movie releases and products that are difficult to find. The customer will learn something new about the business through on-hold marketing and be more likely to contact the company again in the future after recurrent pleasant experiences contacting that company.

Companies like Retail Radio and Profit On Hold can transform the liability of silence on the telephone line into an asset by tell-ing holding customers about the store they have called. Customized messages read by professional announcers against a back-ground of music expose callers to important information instead of a vacuum of silence. Through the hold line, callers can even reach customer service representatives to discuss weekly specials and sales. Playing the right messages over your phone’s holding system can mean the difference between a sale and a hang-up—no Hidden Statements about it.

If you want to find out more about programs that offer these services, please contact NAHFA’s membership department.

Before After

Before After


Back of the House

As retailers and business owners, we are typically flooded with a hundred things to do during the day, and re-examining the state of our restrooms or common areas is usually not even on the list. However, our customers see everything in our business, and we can be sending Hidden Statements that work against our own diligent efforts to create the right impres-sion. It can be something as simple as signage, for example. In one of our galleries, we have a roll-down door when we are understaffed and not able to have someone seated out front. Realizing this made us looked rather unapproachable, we simply had a sign made directing our customers to our other galleries. We want to be as inviting as possible, and all it took was some simple signage to change the Hidden Statement.

Look at your environment with a shopper’s critical eye and see what can be realistically improved upon. Take a neutral or negative Hidden Statement and turn it into a positive one. Make it your own!

Store EntranceYour storefront and entrance are the first and most obvious areas of initial customer contact and your single biggest opportunity to create the right impression. Successful retailers excel at storefront display and signage, changing these visuals accord-ing to season, new product arrivals or promotional events. But what else does your storefront area say about your business? If you are a freestanding store, you will have to maintain a clean, code-compliant parking area, with landscaping and conveniences like outside trash disposal and perhaps some benches for seating. However, if you are part of a strip mall, indoor mall or redeveloped textile mill (like in our case), you will have to grapple with the landlord’s standards for your property. This may not necessarily be consistent with the statement you are trying to make about your business. For example, our storefront has a perfectly nice entrance, clean and accessible, but with a smoking station by the door. This is not what I would choose for the entrance, but we have little say in the matter. Could this be sending a Hidden Statement about the facility? Are we saying “Smokers Welcome” or

“Smokers Stop Here”?

Front CounterYears ago, we had a front counter that ran the width of the store. It was an obvious spot to help our customers, but it was also a barrier. Our business model is not highly transactional; it is more collaborative. We work with customers who are customizing furniture, and we need to show customers that we are on their side in the process. The counter was a barrier and sent the wrong signal, so we replaced it with some table and chair sets. We eliminated our cash register as well, using our online order management systems to receive payment and generate receipts (cash is a rarity in our business, due to the high Average Order Value). We took the hidden signal of “this is you and this is us” and flipped it around, making the process more participatory.

We could still improve, though. With our open floor plan, customers were able to walk around our office, and some would hover over our shoulders as we entered in information. Since we don’t want custom-ers to have access to our pricing, we tried to corral them away from the office area with a rather truculent sign. What was the Hidden Statement? Stay Out!

To tone this down and keep more consistent with our business philosophy, we softened things up and made a waiting area, complete with two very comfy chairs and a table, with a more polite sign that asks customers to wait where they are for service. We’ve still kept a barrier, but its not so in-your-face. What message does your front counter send?

RestroomsIf you are a full-service standalone retail store, it is imperative that you have restrooms. Retailers in enclosed malls can get away with directing customers to the common area restrooms, but otherwise, it’s a necessity. In our business, we are rela-tively low on foot traffic and this allows us to monitor and maintain clean, orderly restrooms. This was not always the case, however. Before our last store expansion, we relied on the common area restrooms, which were not maintained to our standards due to high usage. As our discomfort with the restroom situation grew, we took the opportunity to work with our landlord and build in two brand new restrooms in our third showroom. The result? No Hidden Statements about our business: The restrooms are decorated with our own product, down to the mirrors and vanity, and maintained to impeccable standards. There is no possibility of a negative experience in this unsung portion of our showroom.

Common AreasRetail tenants in covered malls, shopping plazas, strip malls and hybrids such as our business share common areas. We are located in a historic building with several other tenants. We are the only retail operation on our floor, and with relatively light foot traffic, we need to make sure that the common areas are welcoming to Carolina Rustica customers. Even a spacious common area may not necessarily be welcoming to customers. We try to adapt to that situation by placing group settings outside of our store. Most shopping center managers try to create a clean, welcoming environment for their retailer, so in a majority of cases, there is little that can (or should) be done. However, there are surely many retailers like us who live with mundane or lackluster com-mon areas. Remember that customers see these areas before they enter your store, so do everything you can to create the right impression before they ever set foot in your domain.


Back of the House

SALUTESBUSY

MOMSby Jennifer Billock

Kathy Ireland lounges on Nourison rug.


Back of the House

hen supermodel Kathy Ireland began her product line, she started with a single pair of socks. That tiny item has led to a full line of home

furnishings products, as well as bridal gow ns a nd hom e a c c es s o r i e s .

RetailerNOW sat down with Kathy to chat about her partnership with Nourison and what makes those products special.

: What’s unique about your products with Nourison?

Kathy: We don’t always think about a rug as jewelry for the home. But my goodness, the shimmer in the rugs and the decorative pil-lows… it’s exciting. When I read about your Nina [Reference to the Editor's grandmother in the August 2013 issue's Editor's Message], it just touched my heart and reminded me of something Elizabeth Taylor would always teach me. She was always encouraging me in fashion and teaching me to go bolder in every detail. It had to be exquisite. For us to be able to find partners who can bring what we’ve had in our heads to fashion, I can’t tell you how emotional it is. We have such an assortment from affordable to luxurious and it’s just got that fashion. I encourage women, when they’re putting their home together, to start from the ground up. Choose a rug that you love, that speaks to you. Let that be your anchor for everything else in the room. Draw colors from it, textures from it. It’s a wonderful place to start.

What is the focus behind your product line?

Kathy: Our mission began in 1993 with finding solutions for families, especially busy moms. We’ve expanded it to finding solutions for people in love with our bridal business, and finding solutions for people in business. Our brand is about solutions. If you don’t have any problems, our brand is probably not for you.

When we started the brand and as it grew, our customer was com-municating with me via our website. We don’t sell anything on it, and we don’t plan to. It’s a communication channel. It was really meant as a thank you, because while maybe in the beginning the retailers didn’t quite get it, there were women who embraced what we started with (a single pair of socks). She started communicating with us and letting us know her needs—and she had needs in the kitchen and in gardening. There were some who said, well let’s just photograph you in the kitchen and with some plants. And I said no! I’m not going to do that. It’s not truthful. Some people can do it all but I’m not one of them, and it’s OK to ask for help. I’m not going to put that on women, making her think she has to do everything.

When you partner with a brand, you want more than an autographed picture. That’s really not that interesting. You need design and innovation and creativity. You need support in sales and marketing. You need a committed team with their sleeves rolled up who are going to get behind you.

partnerships


Some of our designs that really address the millennials are the studio collections. It’s very young at heart. And we’ve got guys on our team who are always saying, “Don’t forget the guys.” So in all our designs, we seek to make sure we have that balance of the masculine and feminine. I grew up in a home with three sisters, and Dad was kind of overwhelmed with my mom and the girls. So we have a sensitivity towards that. You don’t want anything overly frilly or overly masculine. When you have that blending, everybody feels comfortable when they walk into a room, and that’s something we seek to accomplish with our designs as well.

: What kind of tweaks have you had to make to cater more to the millennial group?

Kathy: Price point is one. They’re beautiful, they’re luxurious, but they’re affordable. And also offering sizes that are going to fit in smaller spaces. It’s also about experiencing the brand, and when you’re doing that for the millennial, you can turn around and say we have a beautiful rug in a 4x6 for your studio apartment in whatever city you might be in, for a very affordable price. We’ve also gone back in these collections and added in a pair of 4x6s as well as a very aggressive retail price point on some of the products that have been new to our relationship with Nourison. Like Cottage Grove is a beautiful textured border rug, and it speaks to the millennials because the colors and palette are absolutely on trend with what’s going on in home furnishings.

: Why should a retailer stock your product?

Kathy: We have an external mission of finding solutions for people in business and it’s also an internal mission, meaning partnering with our retailers in a powerful way. We so value them. One of the most exciting things for me, when I get to work with our different retail teams, is really connecting with the sales team. I love sales teams because I learn so much from them. We’re communicating regularly in every way possible. They’re on the front lines every single day and there’s so much to learn from them. What’s working, what’s not working, what’s moving? If something is a little slow, what can we do to give you a push? When you partner with a brand, you want more than an autographed picture. That’s really not that interesting. You need design and innovation and creativity. You need support in sales and marketing. You need a committed team with their sleeves rolled up who are going to get behind you. We love connecting with our retail partners and learning from them. We want to serve them, not in an institutionalized, industrialized way, but an individualized way. We realize every region and every retailer has different needs and different areas where we can come along and support them. We want to learn from them and work with them. We want to learn how we can best be of service and

what can we do to serve them beyond our brand. We have creative incentives. Is there a certain time when sales are a little slower, and can we do a wonderful story in the local media to really make people aware of this retailer?

Also, with all of our designs, our style guides span the globe. You get a seamless cohesion. It’s not matchy-matchy. When a family is putting their home together, it can be overwhelming and people can get intimidated. Everyone’s got their own unique sense of style. It’s just a matter of trusting it and unleashing it, and when we give options within our brand esthetic or style guides, you really can’t make a mistake because the palettes flow and work together. You really can bring a room together beautifully and quite easily.

: How did you combat the male-centric furnishings world? Did you have any difficulties getting started?

Kathy: When I first got into the home furnishings industry, I walked into a room full of guys. I was like, where are all the women? Are they all in a meeting or something? It was strange. It was a sales meeting and it was all guys. I just started asking questions. “So please tell me a bit about your customer. Male, female?” And they said, oh, 95 percent female does the shopping. OK… do you think we might want to have a little balance here? [Laughing]

It’s been interesting. A lot of the guys have been great and open. We had some wonderful discussions early on, working with people who just didn’t understand what it was for a busy mom to shop and how heroic that is. Just what goes into that one act, when you’re talking about car seats, and temper tantrums, and diapers, and drama, and stuff, and you get out of the driveway—it’s a big deal. You make it into the store—that’s victory. That’s why it’s important to us who we partner with at every level, from manufacturer to retail. Because we want to honor her. She’s made that heroic effort; we know it’s a big deal. We get that. She’s being pulled. She’s in the store and she’s got a limited amount of time. She’s got to take someone to soccer, pick someone up from tap dance, and she’s overwhelmed. And if she sees designs that are called “461” or “389,” that doesn’t do anything for her. It’s not a solution. But when our names have meaning and tap into emotions and her home, there’s a lot of pride. We want to make her home wonderful. So in every area, we want to bring a solution. We don’t want her putting her home together to be overwhelming. We want it to be fun. For us to do our work correctly, it’ll make it fun for her. When I was a child, my mom loved changing the house around. It wasn’t in our budget to buy new products, so she just moved things around all the time to give it a new look. Changing out your rugs and pillows freshens up your home in such a powerful, beautiful way, and we’re able to bring this luxury and make it affordable. It’s really exciting.

Back of the House


Back of the House

When I first got into the home furnishings industry, I walked into a room full of

guys. I was like, where are all the women? Are they all in a meeting or something?

It was strange. It was a sales meeting and it was all guys. I just started asking

questions. “So please tell me a bit about your customer. Male, female?” And

they said, oh, 95 percent female does the shopping. OK… do you think we

might want to have a little balance here?


Manufacturer Partnerships by Jennifer Billock

Some of the most important parts of a successful relationship with manufacturers are the programs offered to assist and promote the retail side. Here, two mattress companies share the ways they help retailers throughout the path to purchase.

Pure LatexBLISS Kurt Ling, President

We provide our retailers with all the tools and training neces-sary to present the comfort and health benefits from sleeping on a latex mattress. The starting point is our standard point-of-purchase unit that includes six-foot walls, designer top of bed and a demonstration bench of mattress technology. But we believe our real point of difference is that we offer in-store brand design to individual retail spaces, including a “shop-within-a-shop” design that has worked here and in Europe and Asia. We have found custom in-store design provides a more effective and impactful brand effort than traditional point of purchase. Our custom design package includes access to our retail design consultant, mattress/design/category layout, color schemes, graphics and on-wall copy.

Our mission is to create a latex category in-store for retailers because it will raise sales tickets and overall store business. We value space and we value simplicity in design. We believe these two elements provide the feeling of tension relief and muscle relaxation, which is our core benefit message. We believe retail space design can communicate these benefits better in design than in feature copy. Our in-store design program helps brings that experience to a store floor and our approach to in-store design makes our brand more dynamic, more engaging and more effective in terms of communication. Overall, it is more experiential. It moves a store’s display from being about mattresses with latex in them to specifically addressing a retailer’s target customer with imaging, copy and a space that is uniquely different than other brands.

Dormeo Octaspring Dany Sfeir, Chief Marketing Officer

The only way to make sure consumers are getting the best experi-ence possible is by arming our retail partners with the tools they need to communicate the Dormeo experience. If the retailer wins, the customer wins and we win too. That’s why we make sure our retailers have all the information they need on our products and sleep in general, so that at the end of the day the consumer leaves the store happy and comfortable with their decision. It’s about the experience!

We offer a significant amount of advertising and direct response support to our retailers. This goes hand-in-hand with innovative marketing programs. For instance, right now we are running a contest to create our next commercial spot. Those purchasing a Dormeo Octaspring mattress are invited to participate and the grand prize is a brand new Range Rover. Another example is our partnership with Frette, a manufacturer of high-end linens, which has designed an exclusive sheet for Dormeo. With this partnership, we created a special promotion for our retailers that includes a Frette giveaway valued at $800 with the purchase of certain prod-ucts. Each of these are designed to drive traffic to our retailers. We also offer comprehensive training services through a customized online program designed to help RSAs learn about our products and services so they can translate the knowledge into sales.

Our advertising and direct response support, along with our in-novative marketing programs, are designed to drive customers to retail floors. We understand how important our retail partners are to the overall success of our company and we want to work together to achieve our goals.

Back of the House

PRODUCT EDUCATION is KEY— arming our retail partners with the tools they need to communicate the Dormeo experience.

RETAIL SPACE DESIGN is KEY— in-store design makes our brand more dynamic, more engaging and more effective.

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Phil DesmondBrown Furniture West Lebanon, NH


Back of the House

In fact, the two are intertwined. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created to assure safety standards and to protect American workers. Many furniture companies work with their warehouses and distribution centers to meet and exceed those standards to ensure their workers’ safety. However, what do companies do to ensure compliance?

Based in Wisconsin, Steinhafels employs 245 warehouse employees in its Wisconsin and Illinois facilities. To ensure staff safety, human relations specialist Linda Malmberg said their safety committee

“makes recommendations to the owners as to things that need to be improved. We also do semi-annual [safety] drills,” as well as provide regularly scheduled safety training.

Steinhafels offers 10 online training courses annually. Reports detail those who have and have not received training. This allows managers to ensure staff can verify their safety knowledge for their areas. Malmberg added, “Safety posters are all over. When an employee gets hurt, we ask him to describe the event and tell how he could have [handled] that situation better to avoid injuries.”

The company shares safety results and their implications with its employees. “We do a lot of education about how results impact insurance premiums,” said Malmberg. “We tell them ‘Here’s how you can keep insurance premiums to a minimum’ and ensure we stay financially viable and they can stay employed. For a lot of people, this was a real eye-opener.”

In addition to workplace postings and weekly safety meetings at Steinhafels, they hold weekly safety drawings after weeks when no injuries occur. “If we have a better workman’s comp claim year than the prior year, each associate gets a gift card,” Malmberg said.

“It may not sound like a lot, but [staff] can get quite competitive to do better than last year.”

Appropriate Tools Promote Warehouse SafetyBy Sue Masaracchia-Roberts

No matter what the industry, safety procedures and good housekeeping practices are key to the wellbeing of employees and company profitability.

With its 21 stores in Indiana and Illinois, The RoomPlace has a distribu-tion center staff of 125 members, including a full time safety inspector. Safety is stressed from the first day of work.

“At our startup meetings, we have conversations about safety—like trip hazards, especially with things that are seasonal,” said Mike Yanke, RoomPlace distribution center director. “We do audits and spot checks and have zero toler-ance. Any infraction, even something as minor as not filling out their inspection sheets on a daily basis, will result in them being taken off equipment and require them to recertify. These are pretty strict rules, but, in my seven years here, our damage on the forklift has gone down drastically. We would rather terminate someone immediately than see them be killed.”

Safety Bingo is one fun way Yanke helps reinforce the safety messages (see the sidebar to learn how to play). Yanke consistently engages his staff in other ways too. With the safety inspector also involved in training and acting as an integral part of the team, Yanke is in the process of reinstating what he calls behavior-based safety. “It is kind of a peer review process where people watch others do their jobs and try to identify the risks we put ourselves at so we can change or fix the process. A lot of companies are reactive after someone gets hurt; we are trying to get ahead of that curve and fix things before someone gets hurt.”

These methods have paid off for The RoomPlace; Yanke’s team just celebrated one year with no loss time and awarded each employee $100 for this safety success. “Safety involves everyone,” said Yanke.

“We are very focused on safety, not only for our employees but also for our customers.”


Back of the House

At Art Van Furniture in Michigan, the director of loss prevention, Michael F. Case, CESCO, oversees two facilities and five hub stores with more than 650 employees. Its extensive safety training includes “a number of [customized] training videos and presenta-tions featured on our in-house TV, called AVTV. Any associate in any location,” he said, “can access the training simply by selecting the loss prevention channel and identifying the training they need.” Handouts accompany most training sessions and both the employ-ees and their managers must sign off on any training they receive.

The warehouse director and vice president of operations lead monthly warehouse safety meetings, including representation from all staff areas as well as from property management, loss prevention and workman’s compensation. Case explained, “Each brings their own perspective as it relates to their jobs and provides insights and suggestions on how to make the overall operation a safer one. It is important that our warehouse associates know that safety, as well as their ideas, are important to a safe environment and are supported by leadership at the highest levels.”

In addition to meetings, training and compliance audits, Case said managers are continually on the lookout for safety violations. “Those

observed are immediately counseled and, in most cases, [offenders]receive corrective action or discipline,” said Case. “We have a goal for each associate to go home at the end of the day as healthy and safe as when they arrived at work that morning.”

Art Van is “not big into incentive programs but does recognize locations for high scores on their audits,” said Case, “and individual departments are recognized for injury reduction.” The company also sponsors safety poster and banner creation contests, as well as general recognition or pizza parties for departments with low and no injury rates. Case explained they do not want to create an environment that suppresses “injury and near-miss reports to keep a zero injury rate. We would rather recognize good behavior and performance.”

“Quality practices include continuing to integrate safety into your culture and keeping safety awareness top-of-mind,” said Malmberg.

“If you do that, you will have a successful safety program.” She added, “If [employees] are happier with us as a company, they feel good about coming to work because they know we care about them and that this is a safe place to work. It is just a better overall employee experience.”

SAFETY BINGO NEWS YOU CAN USE PROMOTES SAFETY EVERY DAY

Want to play Safety Bingo in your store? Just print out different bingo cards for each employee. Attach the cards to paychecks when you hand out payroll. Every day that goes by without an accident, pull a random bingo number. If someone gets hurt and has to miss work, the game is over. When the employee returns, begin a new game. Yanke offers $25 for each completed line, $50 for two lines and $100 for a blackout. Once an employee completes a blackout, a new game starts.


Gallery1 interior

Fresh Perspectives

Who Needs a Back-of-House Anyway?! by Jennifer Billock

When it comes to running the back end of your business, look out—you may be wasting tons of money. Sure, a warehouse

and delivery team are essential to running a smooth business. But do you really need to keep it in-house? Kent Corzine says no. Corzine, owner of Thomasville Furniture in Agoura Hills, Calif., outsources his back-of-house activity to a third party and maintains that, as long as needs are met, this is the best way to go—at least for his business—from an economical standpoint.

“Some family-owned businesses, they pride themselves in being able to deliver the same night,” he says. “But that’s not economically great because you’re sending out an almost empty truck. When you’re dealing with an outside warehouse delivery service, you’ve got to maximize how you fill the truck and how you route the truck. The efficiency factor is much higher. Losing the ability to now and then be able to deliver to a customer that night, in the upper-end business we’re in, it really isn’t worth the loss of efficiency.”

Corzine is unique in that his decision to go third party is incredibly informed. He initially tried a number of services that didn’t work so well, and ended up using his own warehouse and delivery for more than 10 years. But the benefits of outsourcing swayed him back to an outside service.

“I’ve done it all,” he says. “If you can find a good service, there’s no comparison in my opinion. It frees you up so much to focus on the front of your business, meaning the sales side, and that variable expense is huge when you’re managing cash flow. You don’t want to be spending money when you’re not selling merchandise, and that’s what you do when you have your own warehouse and trucks.”

He does know, however, that outsourcing back-of-house operations is not without its sacrifices.

“When you use an outside service, one of things you trade is absolute control over your employees and warehouse,” Corzine says. “But you take out variable expense, meaning that you’re only charged when you deliver. Also, you eliminate a lot of liability for releases and employees. So there’s a trade there, and the trade only makes sense if you’ve got a good company. When you do have complete control, things happen when you say they should happen. You have the luxury of being able to do something for a customer on an immediate basis. So there is that loss of control and being able to perfectly determine what your warehouse and delivery elements are doing. But when you have your own warehouse, you have the lease and the employees whether business is good or bad.”

According to Corzine, the selling to shipping process is not that much different with a third-party vendor than it is with your own warehouse and delivery.

“The selling center of the business is owned by you,” he says, “so you sell to the customer, you order the merchandise from the manu-facturer, then the manufacturer ships it to your outside warehouse delivery service. You own it until you deliver it. It’s your merchandise coming from the manufacturer to your outside warehouse vendor, then they receive it, schedule it and deliver it. And then also service it if there are problems, if that’s part of your agreement.”


Gallery1 interior

Fresh Perspectives

Of course, the process is not without its flaws, and retailers must be vigilant to ensure nothing is going wrong—and that the third party is representing their company well.

“If [the third party is] too small or not professional enough, they can really damage your business by poor scheduling and delivery service,” Corzine says. “And once things get broken in our busi-ness, because it’s such a physical, slow, ponderous business, it takes forever to fix it just in the physical sense, never mind repairing the customer goodwill. If your backstage or operational side is not working correctly, they can really upset your front sales side.

“We have a person that travels to our outside warehouse once a week to inspect merchandise, review the operation and interact with the outside vendor’s people, making sure that how they’re dealing with our customers is to our satisfaction. And our people are interacting daily with their people. Our computers are connected to theirs. We get immediate computer reporting on what they’ve received, condition and scheduling, so we can look online and see exactly what’s happening.”

Corzine does warn, though, that if you’re considering the switch to a third party, be sure to seriously investigate the process of changing over. Retailers need to ensure no breaks in customer service occur.

“It’s very important that you’ve got a cooperative vendor so he can be moving you as quickly as possible, so your operation isn’t inter-rupted in terms of delivery to the customer,” he says. “Get one large enough that they can have enough trucks transferring products from your warehouse to their warehouse in a timely manner.”

Overall, the main goal is to ensure your warehouse, whether in-house or out, is able and willing to provide great service to your customers.

“I would recommend outside [warehouse and delivery if retailers] could find a vendor that had a history of being dependable, coop-erative and well-priced,” Corzine says. “Just the format of outside warehouse delivery isn’t enough. You can get into a lot trouble if a vendor is not dependable.”

If your backstage or operational side is not working correctly, it can really upset your front sales side.


Stop Wasting Time & Money on Delivery!

Can you really cut down home delivery costs without compromising customer satisfaction? It may seem like a tall order, but as furniture store owners, you know the key to a profitable

business is to buy right, sell right and deliver right. When it comes to delivery, every dollar saved in the operational cost is a dollar earned to the bottom line. Let’s look at a few places you can add efficiency and cut costs in your delivery operation while improving customer experience.

RoutesEfficient routing means minimizing the total distance trav-eled by your trucks while being aware of capacities, loads and any special requests from customers. Depending on your fleet size, this can be a tedious manual process. Getting a software program to do this is a worthwhile investment. On average, an efficient route can save up to 10 percent in gas costs. Good routing software not only gives you the shortest distance routes, but it also gives shorter time windows to customers. The industry is moving away from four-hour windows towards two-hour windows. Efficient routes save on gas costs and also improve customer satisfac-tion through shorter time windows.

Delivery TeamUse real-time monitoring tools to eliminate the need for phone calls to drivers. Studies show that a well-monitored delivery team is also a very efficient team. Retailers that introduced real-time monitoring tools report their delivery team performance has increased by at least 10 percent.

PaperworkGo paperless. Use technology and save the cost incurred in paperwork and also the time it takes to organize the paper-work. With some services, you can use digital receipts, have

digital route manifests for the drivers, and let the drivers capture job completion details such as pictures, notes and customer signatures digitally. Once data is captured, it is automatically organized and made available to the right personnel. The question is no longer “Why go paper-less?”—Now it’s “Why use paper at all?”

Office StaffDelivery operations can be heavy on coordination and paperwork. Use technology that streamlines communi-cation. Software tools decrease coordination overhead through real-time monitoring, and reduced paperwork can lower office staff workload by at least one hour per day, per truck. Multiply this with the hourly rate and number of trucks, and your savings on overall delivery operations will become substantial.

Customer CommunicationThe key to improving customer satisfaction is to set and meet expectations. Use automated calling systems to confirm deliveries instead of manually making phone calls. Use self-serve tracking tools on your website to reduce incoming phone calls checking on delivery status. When delays occur, communicate with your customers proactively. By using efficient tools for communication, you are not only saving time and money, but you are also keeping the customer in the loop and therefore increasing customer satisfaction.

With these tips in mind, you will be able to streamline your service—and never waste another dime or minute on inefficient delivery!

Shailu Satish is Vice President of DispatchTrack, Inc. She has a Masters in Computer Sciences from the University of Mississippi and has been working in the software industry for more than 15 years. At DispatchTrack, she focuses on product development and business strategy.

by Shailu Satish

Back of the House


Furniture retailers all over the country, including several top 100 companies, are using DispatchTrack to achieve delivery operational goals and reduce cost. Implementing it does not require any specialized equipment, software, hardware or training. The service provides an easy-to-use online application for scheduling and monitoring deliver-ies, and a mobile application for field personnel. All you need is a computer with internet access and any Android or Apple smartphone. The service integrates with most industry-standard POS systems.

DispatchTrack is more than just fleet management; it is customer satisfaction management. Our call center is better equipped to make actionable decisions based on real time field data. It has been a game changer.—Tony Mitchell, American Furniture Warehouse

DispatchTrack has led to an amazing transformation at Rothman Furniture and Mattress. From routing to delivery, we have technologically modernized our delivery process and improved our customer service process tenfold. I cannot say enough about the user-friendly interface and expedient customer support we have received from the DispatchTrack team in the implementation of the

From the Retailer’s Mouth:

program at Rothman. The photo feature has been a useful addition to our business as well, leading to incredible customer service and improved operations at all levels. In addition, our customers continually rave about the ability to track their deliveries with the online tool. I would recommend this system to any business that is looking to improve their customer support, delivery program, truck communications and warehouse management.

—Mary Buchannan, Rothman Furniture

We were originally looking for a GPS system to keep track of our fleet, but what we ended up with was one of the best investments we have ever made in our delivery operation. Results include: paperless delivery operation and visibility of job completion status at the customer’s home. We see the issues our guys are having and see the condition our merchandise is left in. The system has improved accountability both on our side and the customer’s side and really cuts down on the frivolous claims that happen after our crews leave. We have improved on-time deliveries because of real-time monitoring. Our customer support team is contact-ing the customer immediately when they see there is a problem. DispatchTrack allows us to get any problems resolved much quicker.

—Trey Smith, Ivan Smith

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Back of the House

In-House vs. Third-Party DeliveryWhich One is for You?

by Richard KleinSave Money with Third-Party Delivery

W hile autumn’s nesting season gives way to thoughts about 2014, many retailers are considering changes they would like to make going into the New Year. In

an environment that grows increasingly more competitive and complex, attention must be paid to any avenue through which efficiencies can be increased and performance improved. In many cases, the home-delivery component of business is a focal point of these musings, the key dilemma being whether it makes sense to maintain delivery operations in-house or to outsource. The main arguments for retaining delivery operations in-house often revolve around the two Cs, cost and control.

Though the argument can be made early on in the debate for in-house operations being the more cost-effective choice, the tipping point for this equation occurs at far lower revenue levels than most retailers would imagine. Webster’s Dictionary defines cost as “the loss or penalty incurred in gaining something.” With this definition in mind, let’s look at the following costs associated with maintaining an in-house delivery operation:

Equipment

Truck leasing or purchase in addition to the associated taxes

Repairs not covered by warranty Maintenance including tires, body repairs and truck

washing Vehicle insurance Truck licensing and inspections Fuel On-board equipment including straps, pads and

hand trucks Driver tool kits Decals, logos and signage GPS technology and related hardware

Drivers/Employees

Uniforms Delivery team employee pay and benefits Supervisor/administrator pay and benefits Router/dispatcher pay and benefits Overtime, vacation and sick-day pay, in addition to

coverage related to driver turnover Pension requirements and legacy costs Workman’s compensation insurance and claims Recruitment costs, advertising and interviewing License and background checks Drug testing Unemployment benefits Ongoing driver training and supervision

Administration

Costs related to remaining current with frequently changing rules and regulations

Collection, administration and analysis of post-delivery survey data

Product damage as a result of driver handling Exposure to and administration of property damage

claims and the resulting damage to reputation Accident claims Continuing equipment training and updates Maintaining expertise in the ever-evolving

Department of Transportation regulatory environment Managing DOT compliance Legal fees surrounding litigation arising from lawsuits,

in addition to penalties or damages incurred as a result of litigation


Back of the House

This tally is far from exhaustive. Not included but equally impor-tant is the cost of lost opportunities incurred by running deliveries internally. The average retailer does not get into the furniture busi-ness to run a home delivery operation. His time is far better spent training sales staff, working the sales floor and engaging in other revenue-generating activities. By choosing a third party to manage deliveries, the administration of most of the above-mentioned costs is transferred from the retailer to the carrier.

In terms of control, several of the better third-party solutions have taken a page from current business practices and are highly client-focused, driven by carefully defined and measured performance statistics. Rather than maintaining an adversarial relationship, a good third-party logistics company today seeks to embrace the cli-ent’s culture, and deliver value wherever the opportunity presents itself. Savvy retailers recognize that a consistent, professional and positive delivery experience can be a powerful promoter of their brand, providing a significant competitive advantage.

Indeed, such a move brings about additional benefits. It balances expenses with revenues by shifting many fixed expenses to the variable expense column, it provides peace of mind, and it offers the opportunity to leverage industry best practices to maximize return on every delivery dollar spent.

As you undertake operational reviews and consider the changes to make in the coming year, it is worthwhile to examine the true costs of running your own delivery operation and whether it is a function that would be better entrusted to a third party. Well-trained, well-managed delivery teams can be a vital and productive extension of your sales force. The delivery team, like the salesperson, represents the face of your company and the lasting impression of your brand.

Richard Klein is director of sales for Cory Home Delivery, a specialized home delivery carrier in its third generation of family management and ownership. The company serves many of the top 100 furniture, appliance and electronics retailers in the United States, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. For more information, call Richard Klein at (954) 956-0224, or visit corycompanies.com.


All of our sleep shop's deliveries are contracted to a third party. You must be very selective. The delivery service you utilize must align with your values and mission. I chose them because they were non-smokers, wore uniforms and were very professional in appearance and interpersonal skills. Smoking doesn't sound like a big deal, but the odor will remain on/in the customer’s home and purchase. Appearance is huge too. We survey customers after the delivery and they are fantastic. We are saving about $5,000 per month in each location by not having trucks, maintenance, fuel, insurance, WC, payroll taxes and salaries. The experience has been great.—Hal McClamma; Ivy Johnson Furniture and Mattress; Dothan, Alabama


Having our own experienced deliverymen has worked well for us because they can assess situations that come up everyday, such as big furniture going through small doors. Sometimes they take the doors off the hinges to fit furniture in or even go through windows. Our guys have been known to pull merchandise up to balconies with tie-ropes. They know how to assemble everything and we have very few damage reports.—George Nader; Nader’s LaPopular Furniture Stores; Gardena, California


Stay In-House and Avoid ProblemsThink third-party is the only way to go? Think again. Susan Kaveny, a furniture repair technician, shares her thoughts on why it may not be the best idea.

“There is a lot to think about when you contract for third-party deliveries. I spent 10 of the last 13 years working in furniture repair for retailers who used third-party delivery systems. A number of downsides to the process need to be considered:

You may not get what you want when you want it. A delivery company owner who doesn’t get full-time work from you will attempt to contract with someone else for the rest of the time. If the other person pays more, for instance, your company may not be the delivery company’s top priority. You will find yourself paying more for Saturday and evening deliveries than you would were the delivery team employed directly by you.

It’s easy to blame the delivery company for problems with customers who are problem people rather than addressing the problems with the customers themselves.

It’s also easy to blame the delivery company for problems that occur be-cause some pieces are not made to be assembled, or even unboxed, and then transported. The longer it takes to identify this problem, the more it costs the retailer in the long run.

Since the sales crew and the delivery crew are not directly employed by the same company, it’s easy for animosity to develop. The sales crew over-sells the delivery services. The delivery crew refuses to set up pieces that are problematic, but possible.

Instead of setting up ready-to-assemble (RTA) pieces for a small fee using the warehouse crew, you are now forced to either never do it or have a secondary team in place for when a problem occurs. If you don’t see this one coming, you will have the repair person or the delivery people doing the same thing for a much higher price. RTA pieces are problematic in particular because some are very difficult to assemble, poorly fitted, missing parts or have extra parts.

Salespeople get a certain stare when the delivery crew tells them the huge 200-pound sofa they’ve sold will not be delivered to a loft serviced by a tiny spiral staircase. It’s the same look alligators get when that inner eyelid closes. It happens a lot. Later, when the commissions on those sales go away, you can be sure to get some wounded comments about the delivery crew. Just how much animosity develops from this depends on the management team. Ideally, if a salesperson sells a large piece, that person would ask about the accessibility of the area it’s supposed to go into. If management’s attitude is that the delivery crew works for a whole other company and it’s in the “not my problem” category, then this conversation won’t be required and won’t happen until it’s way too late.

All these examples stem from the team being broken into groups with compet-ing interests. Throw in a little disrespect, and a little more unfairness when dealing with other’s interests, and the problems arise.”


IN a busy shopping center, a man sits on a stool near the entrance of a furni-ture store, clicking his

counter each time someone walks through the door. During slower periods, he leans back and closes his eyes for a moment or two. He may get up and leave every few hours to use the restroom, walk around the store and talk to his coworkers, or take an hour-long lunch break, handing the job off to another busy employee until he returns.

At the end of the day, he adds a few more numbers to his count to make up for any time lost and gives his supervisor a final count of 463 people. The supervisor plugs this number into her spreadsheet, along with her sales numbers, and locks the door for the day. At the end of the week, the owner reviews the spreadsheets to find that, despite seemingly high conversion rates, the store continues to underperform compared to other locations.

Unfortunately, many retailers still use “systems” like the one described above, and they end up missing out on one of the most valuable metrics available to their businesses: accurate people-count data. Even worse, some retailers choose not to use any counting system at all, allowing their sales associates to simply estimate the hourly traffic counts, which leaves room for human error, as well as a significant amount of self-service when sales associates are expected to prove their performance based on conversion rates.

As the retail space becomes ever more com-petitive, an accurate people-count number makes up a large piece of the ROI pie—sales numbers are only half the picture.

The Metric that Mattersby Charles Von Thun

More and more, forward-thinking retailers are embracing technologies that enable them to make better, more actionable business decisions based on accurate data rather than pure opinion or instinct. With people-counting systems as part of their strategy, business owners’ ability to make better business decisions speaks volumes, and it gives them a distinct competitive advantage compared to their less technology-inclined counterparts.

“What was important to me was not only being able to see how many customers were coming into the store, but to see what we were doing with those customers. I was interested in if we were converting them and how we were converting them and how much they were spending in the store,” says Lisa Toal, retail group manager of Kid Robot. “We’ve seen a huge growth in our store because we were able to track this information. I run the business and make real-time decisions on the trending data.”

With a people-counting system in place, retailers are able to track and analyze some of the most important metrics with higher accuracy than previously available. This includes key performance indicators such as ROI on marketing dollars, peak traffic hours, labor costs, sales ROI and optimal staff levels.

Traffic counts and conversion rates together tell you how you got to your sales. Retailers can compare point-of-sale data with their people-count numbers to accurately de-termine how effectively they’re converting would-be customers into paying customers. They can also use this data to determine how their sales personnel are performing, identify areas for improvement and address under-performing personnel with new training initiatives.

Store owners that operate even just one facility should consider the power of lever-aging a people-counter system as well; an accurate system will better ensure that sales personnel are not under- or over-reporting foot-traffic numbers for self-serving reasons. With a people-counting system in place, discrepancies in people-count data quickly come to an end.

Josh Hudson, president of Hudson Furniture in Orlando, Fla., shared that he and his team were making business decisions based on guesses rather than accurate data. “Shopper counting became attractive because we were guessing and actually using sales numbers to predict whether traffic was high or not,” said Hudson.

“We took a hard look at our staffing in some locations and were able to apply more accountability to our marketing and sales teams. Without having the data, we wouldn't have had the confidence to make other decisions that attributed to our growth.”

No matter how you look at it, investing in proven technologies that bring the power of knowledge back into the hands of the people who need it most will have an undeniably positive impact on a business’ bottom line, and the ROI on that technology will speak for itself. When it comes to people-counting technologies, brick-and-mortar owners can’t afford not to invest in the data that gives them the ability to make smarter choices about their business.

Charles Von Thun is the CEO of Flonomics LLC, a consumer analytics SaaS company. Prior to his tenure with Flonomics, Charles was Chief Executive Officer of Decisioneering (now the Crystal Ball Global Business Unit of Oracle Corporation). He is also the founder of PostiveWare, a web-based performance management and professional services automation application.

Sales associates are expected to prove their performance based on conversion rates.

62, 63, 64. . .

Back of the House


4 DEVICES—1 WEBSITE: Be Responsive and Win

Convert more website leads into sales with an adaptive presence

by Regina Dinning

When I look at retailer websites today, I’m finding a growing roster of great pages. Searchable inventory, current

sales promotions, embedded video, clear contact information, directions, maps and other features are making websites into impactful gateways to sales.

What retailers don’t control, however, is how shoppers view their websites.

Consider these quick facts illustrating the changing reality of consumer connectivity today:

• In June 2013, 1 in 3 hits on local retailer websites came from mobile devices (comScore)

• Smartphones and tablets doubled the amount of time people spent online daily between 2010 and 2013 (Gartner)

• Today people use smartphones more often than PCs to get online (Cisco)

• 31% of people who own smartphones say it’s the only way they access the internet (Karen McGrane, BA+S)

• During Facebook’s latest earnings call, the firm reported that 40% of Americans log into Facebook every day; 79% of those do so from a smartphone

Multi-Screen ExperiencesThe fact is, your best customers move between four or more devices every day. “You don’t get to decide which platform or device your customers use to access your content: they do,” says Karen McGrane, author of Content Strategy for Mobile.

It’s time to get real and fix your online presence to match where and how your ideal shoppers access information.

Keep in mind, mobile doesn’t just mean smartphones, and it doesn’t necessarily mean on the move. It encompasses a proliferation of devices, platforms and screen sizes—from the tiniest “dumb” phones to smartphones, iPods and tablets, and from notebook computers to laptops that provide a near-PC experience. Any device that can easily be moved is mobile.

Try this exercise. Pull up your website on a standard old PC, then grab the window and make it progressively smaller (less wide). What happens as the window gets narrower? Your site may look great in widescreen, but on a tablet it may break. On a mobile phone, it may be impossible to navigate or read with cumbersome pinching and zooming. This is what your prospects are seeing across their range of devices, and you may have already lost them due to sheer frustration.

These days, the odds are good that your website provider has a separate mobile website ready for your domain. On the one hand, that will provide better engagement from mobile devices. On the other hand, you have to maintain two separate websites and work to reconcile the two.

Consider Responsive DesignRetailers must retool their websites to deliver the right product information and a clean, professional shopping experience to all visitors regardless of what platforms they choose. How can you be sure your content will work everywhere, all the time? Start thinking about having one universal structure that would be designed from the start to cover the full range of cases.

It’s time to embrace adaptive content and responsive web design. Responsive web design is the approach that suggests design and development should respond to user behavior as well as screen size, platform and orientation. This consists of using a mix of flexible grids and layouts, images, and an intelligent use of code. As the user switches from one device to another, the website should au-tomatically switch to accommodate for resolution, image size and scripting abilities. Responsive web design is the sweetheart of web designers right now, and with good reason. It allows businesses to be cross-platform without sacrificing content or redesigning from the ground up every time a new device comes out.

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Transitioning your WebsiteIf responsive web design makes sense for your stores, take a stair-stepped approach to this opportunity.

Moving to responsive design requires an investment of time to think through your web strategy. Envision what you want the user’s experience to be on each platform. New technology makes it possible to put both text and images on the same site and render them correctly across all devices.

If you don’t have a good mobile presence today, try starting with DudaMobile (www.dudamobile.com) to establish a mobile website, and then work into the responsive site, which will take time. Setting up a DudaMobile site with very basic functionality takes about an hour.

You’ll want to work with a web design firm that can look at your current site and see what’s salvageable for a new responsive site. In some cases you may need to start with a fresh site from top to bottom.

Your association may suggest a specific website vendor who offers new, responsive templates to update your site. You may need to broaden your vendor search to agencies and site developers who are more up-to-date in this area.

Think hard about what you want mobile users to be able to do on your site. Ask your customers what they want/expect to be able to do on your website from a smaller device. Do your homework.

A good website vendor will require three to four months to create your new site and achieve responsive bliss. Costs will vary depend-ing upon the scope of work and your goals for the site.

When your site is working its way through coding, it may be time to reconsider your online advertising approach to maximize the responsive opportunity. Search, display and mobile ads working together across devices lead to more qualified clicks and closed sales if the user experience is solid across devices.

Finally, be sure to install Google’s new universal analytics code on your website. This will give you maximum flexibility to apply unique advertising tracking codes and other elements across your site without having to change the tags applied to individual web pages. With your new website up and running and this code ap-plied, you’ll be able to easily track every click back to the device it came from, and establish a baseline return on investment number to your website redesign costs and online advertising program.

Regina Dinning is a business development director for home goods at Netsertive (netsertive.com). Dinning ([email protected]) is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years' experience in marketing and advertising, including several years specifically in home furnishings.

You don’t get to decide which platform or device your customers use to access your content: they do.

DATA POINT:

Check the bounce rate on your website. Google Analytics will show you, in an instant, if your web presence is turning off visitors based on the devices they use to connect.

Back of the House


Getting to Know the Next Gen

NextGen NOW Member Spotlight

For this month’s spotlight, we introduce 31-year-old Erin Donaghy, director of marketing at Dunk & Bright Furniture in Syracuse, New York.

I’m in charge of all the TV ads, social media and internet advertising. So to some, it may look like I’m not really working hard when in reality, it’s very challenging and fast-paced, and I do take it very seriously.


: What is your industry history?

ED: I’ve been working for Dunk & Bright since 2006. I went to Ithaca College for advertising and public relations, and I don’t think I ever could foresee me working in the furniture industry. The position opened up when I was doing advertising sales at a local radio station and I jumped on it, and I have loved it. I had a brief intermission and worked for another company locally for a couple years, and decided I liked where I was so much at Dunk & Bright that I came back.

: What do you like so much about the furniture industry that it keeps you here?

ED: It changes so much; that’s what I really like. I’m a little different in this industry because I work in marketing, so I deal with more of the advertising and internet and not as much product as the salespeople and buyers. But I’ve learned so much about furniture that I never knew existed, like mission versus contemporary. I didn’t even know there was a difference before I started. I love that there’s new stuff coming in all the time from all the different brands we work with. Our store is actually quite large. We go from lower-end all the way up to very high-end handcrafted solid wood. I like the variety in being able to market a ton of different stuff in one store.

: Have you had to face any challenges being a woman in a male-centric industry?

ED: I have for sure, but I think I face more challenges by being young. Especially in this industry; a lot of people have been in it for decades and sometimes as a young professional, I’m not taken as seriously as my older counterparts. I think a lot of it, too, is what I do in marketing. Sometimes people see it as a very glamorous, fun kind of thing, where I’m just goofing around all the time. I’m in charge of all the TV ads, social media and internet advertising. So to some, it may look like I’m not really working hard when in reality, it’s very challenging and fast-paced, and I do take it very seriously. I think that’s the biggest challenge, just conveying to people how much I care about the business.

: How do you overcome that challenge?

ED: If I’m able to articulate myself in a way that commands respect, I think that helps. It was more of a challenge when I first started and didn’t really understand how to respond to it. I’ve learned as the years have gone by that you just have to keep your head up, keep trying and just stay smart. Talk to people. Communicate. Let them know what you do, and be excited. Having charisma can really change peoples’ mindsets.

NextGen NOW Member Spotlight

The furniture industry gets younger every year. In order to embrace the new generation of retailers and welcome them into the business, RetailerNOW features a different member of the Next Generation NOW social network in every issue. Next Generation NOW is the pre-miere social scene for the new era of furniture professionals. Join the conversation at social.ngnow.org!


: Does one particular avenue work better than most?

ED: Right now pay-per-click advertising on Google has the most value for us online as far as people coming to our site. But does that translate to people coming into our store? That’s harder to determine. Most people, when they come across us online, they might not say, “Oh, it was a Google search.” It’s so ingrained in your head to search online now that it wouldn’t even come across as advertising. We do have an older demographic so newspaper still does pretty well; people come in with the paper in hand. We still do direct mail once a month, and we get great results from it. There’s always something that’s going to work better one week and then not the next. It’s hard to tell.

:What kind of success are you seeing with your online sales?

ED: We just started in July. It’s a low percentage right now, but we are getting online sales. Right now we’re selling the lower price point items, like less than $400, that are a little bit easier for people to purchase. As we get more and more in touch with our online presence as far as advertising is concerned, it will get better.

:Coming into the furniture business without family history in the industry, what was most surprising to you?

ED: How much there is to it! I grew up thinking a couch was a couch and you have a coffee table and that was it. I never called a couch a sofa, ever. And now, I say sofa all the time, and my husband’s like, WHAT? I didn’t realize there were so many in-tricacies involved. It was pretty overwhelming at first because I didn’t understand any of it. I didn’t realize how large the furniture industry is. I didn’t even know something like Market existed. Now that I understand the terms and furniture talk, it’s a lot easier.

:What advice do you have for retailers?

ED: Stay relevant, stay open-minded, try new things, take risks. If you don’t, you’ll never know what’s going to succeed. The majority of us in the next generation, even though we don’t have the same experience you have, are really trying to make this business thrive for future generations. We always have to be thinking that people are getting older and will be your target audience soon. We just need to make sure we’re staying relevant.

Next Generation NOW (NGN or NextGen NOW) is a community of young, passionate and engaged home furnishings professionals. NextGen NOW seeks to give a voice to the unique needs of future generations entering the workforce to educate the industry on how to attract and keep young talent. Connect with members online at ngnow.org or on Twitter @ngnow.

:What does your store do as far as technol-ogy integration?

ED: We have tried our best to stay ahead of the curve with technology, social media and internet advertising. We recently changed our website over to furnituredealer.net and they’ve really brought us up a lot of notches as far as being able to connect with our customers. We’re seeing such a different kind of curve now. We’re still a brick-and-mortar store and people still want to come in and touch and feel the furniture, sit in it and buy that way, but we’re seeing so many more people on Pinterest and Houzz looking for things. It’s up to us to make sure that somehow they get back to our site and our online store. We’re very active on Pinterest and starting to get active on Houzz. And our website is at a place now where we actually call it our online store. You can purchase anything online that’s in stock. We do live chats where we have four operators or so that rotate and sit there answering any questions our customers have. We’re constantly on Facebook and Google pay-per-click advertising, just to make sure we’re staying top of mind for those doing their research online, which the majority are doing now. Even if they end up coming to the store, they’re going to spend a lot of time doing their research online beforehand.

: What are some of the biggest marketing and PR challenges store owners face today?

ED: The internet is changing so rapidly that we’re trying all these different things, and sometimes it’s difficult because you don’t exactly know what’s going to work. Traditionally, you did your TV and your newspaper and your radio, and that was the mix. And it always worked. Now, we’re delving into the internet, and we don’t really know what’s going on. It’s kind of like this new adventure. I think the way we’ve been able to be successful at it is by staying open-minded and trying

new things. Really, that’s the only way to learn what’s going to work. We’re staying on top of our analytics and reporting and making sure we’re tracking what’s working and what’s not. We’re still doing the traditional media as far as advertising is concerned, but a lot of that is even changing so fast. TV is not the same as it was. People are going more towards Netflix and Hulu, and who knows what’s going to happen with cable in the next five years or so. It’s always just thinking in the short-term moreso than a long-term ad plan. We’ll just keep trying until we figure out what works, and I’m sure that will stop working and we’ll have to try something new after that!

The North American Home Furnishings Association is now accepting nominations for its Retailer of the Year award.

We’re looking for NAHFA members who demonstrate exemplary service to the industry and to their communities and who provide an exceptional customer experience in their store.

Nominees will be considered in two categories—

• Businesses with sales volume under $10 million

• Businesses with sales volume of $10 million or above

� e 2014 Retailer of the Year awards will be presented on June 1, 2014, at the annual Home Furnishings Networking Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Nominations must be received by December 1, 2013.

2014 RETAILER OF THE YEAR

PLEASE GO ONLINE TO NOMINATE AN OUTSTANDING NAHFA RETAILERAT NAHFA.ORG

Celebrating the Outstanding Achievements

and Progressive Leadership

of the Nation’s Most Respected

Home Furnishings Retailers

ROY 2014 v3.indd 2 11/6/13 2:12 PM


The North American Home Furnishings Association is now accepting nominations for its Retailer of the Year award.

We’re looking for NAHFA members who demonstrate exemplary service to the industry and to their communities and who provide an exceptional customer experience in their store.

Nominees will be considered in two categories—

• Businesses with sales volume under $10 million

• Businesses with sales volume of $10 million or above

� e 2014 Retailer of the Year awards will be presented on June 1, 2014, at the annual Home Furnishings Networking Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Nominations must be received by December 1, 2013.

2014 RETAILER OF THE YEAR

PLEASE GO ONLINE TO NOMINATE AN OUTSTANDING NAHFA RETAILERAT NAHFA.ORG

Celebrating the Outstanding Achievements

and Progressive Leadership

of the Nation’s Most Respected

Home Furnishings Retailers

ROY 2014 v3.indd 2 11/6/13 2:12 PM


What’s SellingEvery month, What’s Selling Now features best-sellers from across the country, in different styles, categories and price points. Here’s what’s selling now.

What's Selling

Submitted By: Casey EvansStore Name: Pedigo FurnitureLocation: Livingston, TexasManufacturer: Ashley FurnitureProduct Name: Berringer Dining GroupIs the product: Made in America: NoWarehouse Ready: YesContailer Products: NoRetail Cost: $469Why do you think it is a successful seller? It is a great value with a traditional look. How soon is the product available from the manufacturer? 7-10 days.

Submitted By: Giff GatesStore Name: Gates Home FurnishingsLocation: Grants Pass, OregonManufacturer: Stanton SofasProduct Name: Two-Piece SectionalIs the product:

Made in America: Yes

Warehouse Ready: NoContailer Products: NoRetail Cost: Sofas start at $2,199Why do you think it is a successful seller? It has an excellent comfort level and style.How soon is the product available from the manufacturer? Ships quickly.

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Being portable for sales, inventory or business analyticsis key for any Home Furnishingsretailer. Using a PC, tablet orsmart phone to work inside oroutside of your store is critical inthis day and age of technology.

Your designer meets in the customer’s home to create the shopping cart and check inventory availability for delivery.The warehouse staff needs toquickly receive an item to loadit on the delivery truck. Theowner or manager is travelingand wants to get a quick glanceof their daily or monthly businessanalytics. All of this can be donewith a tablet or smartphone.Myriad Software understandshow important it is to be mobile.

Whether it’s to close a sale or review the important aspects of your business, a tablet orsmartphone will provide accessto your business managementsystem in or outside of yourdaily operation.

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THINK MOBILE

1-800-676-4243 • s [email protected]

Being portable for sales, inventory or business analyticsis key for any Home Furnishingsretailer. Using a PC, tablet orsmart phone to work inside oroutside of your store is critical inthis day and age of technology.

Your designer meets in the customer’s home to create the shopping cart and check inventory availability for delivery.The warehouse staff needs toquickly receive an item to loadit on the delivery truck. Theowner or manager is travelingand wants to get a quick glanceof their daily or monthly businessanalytics. All of this can be donewith a tablet or smartphone.Myriad Software understandshow important it is to be mobile.

Whether it’s to close a sale or review the important aspects of your business, a tablet orsmartphone will provide accessto your business managementsystem in or outside of yourdaily operation.

So if you’re looking for a businesssystem that allows you to workwhen you’re in your operationand on the go, think Eclicktic™and Eclicktic™ BE Mobile.

Contact a Myriad Software sales representative @[email protected]

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Please stop by and see us at the

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January 26-29, 2014


Community Today

ConversationsWarehouse Operations

: How do you manage your warehouse? How is it organized?

MG: The inventory is managed by bin. It’s not unusual for us to run multiple projects per day so we need to have a process that allows us to track that inventory.

We have been using NetSuite’s cloud-based business management solution for the past 10 years to manage pretty much every aspect of our business. It supplies the backbone for our fast-moving, complex business of buying and liquidating furniture and other goods from hotels and offices for resale to B2B and B2C buyers.

JM: I helped to design the warehouse two years ago, so this has become my seventh child (I have six kids). I’ve watched it grow over the years and as of October 1, 2013, we’ve unloaded more trucks in that one day than all last year. Two weeks ago, we sold $195,000 in inventory. Being organized is a requirement for us to operate successfully.

Inventory is on one side of the warehouse and shipping is on the other side. Best sellers are closest to the packaging area so my warehouse team doesn’t have to walk halfway across the warehouse to pick it. Our rows are numbered and we have letters assigned from north to south so it’s fast and easy to go straight to where the item is stocked.

: How do you control shrinkage?

JM: I’m old-fashioned so I’m the first to arrive and the last to leave. But I also use modern technology so I can view the warehouse from my laptop at home. I surround myself with honest people and I tell my staff that if you lie to me, I’ll terminate you; if you steal from me, I’ll prosecute you. Having said that, we also employ tactics like keeping the inventory on one side of the warehouse and the shipping on the other side. If someone sees inventory where it shouldn’t be, there’s a red flag. We do inventory twice a year where everything is counted by hand but if a bin doesn’t look right, we’ll do a count on that particular bin.

MG: To monitor the area and control shrinkage, we have mul-tiple cameras located within every section of our warehouse to monitor activity.

: Are customers allowed in your warehouse?

JM: We don’t allow customers in the warehouse except during our warehouse sale that happens four times a year. During that time we invite customers to walk through the warehouse and shop and they love it. It’s from Thursday through Saturday and our biggest one happens in September because we’re trying to make space for the fourth-quarter shipments. It’s a big deal in our community and people look forward to the sales.

Jonathan McDonald is the director of wholesale opera-tions at Texas-based Wisteria. Wisteria began in a garage, graduated to a catalog and now includes a robust e-commerce website and retail store. The company sells an eclectic collection of home and garden accessories from around the world. McDonald manages three warehouses including a 100,000-square-foot warehouse that serves as command central.

Michael J. Grimme is the owner, CEO and founder of AMC Liquidators, also known as AMC Furniture Outlet, based in Tamarac, Florida. AMC Liquidators is a liquidator of fine furnishings and room décor from 4- and 5-star hotels, corporate offices, excess inventories and closeouts from interior decorators and manufacturers. Fifty percent of AMC’s business comes from retail.

By Megy Karydes


Community Today

MG: We try to keep the customers out of the back-of-the-house warehouse space at all times as there is always a risk of shrinkage and we also have safety concerns. We only allow AMC Liquidator employees to enter that space. If customers do come back, it is only when escorted by a salesperson.

What safety mechanisms are in place to keep employees safe?

JM: We start every day with an employee meeting at 7:00 a.m. and after two hours we take a 15-minute break. Two hours later we have lunch and two hours after that we have another 15-minute break. I remind our team members that if they need help, ask for it. Our two biggest safety issues are cuts with box knives and improper lifting. We can’t over-communicate the need to be safe but we can’t always predict an accident.

I do a safety walk every morning to make sure the floors are clean and safe. If it rained the night before, I make sure we don’t have any wet spots on the floor. When the forklift is in the aisle, they know to get out of the way.

Employees must wear proper shoes so that means no open-toe shoes, sandals or moccasins.

MG: All of our employees wear back protection and steel-toed shoes. We also have them all wear the same red shirts so they can be easily recognized and seen.

Because the bulk of our inventory is pre-owned, it is loose and not boxed. We have the inventory placed safely in racks.

: What is the one thing you're most proud of in your warehouse and what's the one thing you wish it had?

JM: My employees are my biggest asset. We couldn’t do this without them. Seventy-five percent of them are cross-trained to do more than one job and that’s important to us. We have 40-50 employees nine months out of the year and we double that figure in the fourth quarter.

In terms of our warehouse operations in general, I’d love to see more automation. The technology is out there to help with productivity

and shrinkage. I think our computer system is a bit outdated and improving it will be a benefit for us.

MG: If a reseller or an end-user were to come here and want to buy multiple loads of inventory, we have it for them and they can take it offsite immediately. Only one trip is needed. If we are dealing with global customers, they can have their order in a matter of days since we are so close to several ports.

By taking a more professional approach to the liquidation busi-ness, we have grown tremendously. We are proud of the fact that we own our property and equipment—no need to lease or rent.

JM: I convinced the owners to let us buy our own delivery truck for local deliveries to our best customers and we’ve delivered orders to two former presidents as well as some major VIPs. Sometimes some of our customers want the furniture delivered and placed in their homes before their husbands come home so the service is important to them. Having that delivery truck has been a huge advantage for us even though we’re not in the delivery business. It’s about providing an extra level of customer service you wouldn’t expect.

MG: NetSuite has definitely been our backbone. The system enables us to know in real time what our inventory position is within our warehouse and what’s in the sales pipeline. I love that everything is in one location so that anytime we need to pull information it’s right there. And we can be totally mobile, so that when we’re at a hotel site or corporate office, we can do transac-tions right on the spot.

I also wanted to add that by having our own department for furni-ture restoration, we can modify inventory to meet large customer needs. And by being in the restoration business, we are constantly in touch with our sources of supply since we are always doing restorations for them—this gives us an advantage in acquiring inventory before anyone else.

Megy Karydes is president of Karydes Consulting, a boutique marketing and communications firm. Her work has appeared in national and local consumer and trade magazines including USA Today, Natural Awakenings and Chicago Health. Find her at KarydesConsulting.com and follow her on Twitter @megy.


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The dining room is making a comeback. Where once people preferred dining spaces to be located within great rooms, homeowners are now looking for formal dining rooms they can use to entertain friends or host holiday meals.

Whether it’s casual family meals or more formal gatherings like intimate dinner parties, comfortable seating is important. This is leading to a demand from consumers for luxury chairs with detailed upholstering that are not only comfortable but that make a statement.

The traditional hard-surfaced, plain dining room chairs are on their way out. Replacing them are chairs that are softer, larger and overall more comfortable. People are looking to experience a more lounge-type feel when dining at home.

In order to accommodate the increased time people are spending around the dining room table, homeowners want custom chairs to match personal taste and needed comfort. A variety of dining upholstery trends make their debut as a result.

Fashion-inspired dressmaker details Homeowners are looking for details such as tufting, nailhead trim and buttons, which play a major part in the overall look of upholstery. These details once served as part of the construction process in furniture upholstery, but now double as a major ele-ment in the design process of dining room seating.

This emphasis on detailing is a testament to the continued rela-tionship between fashion design and furniture design. Dressmaker details add texture to the solid and neutral color choices com-monly found in kitchen and dining fabric selection.

Neutral color choices in dining room chairs People are taking fewer risks in choosing colors and prefer to stick to a neutral palette to ensure the pieces will be a staple, permanent part of the room that won’t go out of style. Black and white is an example of a classic color palette that is popular in dining room interior design today. Black and white upholstered chairs give the room a combination of added depth and contrast.

Trends in Dining Upholstery by Aaron Luck

Product Focus

Brighter color choices in smaller seating

As the economy picks up, homeowners tend to incorporate bright color into their homes in small doses to play off other details such as knobs and backsplashes. They are more likely to take risks with these brighter colors in smaller seating such as bar and counter stools. Examples of these colors are gold, saffron and mulberry.

Cleanable, durable high-quality textiles take priority According to interior designer Kristin Drohan, clients no longer want to sacrifice or compromise on either their style or the func-tion that dining rooms and kitchens need to possess. Fortunately they don’t have to. “We are using a lot of high-end, impactful chic fabrics on the out-back. On the in-back and seat, we use durable, cleanable fabrics,” says Drohan, owner of the Kristin Drohan Collection, a company that designs custom, high-end, environmentally friendly furniture.

People don’t want to invest in luxurious, stylish dining room seating that is going to be easily ruined after guests leave. This must be leveraged with fabric that is cleanable and user friendly. Homeowners rank function up there with personal taste in terms of priority.

In kitchen and dining areas, hard surfaces make up much of the space. Cabinets, countertops, and tables don’t always allow for much creative detailing in the design process. It makes sense that people are now looking to add details to their kitchen and dining rooms through stylish upholstery work that is noticeable.

“People really like to jazz up the chairs, including the fabric choices and detailing, for some special touches,” says Drohan. “People are sitting around the dining table longer nowadays so chairs are getting more use. People are more willing to make an investment in high-quality custom pieces for ultimate function, longevity and style.”

Aaron Luck is responsible for brand direction and public relations for Sensuede. He is a graduate of North Carolina State University College of Textiles.

Barstool and Dining room photos: Kristin Drohan Collection

Locations: Puyallup, WAMira Loma, CA • Morganton, NCFax: 828-764-4461 • Phone: 855-208-6377Email: [email protected]

Please contact Grant Laidlaw VP Sales at 778-549-3188 or [email protected] to review your transportation needs.

The Northwest Furniture Transportation Leader

Eric ClarkePresident

Eric ClarkePresident

Grant LaidlawVP of Sales

Grant LaidlawVP of Sales

www.NWFXpress.comwww.NWFXpress.com

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Advertising Concepts of AmericaAICO/Amini Innovation Corp.American ExpressAmerican LeatherAshley Furniture Industries, Inc.AspenhomeAssociated Volume BuyersBecker Designed, Inc.Bernards, Inc.Best Buy for BusinessBest Home FurnishingsBraxton Culler, Inc.Cargo Consolidation ServicesCentury FurnitureCoaster Company of AmericaCory Home Delivery ServiceDécor-Rest Furniture Ltd.Diakon LogisticsDSI CompaniesEkornesElements InternationalElite LeatherEmerald Home FurnishingsFairmont DesignsFlexsteelFurniture of AmericaFurniture WizardFurnitureDealer.netGE CapitalGreat American Furniture ServicesGuardian ProductsGuardsman/The Valspar Corp.

Harden Furniture CompanyHigh Point Market AuthorityHolland HouseHomelegance USA HFB MagazineHorich Hector Lebow Advertising Consulting Services, Inc.Innovative Delivery SystemsJofran Sales, Inc.Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate, Inc.KincaidKing Hickory Furniture CoLane Home FurnishingsLazar IndustriesLeaLeggett & PlattLiberty FurnitureLifestyle EnterprisesLinon Home Décor ProductsMagnussen HomeMail AmericaMassood LogisticsMed-Lift MobilityMicroD, Inc.Mohawk Finishing Products, Inc.Myriad SoftwareNatuzzi Americas, Inc.NetSertiveNourison IndustriesOkinus Credit SolutionsPacific Furniture Dealers

Phoenix A.M.D. International, Inc.PROFITsystemsProtect-A-BedRestonic Mattress Corp.Sandberg FurnitureSAP RetailSerta Mattress CompaniesSimmonsShock WatchSleep-EzzSource International, Inc./4 Sales FinanceSphinx by Oriental WeaversStandard FurnitureSteve Silver Co.STORISSuryaThe TV ShieldThe Uttermost CompanyTidewater Finance CompanyTrendwood, Inc.Tropic Survival Advertising & MarketingTruckSkin, LLCTwin Star/Classic FlameUnited Furniture IndustriesValassis, Inc.Vaughan Furniture Co.Versatile SystemsWahlquist Management CorporationWorld Market CenterZenith Global

Our Association gratefully recognizes all of our supporters whose dedication and committment has strengthened our industry.

THANK YOU

To become an industry partner contact:North American Home Furnishings Association(800) 422.3778 or email [email protected]

SponsorThing_HFA.indd 1 11/5/13 3:41 PM

Quick-Fire Marketing is brought to you by R&A Marketing. Armed with more than 25 years of furniture retail marketing experience as a full-service traditional and digital marketing company, R&A is the industry’s premier agency for retailers in the home furnishings and appliances/electronics industries. Visit us on the web at www.ramarketing.com or email us at [email protected].

Being on social media doesn't make you social (nor instantly appealing)

You’ve jumped on the bandwagon and have added social media marketing to your business. You made your business a Facebook page, Twitter account and a YouTube channel. You added some fans, followers and subscribers to it. Great! Then you got busy with the other 100 different jobs you do as a retailer. Sound like you?

There is nothing worse than a customer (especially a Gen Y or millennial) landing on your social media outlets and seeing nothing has been posted since last year. Their first thought is “Oh… They must have gone out of business.” They won’t bother looking at your website to see that you’re really still in business, because they landed on your social media site first and saw nothing. So how do you fix this? What’s next? How do you make them talk to you? How do you get them to keep coming back? More importantly, how can you get them to buy from you?Unfortunately, there is no exact science to make your social media outlets be the best they can be. The most successful Facebook pages are and always will be those of big-name companies. However, you can be like a rock and crush those larger brands in your local community.

Follow these social steps to help tip the odds in your favor.

Update Your Facebook Content Daily!The key to Facebook is consistency, consistency and, you guessed it, consistency. Don’t do three posts on Monday and then post nothing again until Friday. The best way to keep your fans engaged is to stay consistent and fresh in their minds. However, this can be a double-edged sword. If you publish too often with content that your fans don’t care about, they will hide you from their wall feed. Facebook users have the ability to block all status updates and any information posted by a Facebook page. The purpose of your page is lost once they hide you from their feed. So tread lightly with what you post and how often you post. Try posting one to two times maximum per day. If your content is good, people will notice it.

Be a Resource on Twitter If you really want people to follow and continue following you, make it impossible for them to leave by providing them with high-quality and interesting updates. This can be done via linking out to an informative article or by giving a thoughtful opinion in a wider discussion.

Use Playlists to Your Advantage with YouTubeYour YouTube channel does not need to be populated solely with videos that you create. Pool a listing (or several lists) of videos through YouTube’s playlist feature. Your playlists will include videos made by other YouTubers and could include other videos such as useful industry resources. For example, maybe Serta released a new commercial about the counting sheep or they are running some sort of promotion. Your YouTube channel could feature these videos to keep your audience informed. Obviously, you want to stay away from promoting competitors’ videos, but any content that you consider to be complementary can be linked to a playlist and promoted on the homepage of your channel.

Advertising Concepts of AmericaAICO/Amini Innovation Corp.American ExpressAmerican LeatherAshley Furniture Industries, Inc.AspenhomeAssociated Volume BuyersBecker Designed, Inc.Bernards, Inc.Best Buy for BusinessBest Home FurnishingsBraxton Culler, Inc.Cargo Consolidation ServicesCentury FurnitureCoaster Company of AmericaCory Home Delivery ServiceDécor-Rest Furniture Ltd.Diakon LogisticsDSI CompaniesEkornesElements InternationalElite LeatherEmerald Home FurnishingsFairmont DesignsFlexsteelFurniture of AmericaFurniture WizardFurnitureDealer.netGE CapitalGreat American Furniture ServicesGuardian ProductsGuardsman/The Valspar Corp.

Harden Furniture CompanyHigh Point Market AuthorityHolland HouseHomelegance USA HFB MagazineHorich Hector Lebow Advertising Consulting Services, Inc.Innovative Delivery SystemsJofran Sales, Inc.Julius M. Feinblum Real Estate, Inc.KincaidKing Hickory Furniture CoLane Home FurnishingsLazar IndustriesLeaLeggett & PlattLiberty FurnitureLifestyle EnterprisesLinon Home Décor ProductsMagnussen HomeMail AmericaMassood LogisticsMed-Lift MobilityMicroD, Inc.Mohawk Finishing Products, Inc.Myriad SoftwareNatuzzi Americas, Inc.NetSertiveNourison IndustriesOkinus Credit SolutionsPacific Furniture Dealers

Phoenix A.M.D. International, Inc.PROFITsystemsProtect-A-BedRestonic Mattress Corp.Sandberg FurnitureSAP RetailSerta Mattress CompaniesSimmonsShock WatchSleep-EzzSource International, Inc./4 Sales FinanceSphinx by Oriental WeaversStandard FurnitureSteve Silver Co.STORISSuryaThe TV ShieldThe Uttermost CompanyTidewater Finance CompanyTrendwood, Inc.Tropic Survival Advertising & MarketingTruckSkin, LLCTwin Star/Classic FlameUnited Furniture IndustriesValassis, Inc.Vaughan Furniture Co.Versatile SystemsWahlquist Management CorporationWorld Market CenterZenith Global

Our Association gratefully recognizes all of our supporters whose dedication and committment has strengthened our industry.

THANK YOU

To become an industry partner contact:North American Home Furnishings Association(800) 422.3778 or email [email protected]

SponsorThing_HFA.indd 1 11/5/13 3:41 PM


New update available NOW!

Coming Soon...


Government RelationsBy Lisa Casinger

Government Relations

W hen the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) became law in 1938, the federal minimum wage was $0.25. As of July

24, 2009, the federal minimum wage is $7.25. The issue of raising the federal minimum wage is not new, though this year it moved to the forefront as both state and national groups rallied and protested, both for and against it.

Although President Obama pushed for a $9 minimum wage in his 2012 State of the Union address, there’s been no movement on that front. States (and cities) are free to set their own minimums, so long as they don’t dip below the federal level. To date, 19 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws setting minimum wage above $7.25.

California is the most recent state to raise its minimum wage; Gov. Jerry Brown signed bill AB10 into law in September. The new law raises the current $8 minimum wage to $9 an hour starting July 1, 2014, and to $10 on January 1, 2016. Earlier this year New York passed a bill to raise its $7.25 rate incrementally—$8 by end of 2013, $8.75 by end of 2014 and $9 by end of 2015. Connecticut also has passed an incremental rate increase to $9 by Jan. 1, 2015. And Rhode Island’s rate increased to $8 Jan. 1. New Jersey voters approved a $1 minimum wage hike earlier this month.

California has the eighth-highest state minimum wage in the country. Washington employers pay $9.19 an hour, Oregon $8.95, and Vermont $8.60. Workers in Nevada, Connecticut, Washington, D.C., and Illinois are paid $8.25 an hour.

Ten states adjust the minimum wage annually based on inflation and the Consumer Price Index; those states are Washington, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon and Vermont.

Since 1998, proposed increases have been on ballots in nine states and all have passed. The issue is expected to remain in the limelight for the 2014 midterm elections where 36 governorships are up for grabs, as are legislative seats in 46 statehouses and U.S. congressional races.

This July there was a push in Washington, D.C., to increase the minimum wage to $12.50 an hour for employees who work for large retailers under the Large Retailer Accountability Act. This act, which was vetoed by D.C.’s Mayor Vincent Gray, would have required retailers with $1 bil-lion or more in sales, operating stores of 75,000 square feet or larger, to pay their employees $12.50 an hour. Stores with union workers would have been exempt. Employers should pay attention not only to whether a wage increase referendum is gaining traction in their state (or if it’s already happened), but also to the rami-fications of any wage legislation.

For example, in California there is a pro-vision in labor regulations that applies to inside salespeople. To consider a salesperson an exempt employee, they must earn more than 150 percent of the minimum wage, more than 50 percent of compensation must come from commissions, and they must work in the mercantile industry (retailing falls under this classification in California). Although exempt employees are salaried, employers have to diligently monitor hours worked in comparison to compensation to ensure commissioned sales people earn 150 percent of minimum wage. If you’re a California retailer, work with an attorney to craft your commis-sion compensation agreements (which are required by California Labor Code 2751).

The momentum is gaining, state by state, for higher minimum wages.

Minimum Wage Legislation Gaining Momentum

Lisa Casinger is NAHFA’s government relations liaison. You can reach her at [email protected] or (800) 422-3778 x305.

MINIMUM WAGE STATS• 18 states and D.C. have

minimum wages above the federal minimum wage

• 23 states have minimum wages the same as the $7.25 federal minimum wage

• 4 states have minimum wages below the federal minimum wage (fed minimum applies)

• 5 states have not established a state minimum wage (fed minimum applies)

Source: U.S. Dept. of Labor

HOTISSUESThe NAHFA government relations team is monitoring these issues for its members:

• Marketplace Fairness Act (sales tax for online sales)

• EPA regulations regarding flame retardants in furniture

• Swipe fees (debit card)• Tax reform• Employee/labor regulations

This material is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. This material is intended, but not promised or guaranteed to be current, complete or up-to-date.


The Scoop

What’s going on with retailers across the country

Poised to add 100 jobs statewide, City Furniture announced plans to expand its Central Florida operations by opening two show-rooms in November at the fast-growing active adult community of The Villages.

“The opportunity to quickly and cost effectively open stores within The Villages gives us an ideal platform to better serve our Central Florida customers,” said City Furniture president Keith Koenig.

His firm has signed leases with The Villages’ developer enabling City Furniture to fully renovate and merchandise two existing fur-niture stores that are currently owned and operated by a developer-affiliated company.

Koenig said opening stores at The Villages is a key step in City Furniture’s strategic direction of expanding statewide. “We’re confi-dent in the long-term strength of Florida’s markets, and we’ve scaled our infrastructure and planning accordingly,” he explained. “We

rolled out e-commerce earlier this year, and that has really boosted deliveries to the Orlando and Tampa areas. Residents at The Villages have shopped at our South Florida stores, so we’re already making deliveries in that dynamic growth market,” he added. The move gives City Furniture a footprint that extends from south Miami-Dade through Lake, Sumter and Marion counties.

City Furniture will create its stores in space now occupied by Southern Lifestyles at Lake Sumter Landing and the Showcase Direct showroom in the La Plaza Grande shopping center, which serve the more than 90,000 residents of The Villages community as well as Central Florida consumers from Orlando to Ocala and Gainesville. City Furniture will work with Central Florida-based contractors to fast-track renovations for grand opening of the La Plaza Grande store by mid-November with the Lake Sumter Landing store to follow soon after. Koenig said his company is filling a total of 52 sales and support positions for the two City Furniture stores.

vCity Furniture Opens First Central Florida Stores in November

City Furniture's Cutler Bay store (pictured above and at left) is an upscale, environmentally friendly showroom. It is the latest in the company's expansions.


The Scoop

vHayneedle Style Gallery Offers Inspiration and Engagement for Online Shoppers

v Jaxon Home Launches E-Commerce Furniture Showroom, JaxonHome.com

Jaxon Home, the Los Angeles-based lifestyle and home furnishings brand, recently launched its online e-commerce furniture showroom, JaxonHome.com. Jaxon Home is a resource for modern, traditional and transitional upholstered furniture, made in downtown Los Angeles since 2006, and is moving into national distribution and sales with the JaxonHome.com launch.

Owner and Creative Director Victoria Richter has designed an extensive line of upholstered pieces and case goods, manufactured

by Coda Industries, the L.A.-based factory owned by Victoria’s husband, Braden Richter. All items can be customized and are available in more than 500 fabrics and 100 leathers. Custom pieces are generally delivered and installed within 3-5 weeks. Jaxon also sells a curated collection of rugs, lighting, accessories, case goods and select vintage finds all handpicked by Victoria. All of Jaxon Home’s products are backed by a two-year warranty from Uniters North America and include white-glove delivery and installation.

Finding home design inspiration and expressing one’s personal style can be a challenge, especially when you have more than 3,000 brands and a million products to choose from. To help customers simplify their lives and create their own visions of home, Hayneedle, an online retailer of indoor and outdoor furnishings and household goods, officially unveiled the Hayneedle Style Gallery on its flagship online store, hayneedle.com.

The Hayneedle Style Gallery, created by Hayneedle in partnership with notable designers, bloggers and editors, offers room designs, how-to articles and inspirations from the more than one million products available at hayneedle.com, enabling online shoppers to envision looks for their own homes and find the perfect products to bring their own visions to life.

“Our goal is to delight customers with the fun finds that our stylists and editors have handpicked to inspire and help them discover styles that fit their unique design sensibilities,” said Brian Moen, Chief Marketing Officer at Hayneedle. “The Hayneedle Style Gallery showcases unique collections that illustrate trends and new products, from high design to everyday essentials, and simply makes shopping fun.”

An all-star team of stylists, including HGTV.com celebrity designer Brian Patrick Flynn, noted designers and lifestyle bloggers Camille Styles and Meg Biram, and lifestyle experts from the newly-launched Clementine Daily, will regularly contribute styleboards and room designs inspired by Hayneedle, encouraging online shoppers to discover finds for their home.

The addition of its new stores in The Villages comes as City Furniture nears completion of a five-store expansion and renovation program from Miami-Dade through Palm Beach counties. As the southeast and southwest Florida licensee for Ashley Furniture HomeStores, City Furniture has reshaped its network of showrooms to offer both brands in adjoining stores at many locations.

The fourth store in its South Florida expansion, an upscale, environmentally friendly two-story City Furniture showroom, opened in Cutler Bay in October. On an adjoining South Dixie Highway site, the firm has operated a City Furniture store that will be renovated as an Ashley Furniture HomeStore, to open April 2014. Koenig said the firm expects to create a total of 35 new sales and support jobs for the two Cutler Bay stores.

Shoppers at The Villages and Cutler Bay stores will find two innovations City Furniture rolled out companywide this spring

– stylish Bernhardt furniture galleries inside the showrooms, along with an expanded selection of mattresses by top national brands. City Furniture’s in-store Design Studio interior design service will also be available at the new showrooms.


MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE INDUSTRY EVENTSCalendar MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE INDUSTRY EVENTS

ShowtimeDecember 8-11, 2013High Point, North Carolina www.showtime-market.com

Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market January 7-14, 2014Atlanta, Georgia www.americasmart.com

imm Cologne January 13-19, 2014Cologne, Germany www.imm-cologne.com

Dallas Total Home & Gift Market January 15-21, 2014Dallas, Texas www.dallasmarketcenter.com

Las Vegas MarketJanuary 26-30, 2014Las Vegas, Nevada www.lasvegasmarket.com

KEM Furniture and Accessory Market February 3-5, 2014Edison, New Jersey www.kemexpo.com

Stockholm Furniture Fair February 4-8, 2014Stockholm, Sweden www.stockholmfurniturefair.com

Tupelo Furniture Market February 6-9, 2014Tupelo, Mississippi www.tupelofurnituremarket.com

Atlanta Spring Gift, Home Furnishings and Holiday Market March 7-9, 2014Atlanta, Georgia www.americasmart.com

Dallas Total Home and Gift Market March 27-30, 2014Dallas, Texas www.dallasmarketcenter.com

High Point MarketApril 5-10, 2014High Point, North Carolina www.highpointmarket.org

Photo: Company C

Fall 2013 Magnussen H

ome


Ad Index

ADVERTISER PHONE WEBSITE FACEBOOK TWITTER PAGE#

Connie Post (304) 736-7283 conniepost.com 38

Diakon Logistics (703) 530-0677 diakonlogistics.com facebook.com/DiakonLogistics 50

Furniture Wizard (619) 869-7200 furniturewizard.com facebook.com/furniturewizard @furniturewiz 58

Jaipur Rugs (404) 351-2360 jaipurrugs.com facebook.com/jaipurlifestyle @jaipurlifestyle Inside Back

Kincaid Furniture (800) 438-8207 kincaidfurniture.com facebook.com/KincaidFurnitureCompany @KincaidFurn46 3

Las Vegas Market (888) 962-7469 lasvegasmarket.com facebook.com/wmclv @worldmarketctr 5

Lynch Sales (616) 458-6662 lynchsales.com facebook.com/lynchsales @lynchsales 17

Magnussen Home (519) 662-3040 magnussen.com 14

MicroD Inc. (800) 964-3876 microdinc.com facebook.com/microdinc @microdinc Back Cover

Myriad Software (800) 676-4243 myriadsoftware.com http://tinyurl.com/myriadFB 47

North American HFA Sponsors (800) 422-3778 retailerNOWmag.com facebook.com/retailernow @retailerNow 56

Northwest Furniture Xpress (828) 475-6377 nwfxpress.com 52

Nourison (201) 368-6900 nourison.com facebook.com/nourison @nourison 8, 9

Okinus (855) 330-3958 okinus.com 35

Planned Furniture Promotions (800) 472-5242 pfpromotions.com 11

PROFITSystems Inc. (800) 888-5565 profitsystems.com facebook.com/profitsystems @PROFITSystems 29

Serta (847) 645-0200 serta.com facebook.com/sertamattress @sertamattresses 7

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

Truckskin (877) 866-7546 truckskin.com facebook.com/TruckSkin @TruckSkin 50

Fall 2013 Regina Andrew


The Now ListA quick dose of fun facts, random trivia and useful

(or useless) bits of info

TV DINNER TV dinners were created when food manufacturer Swanson needed to do something with 260 tons of leftover frozen turkeys from Thanksgiving.

Keep this in mind for Black Friday shopping: Studies show that when someone invades a customer’s personal space (by hovering or something similar), the shopper will leave, regardless of whether they planned on buying anything.

On average, holiday shopping is completed in five trips to the mall.

50% OFF According to research, “50% off” signs lead to increased sales, even if shoppers don’t know the original item price or even what a reasonable price would be.

California eats the largest amount of turkey out of all the U.S. states.

Christopher Columbus thought turkeys were a type of peacock.

When “Silent Night” was first performed at a church service in Austria, the organ was so rusted that it didn’t work. A guitar was used instead.

was used instead.

I

SANTA RIDES A GOAT! In Finland, Santa rides on a straw goat named Ukko instead of his sleigh.

The 1962 success of holiday-wrapped Hershey’s Kisses led the company to dress up the packaging for Easter, Valentine's Day and the harvest season.

In Holland, St. Nicholas has a servant with him who punishes bad children by stuffing them in a bag and taking them away to Spain.

Historically, children in Yemen used to go from house to house to collect wicks for their Hanukkah menorahs.

On the last night of Hanukkah in Germany, people used to sing and dance around a fire fueled by all the leftover menorah wicks and oil.

Kwanzaa was first celebrated in December 1966. The name means

“first fruits” in Swahili.

Kwanzaa was first honored on a postage stamp in 1997.

It would cost more than $100,000 to purchase all the items in the

“12 Days of Christmas.”

Fewer than 50 people are on the average New Year’s Eve party guest list.

The tradition of making noise and lighting fireworks on New Year’s Eve originally began because fire and loud noises supposedly dispelled evil spirits and brought good luck.

HolidayTrivia

Vol. 2 Issue 9

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EC 2013

Online Marketing & Technology Experts for the Home Furnishings Industry

The integrated company for the home

furnishings world.MicroD has 20 years proven success as a technology partner for retailers and manufacturers in the home furnishings industry. We’re a fast moving, big thinking company that drives business outcomes, builds customer loyalty, and furthers revenue growth.

For more informationemail: [email protected] or call: 800-964-3876

Discover us.www.MicroDinc.com

Furniture Industry Solutions Websites Interactive Product Catalogs

eCommerce Room Planner

EDI iPad App for Sales Reps

MICROD A SINGLE-SOURCE SOLUTION FOR PREMIUM COMPANIES IN THE HOME FURNISHINGS INDUSTRY.

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Documents

November/December 2013—The Back of the House