Furniture World - September-October 2011-Slicer

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See Us In Las VegasBuilding A - Space 540On The Walkway To Building B.


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06 Selling The Same Stuff!Ever notice that furniture retailers seemto all be selling the same stuff?Here are five ways to make this realityless important to your bottom line.

12 Flexible BudgetingFor Furniture RetailersFlexible Budgeting lets you Flex yourtop line and observe the resulting oper-ational effects on your P&L and operat-ing income.

16 Furniture RetailersShare Their Stories - Part 9This series that commemorates FurnitureWorlds 140 year of publishing , contin-ues with interesting histories of retailersUnited House W recking and SleepCountry USA.

42 Best Selling DesignEditors picks of best selling furniture andaccessory designs.

48 Dreaming Of Better

Bedding Sales - Part 3Furniture World asks industry experts totell us some of the best and worst bed-ding sales practices they see at retail,and to provide tips to improve perfor-mance.

34 Media Mix Magic -Part 1Create a killer mix of media thatwill leverage maximum sales and profits.

56 The Big Hand -OffDont get tackled by the IRS when

handing off your business to the next

generation.

62 Garage Sale LessonsLessons a veteran furniture guy learnedwatching people browse, decide andnegotiate at a garage sale.

68 Opened & Read - 3D Mail3D Mail, is a piece of mail that hasdepth. A generic mailer such as a flyer orletter has length and width but lacksdepth. The depth is what sets a 3D mail-er apart.

74Warehouse InfestationPractical steps to minimize risks of ware-house bed bug infestations, negativemedia attention and frivolous consumerlawsuits.

78 Quick & Easy RepairDo you have a backlog of damagedstock? Are your quick andeasy finish repair solutions turning out tobe neither quick nor easy?

2 FURNITURE WORLD September/October 2011

FURNITURE WORLD MAGAZINEBPAAssociation of Business Publishers

1333A North Ave. #437, New Rochelle, NY 10804Tel: 914-235-3095 Fax: 914-235-3278

US POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: FurnitureWorld Magazine, PO Box 16044, St. Louis, MO 63105.

Editor-In-Chief, CEORussell Bienenstock [email protected]

Associate EditorS.T. Bienenstock [email protected]

Canadian & Retail Feature EditorJanet Holt-Johnstone [email protected]

Sales Education Feature EditorPeter Marino [email protected]

Operations Feature EditorDan Bolger [email protected]

Marketing Feature EditorLarry Mullins [email protected]

Art/ Design EditorBarbara Bienenstock [email protected]

ComptrollerGifford Dorival [email protected]

PublisherBarton Bienenstock [email protected]

Vice PresidentThelma Mason Davis [email protected]

Sales Manager, Eastern RegionJon Siegel [email protected]

Special ConsultantLarry Stein [email protected]

Sales Director West, Mid-West, InternationalGary Siegel [email protected]

Account Manager, ChinaMaggie Zhao [email protected]

FURNITURE WORLD: (ISSN0738-890X) - Published every other month byTowse Publishing Co., 1333-A North Avenue, #437 New Rochelle, NY10804. Subscription: $19 per year; $39.00 for 3 years, $29 Canada,$4/copy; Foreign $89; (USD only). Periodical postage paid at NewRochelle, NY and additional mailing offices. US POSTMASTER: Sendaddress changes to Furniture World, PO Box 16044, St. Louis, MO63105. Publications Mail Agreement Number 41659018. Return undeliv-erable Canadian addresses to: PO Box 875, STN A, W indsor ON N9A6P2. Copyright 2011 Towse Publishing Company, all rights reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.

Cover: Featured on this months cover is Country View WoodworkingsEnglish Shaker Collection, designed to appeal to busy households, focusing onthe dining area as a popular gathering place for family and friends. Customersmay tailor selections to individual preference by mixing and matching color ,fabric, woods, finishes, and price points. For more information on their solidhardwood, American-made, Green products, see Cover 2 and page 1 of thisissue, visit them in High Point or at www.http://www.cvwltd.com.

IN THIS ISSUEThe Business Solutions Magazine For Furniture Retailers

FOUNDED 1870 Visit www.furninfo.com The Industrys Most Extensive Furniture Site

Thinking of OursourcingYour Home Delivery?

Turn to page 61for details, or scanthis code with yourmobile device towatch the CoryFirst Choice Video.

brought to you by


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OK. For all the football fans

out there who are operat-ing retail furniture compa-nies, think of the dominant

teams in the NFL over the decades like the San F rancisco 49ers, theDallas Cowboys, the Steelers, wherethe right strategy (ie: the W est CoastOffense) and outstanding executionby the players on the field made foryears of success and multiple SuperBowl Championships.

Someones brain conceived the

strategy. A playbook was developedand written. Great players were draft-ed and trained in the strategy , thecoaches taught, drilled, taught again,and drilled again. Every player knewhis role and the role of every otherplayer. Then the players executed on

the field. Of course opponents even-

tually developed defensive strategiesto counter the W est Coast Offense,but it is true that some teams still uti-lize it, or some variance of it, success-fully.

But what happens if every playerdecides to execute the plays their way,instead of the way the team manage-ment wants it done? Instead of block-ing this opposing player , they decideto block that player. Instead of kickingthe ball, the kicker decides to run.

Imagine the results if there were nostructured plays, no coaching, and noadherence to the playbook. Chaoswould result and team goals wouldnever be met. Of course there isalways the need to react to the situa-tion on the field, and the great playerscan do that, but it all begins with a setstrategy.

In furniture retailing our opponentsare not our customers, but we dohave to engage them, understand,

convince and serve. We have to do itbetter than our competitors and seekto consistently exceed our customersexpectations to achieve our goals. Yetmany stores have as many differentstrategies as they have salespeople.Everyone has their way of doingthings, and often the outcomes arewidely divergent, providing a widerange of performance from the high-est to the lowest performers.

Everyone gets the same number of

customer opportunities, but with far

different results.

Today, with the inception of wholenew worlds of consumer -centeredcommunication tools, and the contin-ued growth of online information,shopping and purchasing of homefurnishings, things have changed dra-matically. But, have we?

Ive been around retail furniturestores for 40 years and a lot of thingsstill look pretty much the same, exceptfor the made in China labels on justabout everything . I remember when

the goods we sold at Ethan Allen weremade in Vermont or New Y ork State.Most of the players in our industrycontinue to believe that it s all aboutthe stuff , but I have argued fordecades that it s really all about thepeople and the room first then it sabout the stuff.

When things were cruising alongnicely in the 1980s, 90s and early2000s, just about every business strat-egy worked, and not much impor-

tance was placed on strategic thinkingor execution. As long as new homesales (and of course used home sales)were booming, everyone was a retailgenius. It really was all about the stuffneeded to fill all those new homesand rooms. But now, things are differ-ent, and still retailers are applying thesame old strategies to a reducedaudience. Y es, theres still a lot ofbusiness to be done, but the competi-tive environment is sharper than ever ,

and in case you haven t noticed

SELLING THE SAME STUFF!Ever notice that furniture retailers seem to all be selling the same stuff?

Here are four ways to make this reality less important to your bottom line.by Joe Capillo

ImaginetheresultsiftherewerenostructuredNFLplays,nocoaching,andnoadherencetotheplaybook.


The Sales Management Game


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Categorizeyoursalestrainingbycategoryforproductknowledge,

presentationandsellingskills.

I can predict that youll be surprised when youlook at individual salesperson performance bycategory over at least three months.

of your fears of abuse or misuse.Figure it out and protect yourself tech-nologically, but if you are not using

email marketing directly from individ-ual sales associates, youre missing ahuge opportunity for additional busi-ness.

People build relationships with peo-ple, not companies. Why should youcontinually spend additional market-ing dollars to get non-buyers backwhen email is virtually free? And, it salso personal, one -to-one marketingto prospects your sales associateshave already met, know somethingabout, and with whom they (hopeful-ly) have a good relationship. If youview not closing every sale today asfailure youre on a track to continuousdisappointment. The fact is that withclose rates still hovering around 20-25% for many furniture retailers, thereal situation is even worse for first -time shoppers on a furniture purchas-ing project. In my experience, backedup by substantial monitoring of theflow of business over many years, first-

time shoppers in your store purchaseabout 15% of the time, and this willbe higher for your star performers andlower for your not -so-stars. On thesecond visit, however , closing ratesare 70% or higher, and thats how youget your 20% close rate overall. Thequestion is how many shoppersmake a second visit? Again, experi-ence shows that this varies amongsalespeople depending on the qualityof their work, but the best Ive seen

have as many as 15-20% of their total

monthly opportunities as return shop-pers on a project.

3.Categorize your sales training .Thats right, train by category forproduct knowledge, presentation, andselling skills. F irst, that s how peoplelearn best by category. Second, dif-ferent emotions, feelings, and thoughtprocesses apply to purchases madefor different rooms and uses. Uniquepresentation and sales approacheshave to be used for living rooms andbedrooms. Dining room presentationsrequire different questions and setting

up alternate visions for customers.Dinettes often have a completely dif-ferent emotional foundation with peo-ple than dining rooms. If you are nottracking salesperson performance bycategory, start now . All of the furni-ture-specific computer systems retainthis information, and I can predict thatyoull be surprised when you look atindividual salesperson performanceby category over at least threemonths. Youll find that some salesassociates just dont know how to sellsome things. The great people tend tobe great at everything. Keep the cate-gories fairly broad. Consider masterbedroom a category, youth bedroomanother, and separate formal diningand dinettes. Sub -categorize leatherupholstery by motion and stationary .Make it make sense.

4.Live in the metrics. They tell youwhat to do. Measure everything ,and use the metrics to do something .

If you re keeping sales metrics you

everyones selling the same stuff . Justlike always.

So, how can you get better in toughtimes? How can you do the threethings that are the prime objective ofevery retail business: attract, satisfy ,and retain an ever growing number ofcustomers? First of all, do better withthe shoppers you already haveinstead of always spending to get newones. Here are some suggestions:

1.Have a selling strategy that isclearly stated in writing andensure that each employee fullyunderstands it. If you develop andadopt a new strategy or a new wrinkleto an old one, retrain everyone.Cover every aspect of the sellingequation, and make your sales asso-ciates and coaches (otherwise knownas sales managers) partner to ensurethat your strategic approach is exe-cuted. If the only time your players

hear about the company s sellingstrategy is in initial training, you cantexpect them to take it seriously . Yourselling strategy has to be a walk-the-walk, and talk -the-talk everydayissue for everyone from the salesmanagers to the CEO. Corporate ini-tiatives fail most often because of alack of attention from the top.

2.Connect your sales associates toyour customers in every way youcan. Dont hold back email because


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12/9210 FURNITURE WORLD September/October 2011

THE SAME STUFF!

Differentemotions,feelings,andthoughtprocessesapplytopurchasesmadefordifferentroomsanduses.

tomer-centric selling systems. Joe canbe reached by sending an email [email protected]. See all ofhis sales management articles that areposted to the information packedFURNITURE WORLD Magazine web-

site www .furninfo.com in the salesmanagement article archives section.

dont use to manage today , in thegame, on the field, throw them away .There are three parts to the sales suc-cess equation: Number of customeropportunities, your closing ratio, andyour average sale. That s it!Salespeople can take actions in allthree areas to improve their sales andtheir income, and the start of every-thing is shoppers. When they bring a

shopper back to become a customer,thats their impact on your traffic. Ifyou dont know that you live on returnshoppers on specific projects, take thetime to measure this and find out justhow important those second visits are

to your business.

Joe Capillo is a furniture industryveteran with 35 years combined expe-rience as a retail consultant and retailindustry executive. He is a contributingeditor to FURNITURE WORLDMagazine and a frequent speaker atindustry functions. Joe makes himselfavailable for private consultations on

any aspect of retail sales manage-ment and sales education.

His recently published book, LivingOn The T op Line, available on

Amazon.com, helps home furnishingsretailers to create and implement cus-


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W

e have all heard the say-ing, A failure to plan, is aplan to fail.

Most home furnishings retailersdont have a plan. I did say most.The best operators do plan. They usebudgets to help them react faster tounforeseen situations in the future. Aquantifiable plan is a budget.

To introduce you to the value ofbudgeting, this article will show youhow you can use a simplified FlexibleBudget to assist with your opera-tional forecasting.

This process is called Flexible

because your planned level of salesmay change due to unforeseen fac-tors. For example, if your local econ-omy is dominated by a large employ-er that suddenly lays off half of itswork force, there may be a spillovereffect on your business. Flexible bud-geting allows you to prepare better forthe unknown.

Flexible Budgeting lets you Flexyour top line and observe the resultingoperational effects on your P&L and

operating income. T o see theseeffects, a nontraditional financial

statement will be used that separatesvariable expenses and fixed expenses.This is called a contribution marginfinancial statement and can be used

for internal reporting , planning andanalysis. The separation of variableand fixed expenses are importantbecause they act differently whensales volume changes.

Examples of variable costs in theretail environment are cost of goodssold, sales commissions, financecompany fees, and a portion of mar-keting and distribution costs. Theseexpenses are only incurred when asale is made. When you look at total

variable costs, you see that as output(sales) increases, variable costs

increase at the same rate. If you lookat variable costs per unit of output,they remain fairly constant. For exam-ple, the ratio of sales commissions to

sales may be 7% no matter what theoutput volume is.

The behavior of fixed expenses onthe other hand is different. Total fixedcosts will remain the same on a dollaramount over the relevant range ofactivity. F or example, if rent is$30,000 per month, it s going to be$30,000 per month whatever youroutput volume is, provided you re inbusiness. Conversely, fixed costs perunit of output decline as output

increases. So, if your sales levelsincrease, you pay less as a percent-


FLEXIBLE BUDGETINGFlexible Budgeting lets you Flex your top line and observethe resulting operational effects on your P&L and operating income.

by David McMahon

Financial Success Strategy

TotalVariableCost

Output Level

VariableCostperUnit

Output Level

TotalFixedCosts

Output Level

TotalFixedPerUnit

Output Level

In the 90% flex scenariothe fixed costs arehigher as a percentand all profitability hasbeen eroded.


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age of sales. The spread of theincrease or decrease directly adds ortakes away from bottom line prof-itability.

FLEXIBLE BUDGETINGBasic Retail P&L Example

The place to start is with your actu-al financial statements that you pro-duce in your software system. F romyour P&L, identify which balances arevariable expenses, which are fixed,and which are mixed. From there youcan use a spreadsheet to create acontribution margin financial state-ment similar to the one shown above.

Enter your master budget numbers.This is your most likely scenario. In theexample, monthly sales are targetedat $500,000. It s also important tonote here that many businesses expe-rience seasonality, so master budgetsales numbers often should differ from

month to month. After sales comevariable expenses. Start with cost ofgoods sold as that is the largest vari-able component in retail. F rom thereyou can see your target gross margin.After gross margin, enter your othercommon variable expenses such ascommissions. Here I lumped all theother variable costs in one category .You can separate the individual costsout if you deem them to be of materi-

al importance.Subtracting total variable expenses

from sales gives you your contributionmargin and resulting contributionmargin ratio. Contribution marginpercent shows the percentage addedto net income once fixed expenses arecovered. So here, once the business isover break even, every $1 increase insales adds $.39 to operating income.

After contribution margin, all fixedexpenses should be subtracted. This

results in the net operating income forthe months sales.

If you are creating a contributionmargin statement, take the next smallstep and figure your break even. Asexplained in my article in F urnitureWorld on Break Even for R etail, theformula is: Break Even Sales $ equalsFixed Expenses divided byContribution Margin Ratio.

So, what would happenif your master budgetprojection is notcorrect? Well, letsfind out. That is what

Flexible Budgeting is for!

Master or Static BudgetSales $ Flexed at 100%

Ratio100%

Flexible BudgetSales $ Flexed at 90%

Ratio90%

Flexible BudgetSales $ Flexed at 110%

Ratio110%

Sales $500,000 100% $450,000 100% $550,000 100%

Less Variable Expenses

Cost of Goods Sold $260,000 52% $234,000 52% $286,000 52%

Gross Margin $240,000 48% $216,000 48% $264,000 48%

Sales Commissions $35,000 7% $31,500 7% $38,500 7%

Other Variable Expenses $10,000 2% $9,000 2% $11,000 2%

Total Variable Expenses $305,000 61% $274,000 61% $335,500 61%

Contribution Margin $195,000 39% $175,000 39% $214,500 39%

Less Fixed Expenses

Administration Expenses $100,000 20% $100,000 22.2% $100,000 18.2%

Occupancy Expenses $30,000 6% $30,000 6.7% $30,000 5.5%

Marketing Expense(Fixed Portion) $25,000 5% $25,000 5.6% $25,000 4.5%

Selling Expense(Fixed Portion)

$1,000 .2% $1,000 .2% $1,000 .2%

Distribution Expense(Fixed Portion)

$15,000 3% $15,000 3.3% $15,000 2.7%

Other F ixed Expenses $5,000 1% $5,000 1.1% $5,000 .9%

Total Fixed Expenses $176,000 35.2% $176,000 39.1% $176,000 32%

Operating Income $19,000 3.8% $(500) -0.1% $38,500 7%

Break Even Sales $451,282 $451,282 $451,282

Contribution Margin Financial Statement


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September/October 2011 FURNITURE WORLD 15

Note: You cannot figure your breakeven properly without acontribution margin financial statement.

So, what would happen if your master budget projection isnot correct? W ell, let s find out. That is what FlexibleBudgeting is for!

Look at the example again. In the center column to the rightof the master budget, we have two Flexible Budget scenarios:the first flex sales at 90% of the master while the second flexsales at 110% of the master . Look at the variable expensesas a dollar amount - they change. However, notice the ratio(percentages) to sales? They are exactly the same for all sce-

narios. That is the nature of variable expenses. While chang-ing sales levels, variable expenses have no additional impacton profitability. Contribution margin is exactly the same.

Now, look at the fixed expenses of both the 90% and 110%flex scenarios. Here the dollar amounts do not changebecause they are fixed. But, the percent of sales amountschange due to the decrease and increase in sales. Y ou cansee that in the 90% flex scenario the fixed costs are higher asa percent, and all profitability has been eroded. Alternatively,in the 110% flex, a healthy profitability is reported. Althoughnot shown in this article, these results are also taken furtherand compared with balance sheet projections and extrapo-

lated for outcomes of cash flow levels, and inventory andpayables ratios for example.

The break even in all three scenarios, the master budget, the90% flex, and the 110% flex are identical.

The BIG lesson here is... Stop guessing! Take surprise outof the equation. Study the variable and fixed nature of youroperational costs and plan for various scenarios. This willmaximize your chances of success and allow your operationto grow more profitably.

David McMahon is a Management Consultant forPROFITconsulting and long -time writer for F urniture W orld.Please feel free to contact him if you want help improving yourbusiness. [email protected].

FLEXIBLE BUDGETING

Take surprise out of the equation.Study the variable and fixed nature ofyour operational costs and plan for

various scenarios.


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Connecticut, a state renownedfor enterprise and forward-thinking, adopted its firstconstitution in 1639, fifth of

the original 13 states. And citizensappear to come by their reputations

for optimism honestly , based perhapson the 1662 grant from Connecticutsoriginal Charter, its boundaries statedto extend to all the land to the SouthSea, otherwise known as the P acificOcean!

Similarly buoyant hopes could havemotivated the L odato family 57 yearsago when they saw that Interstate I 95was under construction and many dis-tinguished old houses were slated fordemolition. Opportunity beckoned!

UNITED HOUSE WRECKING

Third generation R oss L odatoshared the family story. In 1954, ourDad, R oss Senior , along with two

brothers, Phil and John and his broth-er-in-law, R ay, established UnitedHouse Wrecking, Inc. As they earned aliving demolishing homes, theylearned there was interest in the sal-vage from their projects. L umber, win-

dows, old brick, doors, old fireplacemantles and architectural featureswere just some of the items which theybegan to salvage at their yard.

As time passed, their business cre-ated great interest for all sorts ofpotential customers. Homeownersdoing renovations, builders, as well asdecorators, all came to this place nick-named the junkyard with a personali-ty, this unusual place where hundredsof people came each week to see what

was new . They d heard so muchabout United House Wrecking andhad to see it for themselves.

We have fond memories of theoriginal location. All our cousins

were allowed to work there as kids.

There were many of us, each with dif-ferent job responsibilities. Whether itwas cleaning the five acre parking lot,or helping in assembling old Y ankee


They made it their

Saturday morning

adventure, to come for

free coffee and rummagethrough what wed

salvaged that week.

- Ross Lodato, United House Wrecking

Our Retail Furniture Heritage 1800-2011

RETAIL STORIESPart 9: Furniture retailers share interesting stories

of growth, hardship and their strategies for success.

by Janet Holt-Johnstone

Original United House Wrecking partners Ross Senior, Phil, John and Ray in front ofthe original Stamford, CT location. They invested $400 to get their first wrecking job in1954, the Schuyler Merritt Mansion (pictured at right), torn down by hand to makeway for 1-95.


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Stadium seats, sorting the porcelainstreet signs from New Y ork City, bur-nishing strap hangers from NY C sub-way cars, or just making coffee for thecustomers, there was always work tobe done. W e saw some of the samecustomers every weekend. They madeit their Saturday morning adventure, to

come for free coffee and rummagethrough what wed salvaged thatweek. It was a real special place.

In 1969, the brothers decided tostop wrecking and concentrate on sell-ing items salvaged from demolitionjobs. Other wreckers were not interest-ed in having a retail site, so we pur-chased from all of them and becamethe purveyors of everyones salvage.The place became so popular I canremember two policemen came on

Saturdays, just to direct traffic. If you

didnt arrive before 1:00 p.m., theredbe no place to park. P eople camefrom everywhere to see such anunusual business, it was a tourist des-tination! It was a special time in ourlives. We were so proud to be associ-ated with our family business. We wereliving the American Dream!

The business grew to includereproduction items as well. W ebranched out to concrete planters,statues, bakers racks, furniture, light-ing and so much more, a place whereone could come to find unusual items,both old and new . Years passed withgreat success.

In the late 80s, Dads brothersplanned to retire and sell the land. ButDad wanted to keep the businessgoing. He found a two acre parcel,

still in Stamford, Connecticut. His

dream stayed alive. He was proud ofhis new location. It gave the companya chance to start fresh. But, of course,it meant more work, establishingrecognition.

Our cousin, Andy, who grew up inthe business, became his generalmanager, and my brother , Mario, aLoyola graduate, was part of theeveryday operation of the business. Mydegree from Villanova was in civil

engineering and I had been employedsince college in my uncles construc-tion/development business, so I assist-ed in the planning and renovation ofthe new location. In the passingmonths, I felt a need to help Dad inthis new venture, so I came aboard inthe fall of 1988.

All was well until 1993, when Dadwas diagnosed with brain cancer . Wehad great hopes that he would beatthis dreadful disease. It was difficult to

imagine this business and our worldwithout this wonderful man as part ofit. He battled his illness without ever acomplaint or question why untilAugust of 1994 when he passed away.We had already been running thebusiness, but life just wasn t going tobe the same ever again. There was avoid in our hearts that would never befilled. At this point, I think my missionto keep the business alive was drivenby the anger inside me; why was such

a good man taken so early in our

The United HouseWrecking complexincludes the newDesign Center(above). Also picturedis the outdoor waterfeature showcasingpatio furniture (left),the farm table area(right) and indoorpatio showcase area(below).

In the Design Center,

customers could buy

interior and exterior

furnishings, both antique

and reproduction, in one

location, antiques as well

as Oriental rugs, sofas,

window treatments, etc.- Ross Lodato, United House Wrecking


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Dad taught us to work hard. DOYOUR BEST! was his advice to us. Aman who led by example, hed say ,Dont ask anyone to do anything youwouldnt do yourself . Our Mom andDad prepared us well. W e were partof a true family business, where some-times family was just as important as

the business itself. Maybe thats whereour Italian roots began to show!

In late October, 1994, I began totravel in search of new imported prod-ucts. My first trip involved 13 flights in14 days. I was in the Philippines,Indonesia and a bunch of places inbetween. I travelled and purchaseditems all over Europe, buying old aswell as new products. In Asia, I founditems never seen in the U .S.A., andevery trip was more successful than

the last. Over the next 10 years, webecame serious importers from 13different countries. W e had so muchstuff coming in every month and,thank God, so much going out! Ournetwork around the world was verystrong. I kept this up until the econo-

my fell, and the formula didn t workanymore.

In 1998, Philip L odato, Mariosson, came aboard with us full time.He represents the third generation inthe business. With his computer savvy,Phil took the role of Director of

Communications. His responsibilitiesinclude maintenance of our website,weekly e -mail blasts, press releases,social media, advertising, etc.

In 2005, we built a 13,000 squarefoot addition to house our newDesign Centre. It gave us both theopportunity to hire designers, and anew location to showcase our waresin a different way . Now we couldcompete with traditional furniturestores, a location where customers

could buy interior and exterior furnish-ings, both antique and reproduction,in one location, antiques as well asOriental rugs, sofas, window treat-ments, etc.

Our outdoor display areas featurestatuary, fountains, patio furniture,

People come to us in

the hope of finding

something different!

This was it! This was

significant! This was

the eureka moment!

Our motto became

furnishDIFFERENT.


Photo taken in 1987and feature in theStamford Advocate athe grand re-opening.Pictured is Ross Srand his wife Eleanor.

Photos from the1960s when UnitedHouse Wrecking wasactive in thesalvage business.

lives. He was just 67. I knew howimportant the business was to him.Now it was our turn to carry the torchin honour of Dad and our uncles whohad started this company.

Over the years, House W reckinghad built such a great reputation. Itwas featured many times on TV andoften in newspapers. The walls of ouroffice today proudly display many ofthe articles. As we enter , we arereminded every day of the great lega-cy left in our hands. The responsibili-ty is sometimes overwhelming withchallenges.

A large photo of our Dad, R ossSenior, is also on the wall. Hes nolonger with us physically, but is in spir-it every day. His memory helps in allour daily decisions. Dad taught us

well. A man of few words, he was aperson everyone loved and trusted. Aman of his word, a handshake was allyou needed, as strong as a contract.So loyal and humble. W e still hearkind words about him from many cus-tomers.


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planters, even seasonal flowers andplants. We recently built a new indoorpatio showroom as well, so our cus-tomers can shop in comfort rain orshine.

Our product diversity became astrength for us and a challenge as

well! We found that it takes hard workto be everything to everyone. We hadto be really focused. You must alwayshave on hand what you are known forsupplying, yet always search forunusual things. Its what is expected ofus.

Today, as the next generation, we

carry the great responsibility of contin-uing the business. Being true to ourbusiness and evolving with the needsof today s customers has been thegreatest challenge, not to be takenlightly. R ecognizing the fact that ourcompany must change is important.However, more important is the deci-sion of how it should change. Ourhistory was and is of great importanceto us. I believe it has created our pas-sion for what we do, and drives us allto work so hard to make our businessthe best it can be!

Although we no longer demolishhouses, our family business hasevolved into one of the most uniqueshopping destinations for homedcor. A customer will discover every-thing here for their home, the 43,000

square foot showroom store, the addi-tional 20,000 square foot display ofoutdoor product on the exterior of thebuilding where old items are dis-played with new, and our full servicedesign centre, staffed with qualifieddesigners to assist in beautifying andstylizing homes. It s a relaxed family -friendly setting where the entire staff isnon-commissioned and the inventorychanges literally every day.

Famous people have and do shop

here; the staff recognizes them best.

To mention a few: Ron Howard, GayleKing, Geraldo Rivera, BobbyValentine, Kathy Lee Gifford, CharlesGrodin, Susan Sarandon, T imRobbins, Bill Evans, Richard Gere,Cyndi L auper, Whoopi Goldberg ,Michael Bolton, Barbra Streisand, BillPaxton, P aul Newman, Joy Philbin...and so many more!

We asked about House W reckingseureka moment. Said R oss, Oursoccurred on the day when, as aleader of this company , I realized wemight not survive unless we made thedifficult decisions to effect changes inour business model that would beeffective in the long term. I under-stood that even though wed beenaround for so long , it didn t insulateus from market conditions that werechanging rapidly. I felt in my heart thatthings might never be the same again.

Humans are creatures of habit. Soasking staff to do things differently isnever easy. I just knew it was time forus in retail sales to stop feeling sorryfor ourselves, stop waiting for thingsto get better and do something aboutit. Once I explained to my staff thereasoning behind the changes, theywere understood and well received.

My next mission was to analyze our


ARE YOU A RETAILER

WITH A GREAT HISTORY?

WANTS TO TELL

YOUR STORY

Our editors are looking for more

furniture retail histories to feature

in future issues. Call 914-235-3095

or email [email protected].

We dont look for home

runs anymore. We look

for hits which add to

runs. We believe that

we create our own

destiny.


Shown is a mini carousel (above left),mantle area (above center), home officearea and new indoor patio showcasearea.


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entire business model. I had to con-

sider what we sold, how we sold, howwe purchased, where we purchased,how much was being purchased, howmuch we stocked, how we operated(procedures from how we answer thephone to how we loaded cars andeverything we do in between) , somuch more. Everything we did was upfor review.

Most important was asking our-selves the vital question, Why do cus-tomers need to come to us?? Eachtime I asked this uncomfortable ques-tion, which I did often because I real-ized its magnitude, I was given thesame response. People come to us inthe hope of finding something differ-ent! This was it! This was significant!This was the eureka moment ! Ourmotto became furnishDIFFERENT. Itheads up every page of our website.This is what we had to strive for andstill strive for today. Not a day passeswithout thoughts of how we can be abetter company.

We asked about a special time inHouse Wreckings history from whichthe industry might learn, or find inter-esting. Ross answered, I believe thelast five years or so have been prettyspecial. I say that, not forgetting thattheyve definitely been the most chal-lenging years for all of us. W e allknow how the marketplace haschanged. I think our abilities have

been tested. It has been a time period

that has separated the weak from thestrong. Weve decided to stop waitingfor things to get better . Weve madetough decisions and tough changeswhich we hope strengthen our posi-tions in our industry . W e constantlylook to improve what we do. Never dowe take for granted the blessings wehave. The opportunities and ideas,some good, some not, all blessings.We realize now that doing nothing isgiving up. W e dont look for homeruns anymore. We look for hits whichadd to runs. We believe that we cre-ate our own destiny . Hard work hasnever killed anyone... I think?! If anidea doesnt work, try something else.Its all about trying new things today .Not everything will work and no onething will be the answer.

I always laugh when I say that as asmall business owner I never have aday off, and this crazy business is onmy mind 24-7. However , theres nobetter satisfaction knowing that I carry

on the legend of such a special smallfamily business with pride and devo-tion to those who began it in 1954.When asked if this is my business, myfavourite answer is that it was my Dadand his family s business. They plant-ed such good seeds for us. Myresponsibility is taking care of them. Imust admit at times I find myself giv-ing it Miracle Gro! T o be successful

today, an owner has to have real pas-

sion for his business. W ithout it, whoknows how long hell last.

We asked R oss if there were anyissues that stand out amongst all oth-ers that ensured the success of HouseWrecking, benefiting both customersand the community at large. Heanswered, Our realization that ourcompany had to be at its best (everyday) in regards to customer service isone of the most important commit-ments we make today. We always feltwe had good customer service.However, we needed to feel wedmade every effort to serve above theexpectations of our customers andconsistently give that level of service.We strive to be better than the rest. Westressed the importance of each per-son in our company s role to overallsuccess. From the way we answer thephones to the way we assist loadingcustomers cars, it s all important tothe overall experience of shopping atour store. It s all about consistently

doing the small things other firmsdont want to bother doing . Ourmotto is simple. P ut yourself in theshoes of the customer . Ask yourself ,how would you like to be treated?Our actions should follow this simple

Ross Lodato, Sr.pictured in a

1987 newspaperarticle leaning

on a Sicilianwedding cart.

Design Center


RETAIL STORIES


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rule. Treat them like family. When thisis accomplished, the result is some-thing to be proud of.

Its a natural that House W reckingwould have heavy involvement incommunity activities. Their outreachincludes the Bennett Cancer Centre,Bravo P olice Dogs, JuniorAchievement, the Red Cross, StamfordHospitals Mobile MammographyProgramme, the Sexual Assault Crisis

and Education Centre, and a pokernight and silent auction forHadassahs neo -natal incubators forIsrael. Close to home, HomeWrecking is now making their DesignCentre available to put a new spinon venues for charitable events. Ifany sales should occur during thesegatherings, the company donates 10per cent of all revenues.

If you should find yourself anywherenear Stamford, theres an open invita-

tion to come visit. If that s impossiblein the near future, get acquainted ontheir truly intriguing website,www.unitedhousewrecking.com. L ookparticularly at Meet the F amily.Youll see Ross, Mario and Andy, plustheir incredible, dedicated staff , eachwith her or his own interesting stories.United House W recking...furnishDIFFERENT!

SLEEP COUNTRY USA

The entrepreneurial spirit was and isjust as strong on the west coast.Seattle, W ashington, is theNorthwests major sea port, the scenicgateway to trade with Asia, and only110 miles south of V ancouver,Canada. Seattle was founded in1853, and experienced the boom andbust of the lumber industry , theKlondike Gold R ush, and the ship-

building surge that reached its peak inWorld War I. Jim Hendrix and grungemade the Seattle scene and, in recentyears, Boeing, many technology firms,Amazon.com, Starbuck s, and UPS ,amongst many others, settled inSeattle. Interestingly , the city claimsthe highest percentage of universitygraduates in the U.S.

Undoubtedly influenced by thismulti-faceted corporate efferves-cence, Sunny K obe Cook and Bob

Cook founded Sleep Country USA twodecades ago. They opened with eightstores and 25 employees. This year ,Sleep Country marks its 20th anniver-sary with an amazing 75 stores and ateam of 350 employees. The num-ber one mattress store in the P acificNorthwest spans the region, northfrom Bellingham, Washington, to thesouthern part of Oregon in Eugene.

In the fall of 2010, the company ssteadfast commitment to employeesatisfaction led to the commendableimplementation of its Employee StockOwnership Plan, becoming one of thevery few employee-owned companiesin the nation.

Beginning with the forward-thinkingCooks, Sleep Country has operatedunder various ownership structures.The Cooks sold to a venture capital

firm, afterwards to a corporation, thento a single owner who sold a portionof the firm back to its employeesthrough the ESOP. During these vari-ous ownership structures, our compa-ny experienced the two most commonmanagement styles, said CEO DaleCarlsen, bottom-up, meaningemployees up to the management

Having this understanding

or eureka moment

demonstrated the

importance of the

company being run from

the bottom up with the

employees playing an

integral role in the

strategy and decision

making process.

- Dale Carlsen, Sleep Country USA


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Sleep Country USAinventories top quality,brand name mattressesas well as premiumadjustable beds, futonsand wood and metalaccent beds.

Pictures of: CEO Dale Carlsen; theTreehouse where volunteers helpedmore than 20,000 foster children lastyear; and the recent Teddy BearPatrol charity drive.

team and top-down, when employeesreceived orders from executives with-out consideration for their input andinterest.

During periods of top -down man-agement, team morale suffered. W efound that the people we hired to selland deliver our product, connect withour customers and be responsible forsales success, had become too farremoved from the corporate decisionmaking process. Having this under-standing or eureka moment demon-strated the importance of the compa-ny being run from the bottom up withthe employees playing an integral rolein the strategy and decision makingprocess.

Complementary to our eurekamoment, we recognized the influenceour employees had on the overall suc-cess of our business. To further incen-tivize employee feedback, participa-tion and input, we determined thatcreating an opportunity for employee

ownership in the company was thenext step. Undergoing the rigorousprocess of setting up an ESOP , wetransferred 25 per cent of the compa-ny ownership to the employees inSeptember of 2010.

Accompanying this transfer , weincreased our employee engagement,creating new opportunities to interactwith our team and to a large extent,establishing a demand for employee

input as the new owners of our com-pany. This included annual retreatswith the strategic leadership team,annual roundtables in each marketwhere all employees are present,deep-dive brainstorm sessions, flashpolls, checkpoints during the year ,

and a reiteration of our open doorpolicy. Creating an ESOP cements ourcommitment to our employees toremain a bottom-up company andaffirms to them that their ideas andinput are so important to us that wevemade them an owner.

We are very proud of our history offulfilling a need for quality sleep prod-ucts in a growing market and success-fully engaging the community . Weve


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created a brand that has become ahousehold name with a jingle thatnearly everyone can recite. ( Whybuy a mattress anywhere else!)

Sleep Country USA inventories topquality, brand name mattresses fromSerta, Sealy , P osturepedic, SimmonsBeautyrest, Stearns & F oster andTempur P edic, as well as premiumadjustable beds, futons and wood andmetal accent beds. The companyemphasizes customer service and sat-isfaction with a Money Back ComfortGuarantee and F ree Same Day R edCarpet Delivery Service.

Part of the corporate philosophy

involves the obligation to properlyeducate the consumer . SleepCountrys website is an excellent tool,www.sleepcountry.com. The LearningCentre offers answers to questions

about construction and terminology. Itexpands the knowledge opportunity toinclude Sweet Dreams P odcasts andArticles, like Mattress Myths, Big

Kid Bed (just when your toddlershould graduate from her/his crib tothe next level!) and What to expectfrom your new mattress. They evenenlighten you about mattress sizes,back pain, the dreaded snoring part-ner and bed bugs!

The 20th anniversary marks 2decades of giving back to SleepCountrys various communities. In theearly years, gently used mattresseswere donated to St. Vincent DeP aul.

We created the new programme tofocus our charitable efforts on onevery important social cause, fosterchildren. By doing this we significantlyincreased the impact of our charitable

efforts, providing organizations thatsupport foster children and foster fam-ilies in our region with donations ofimportant items like clothing , coats,

shoes, school supplies, pajamas andholiday gifts, as well as tickets to funevents and theme parks, and morethan $500,000 in cash for summercamps, music lessons, tutoring andcounseling.

For our community , the SleepCountry Foster Kids programme hasbecome the voice for the more than20,000 foster children in W ashingtonand Oregon, telling their story andrelaying their needs. The programme

has been instrumental in transforminghow our community thinks about fos-ter children and provides them with away they can help these kids, positive-ly impacting their lives and giving


The website expands the knowledge opportunity toinclude Sweet Dreams Podcasts and Articles, likeMattress Myths, Big Kid Bed and What toexpect from your new mattress.

Finding GREAT PEOPLEIs What We Do!Furniture Teamis your top talent recruiting solution! From mid-level managers totop executives in retail, wholesale, and distribution--let us find the best candidatesfor you. We will access, qualify, interview, evaluate, and secure potential candi-

dates to help you get the best team possible.

We work with home furnishings companies nationwide and abroad.

We not onlyfindgreat candidates for you, we can also assist in the offer/negotiation and transition processes.

We have worked with over 200 client companies in 10 years.

Member, NFHA and WHFA.

Furniture Team Management Recruiting, Inc.Call Pete Tomeck today! 717-361-7858 www.furniture-team.com [email protected]"I put my name on the line with each placement!--Pete Tomeck, President - Member, SHRM


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New Northgate Seattle, WA (left),and Olympia, WA stores.

them a chance for a better future.

Janis Avery, of Treehouse for Kids, anon-profit organization dedicated tofoster children advocacy, said, SleepCountry USA has become incrediblyimportant to the cause, creating along-term marketing commitment toraise awareness about the needs offoster children and urge action. Thecompanys approach and emphasison positive, action-oriented messages

is inviting and attainable for everyone,making the general public feel theycan really make a difference. F or us,the Sleep Country F oster Kids pro-gramme has translated into growth forour organization and has a powerfulimpact on the lives of these childrenand their families.

For customers, it offers another wayfor them to engage with the SleepCountry brand and the opportunity todo so more often than they might dur-

ing the mattress purchase lifecycle. Its

also made easy for them to give backto the community through the pro-gram by hosting their own drive anddonating collected items to a store ormaking a donation online.

Said Carlsen, The Sleep CountryFoster Kids program has receivedacclaim for its results, including theNational Daily P oint of LightPresidential Award and regionalrecognition. Creating this award-win-

ning program and experiencing itsprofound effect on individuals and thecause as a whole has also been ben-eficial to our team, fostering a senseof team building and communityinvolvement.

With an eye toward the next 20years, he said, Were excited for thefuture of Sleep Country USA, as weplan to expand throughout the PacificNorthwest and other regions. As anemployee-owned company , we arefocused on employee satisfaction,providing customers with the bestselection of innovative sleep productscurrently on the market, offeringremarkable customer service, andincreasing our impact on the commu-nity through our F oster Kids pro-gram.

NEXT ISSUEBELFORT FURNITURE

Another firm with its own unique

approach to the community in which it

flourishes is Belfort Furniture of Dulles,Virginia, founded in 1982. Belfort sCEO, Michael Huber, will recount itsabsorbing history and discuss out-reach involving the American CancerSociety, L oudoun Abused W omensShelter, Embry R ucker Shelter, ECHO(Every Citizen Has Opportunities),YMCA L oudon County , Be Green,Education F oundations and City ofHope, Washington, DC.. P art 10 ofRetail Furniture Stories. Dont miss it.

Do you have a story to tell about animportant home furnishings retailoperations? If so, FURNITUREWORLD Magazine would like to doc-ument your history and your success.For more information, [email protected] or call R ussellBienenstock at 914-235-3095.

For our community, the

Sleep Country Foster Kidsprogramme has become

the voice for the more than

20,000 foster children in

Washington and Oregon,

telling their story and

relaying their needs.

- Dale Carlsen, Sleep Country USA

ARE YOU A RETAILERWITH A GREAT HISTORY?

WANTS TO TELL

YOUR STORY

Our editors are looking for more

furniture retail histories to feature

in future issues. Call 914-235-3095

or email [email protected].


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MEDIA MIX MAGICPart 1: Create a killer mix of media thatwill leverage maximum sales and profits.

by Larry Mullins

Advertising Adviso

When it comes tomedia, following theleader is a certainroad to mediocrity .

Some media are grossly overrat-ed by the experts. Other mediathat could help you may beunderrated or discarded alto-gether. If you track this series ofarticles, I will show you how touse your ad dollars to create amedia mix that works to increasetraffic and cash flow.

First of all, understand that amedium delivers a message.Thats all it does. There are nogood media and bad media.There are situation-appropriatemedia, and media that are situa-tion-inappropriate. When some-one suggests the latest socialmedia fad will solve all yourmedia problems, don t believethem. When someone tells youthat all you need is radio, or that

ROP newspaper doesn t work,or direct mail never works, run,dont walk for the exit. F or maxi-mum results in your market, thereare only strong , effective, evi-dence-based messages deliveredin a timely , appropriate way .These messages may be deliv-ered by a single medium, or acombination of several media.This does not only apply to inde-pendent home furnishings stores;

it also applies to franchise storesthat have some control over theirmedia mix.

MEDIAS BIG SIX

There are six major media cat-egories we will consider in thisseries. Each has its pluses andminuses for the home furnishingsmarketer:

Newspaper preprinted inserts.

ROP newspaper advertising.

Direct Mail.

Radio.

Television.

Websites and Internet.

People media.

All other things being equal,how well each of these mediumsperforms depend upon one fac-tor: the power of the media mixto deliver graphics and/or thespoken or written word to articu-late your Unique SellingProposition (USP) in such a waythat it answers the prospects pri-mary concern: WHATS IN IT

FOR ME?Why is this important?

Because, a prospective customerwill want to deal with you only tothe extent that they see a uniqueadvantage in it for themselves.The better you are at answeringthe WIIFM? question (comparedto your competition), the moremarket share and business youwill get. If you and your competi-tors are equally weak in your pre-

sentations, then the playing fieldis leveled. If you are brilliant inarticulating your USP regardless

of the medium, however, you willleave competition fumbling in thedust.

FUSION FACTORAND YOUR USP

In a print ad, the power beginswith the headline. A well-fash-ioned, benefit-rich headline canout-perform a weak headline bya factor of ten or more. If youcan legitimately SA Y somethingyour competitor cannot say , andyou neglect to do it, your com-petitor will rejoice. Moreover , ifyou can SHOW something thatyour competitor cannot show ,and you fail to do it, your com-petitor will rejoice even more. Butif you learn to leverage with theFusion F actor you will makeyour competition irrelevant. TheFusion F actor is one of thosepowerful principles of effective,evidence-based advertising that

has been generally lost on mod-ern ad people. Y et, when Iexplain it you will see that it is soself-evident that it is astonishingthat very few ad people areaware of it.

Home furnishings preprintsand flyers are almost exclusivelyprice-item presentations. Theproblem with price -item offershas always been the same. If alady is shopping for a living room

group and she sees a hot priceand a beautiful full color illustra-tion in a flyer, but she doesnt like


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the design, you have lost her . So thebig boxes attempt to flood the marketwith as many different designs andoffers as they can. In most cases theyuse label headlines and weak copy .They may brag about a huge selec-tion, but all they illustrate is vignettes

of groups, or single items. The littlestore down the street can rejoicebecause he or she can also showmanufacturer illustrations and doprice-item offers in his ads just aseffectively.

The big box could show dramaticconcept shots of their showrooms, butthey do not. There are too many dif-ferent showrooms involved and thecopycat strategy of inundating the

market with price item offers seems towork. And herein lies a huge opportu-nity for the smart independent.

What do women want? Selectionfor sure. So a headline that states:30,000 square feet of famous brandbargains that is illustrated with a dra-matic showroom shot can be uniqueand very effective. There is an instantfusion between the headline and theillustration. Big box preprints and fly-ers are prepared in great haste by

technicians who are good at what

they do but who have no concept ofevidence-based, effective print pre-sentations. W ith all the talk aboutbranding, very little concept is pre-sented in big box flyers. So take homethis principle: Show things and saythings your competitors cannot inevery medium you use. It may be truethat TV is potentially most effectiveand dramatic in establishing a brand,but it is also cost -prohibitive to domi-

nate the fragmented TV market. Allmedia should reflect your brand, notjust TV. Walt Disney originally estab-lished the Disneyworld brand almosttotally by means of People Media, themost powerful, most underrated, andleast understood advertising forceever discovered. More on this in laterarticles.

Newspaper Preprints. This has beenthe favorite medium for home furnish-ings for some time, and for good rea-

son. A full color preprint brings furni-


Myth About Print MediaMYTH: People do not read longcopy anymore. Perhaps not. Butprospects will. And prospects willread a lot of it, provided it is good,

service-rendering copy.

The Lifelock page at left ran in theWall Street Journal recently. (Theopen rate for a page without color is

$209,114).The headline is brilliant: By the time

you finish reading this, 79 peoplecould have their identities stolen and

youll know how to avoid being oneof them. A great headline canout-produce a weak one by a factorof ten or more. So what has this gotto do with selling home furnishings?See below how a brilliant entrepre-neur adapted this one to a mattresspromotion.

Gina did two months

of remarkablerecord-breakingbusiness while she gother store ready for aGrand Re-Opening Saleand the resumption ofregular business.


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ture to vivid l ife. Unlike TV , theprospect can linger over the offers.The reproduction is much better thanROP newspaper advertising . Thedownside for independents is the cost,and the growing clutter (especially onspecific days) in many markets.Unfortunately, most independents whoare able to produce their ownpreprints tend to copy the big boxes.They use label headlines, price -itemoffers, neglect articulating benefits,

and fail to brand with personal mes-sages, creative graphics, illustrations,and USP factors that their competitorscannot answer. Social media is fine,but why confine it to the internet? Whyso few personal messages and fasci-nating home furnishings stories in

preprints? It seems as though the addepartments and merchandisersbelieve that all women care about isprice, price, price! These failures toleverage the power of preprints arealso in evidence in ROP advertising.

Newspaper ROP Advertising . I amgoing to use the rest of this article toaddress newspaper advertisingbecause it often gets a bad rap. Oneof the myths I have heard is that no

one reads the newspaper anymore. Itis true that the readership of newspa-pers has drastically declined, espe-cially among the young . However, alarge segment of the older populationstill reads the paper. And, it should benoted that the over 40 group controls

most of the buying power . They arealso most likely to buy better homefurnishings. ROP newspaper ads arealso very effective in augmentingpreprints. A preprint insertion beginsto run out of gas after a week or so,and it is a proven fact that well- craft-ed final days ROP ads will turbo -charge final results. Some savvy bigbox entrepreneurs do use ROP in thismanner, independent of their corpo-rate programs. Their ROP efforts also

use strategies that augment theirhometown status and appeal.

There is also another very importantvalue in ROP Newspaper. Immediacy.

ROP newspaper can do somethingthat no other mass media can achieve

MEDIA MIX MAGIC

Dont panic! See how onestore manager quicklybooked a page newspaperad for the weekend, just afew days away. She thentook digital photographs ofthe situation in her store.She bought radio time.By the time the weekendarrived, she had a powerfulnewspaper ad in the paper,

strong radio commercials,special sale tags, signsfor her windows and abarebones strategy forthe next eight weeks.

What Do You Do When the WaterPipes Burst and Flood the Showroom

38 FURNITURE WORLD


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as cost -effectively: It can turn on adime. The only exception is radio. Infact, a combination of radio and ROPcan convert a catastrophe into a vic-tory.

A DISASTER TURNS INTORECORD SALES MONTHS

Last February, the manager of a bigbox store in a western state was awak-ened by a phone call very early onemorning. (W e will call her Gina.)

Disaster had struck her store. Here isthe way she described it: I knew itwas forty below zero outside. But I didnot expect our sprinkler system to rup-ture! My jaw dropped when I sawwhat had happened to our beautifulstore. Nearly twenty -five percent ofour furniture suffered some degree ofwater damage. Special crews ofrestoration experts were soon at workdrying and refreshing the merchan-dise. But the showroom was in chaos,

furniture and mattress sets werestacked everywhere. I felt lost.

Many entrepreneurs are feeling lostthese days. It is tough out there. Beinglost in a situation such as Ginas (or ina deep recession) is almost like beinglost in the wilderness. Unfortunately ,most people who get lost in thewilderness give in to fear. They fail todo the one thing that could savethem. They fail to think. They arefrozen in the headlights. There is an

old adage by the famous psychiatrist,Alfred Adler: Trust only movement.Gina thought things through and shebegan to move. F irst she got autho-rization from the local owner of thefranchise store to take action.

Next, Gina ordered a full pagenewspaper ad for the weekend, just afew days away. (See exhibit on page38). Then, in a flurry of activity , shetook digital photographs of the situa-tion in her store. She bought radiotime. By the time the weekend arrived,thanks to the internet, she had a pow-

erful newspaper ad in the paper ,strong radio commercials, specialsale tags, signs for her windows and abarebones strategy for the next eightweeks. There followed three full weeksof P re-Renovation EmergencyBlowout, and then a R enovationand Ultimate Selloff . Gina did twomonths of remarkable record-break-ing business while she got her storeready for a Grand R e-Opening Saleand the resumption of regular busi-

ness.I know of no other media that could

have gotten Gina s story out to thepublic as quickly and as cost -effec-tively as ROP newspaper and radio.The corporate management of thisparticular big box chain is wiseenough to allow franchise stores thelatitude to outsource advertising cre-ation when time frames make it nec-essary. This leads to another weather-related story that took place a couple

of weeks later, and a thousand milesaway. This event took place in a ruralarea of Minnesota.

PRESIDENTS WEEKENDSNOWED OUT IN MN!

It is virtually unheard of forMinnesotans to be stopped cold (liter-ally) by the weather . But it happenedlast February. Coincidentally, this storyis about another big box store, onebelonging to a different chain. On

Presidents Weekend, record snowfalland high winds impacted the state.The Minnesota Department ofTransportation recommended no trav-el for the southern half of the statedue to high winds and heavy snow .700 flights were canceled. 323 auto-mobile crashes were reportedstatewide from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.High winds and freezing mix madesome areas impassable.

Of course, the big sales volume the

y hoped for on P residents weekendnever happened. What to do? The

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42/92

local owner of a top -producing bigbox franchise in a rural area of south-ern Minnesota acted quickly . By thenext weekend (thanks to the internetand F edEx) a Snow EmergencyPresidents Day Extension ad was cre-ated in the newspaper , plus support-ing radio, point of purchase tags,signs etc. (See exhibit.) This brilliantlymanaged franchise store regularlyuses newspaper and radio on a locallevel to augment the corporate effortsof the chain. In a rural market area ofless than 20,000 people, the fran-chise regularly produces $400,000 ormore a month in profitable business.

Aside from the immediacy factorand the proven ability to leverage thelongevity and local appeal of apreprint, there is yet another com-pelling reason that newspaper ROPshould be part of your advertising mix,

whether you are a franchise or anindependent home furnishings store.Preprinted corporate flyers lackwarmth, personality, and the ability toconnect on a local level. A localnewspaper can use illustrations of thehometown store and its personnel,and offer limited stock door-busteritems to augment corporate merchan-dising. Too often, there is an enor-mous amount of local store innova-tion and creativity that is stifled by

restrictive corporate policies. A com-mon complaint I hear from franchisestores is this: Unless the idea origi-nates in corporate, they quickly dis-card it. Control is important, butthere is an alternative to crushinglocal initiatives and innovations.

The next great leap forward will bethe big box corporation that scans itsfranchisees with the goal of findingthe top producers and seeing whatmakes them tick. They will study these

successful stores to make sure the

owners respect and understand thecorporate brand and that their adver-tising efforts are in compliance withFTC regulations. These top producingstores would become the prototypemodels for the other stores. T op per-formers are the creators, the innova-tors, the leaders, and the best of thebest. My mythical home furnishingsbig box corporation of the future willuse these ideal models to create aHome F urnishings University , theequivalent of McDonalds famousHamburger University.

This HF training center would con-duct regular classes for other fran-chise locations. That big box wouldvault ahead and be very hard tocatch. This is the technique of leaderstraining leaders that is used by themilitary. And this is why the late P eterDrucker, the father of modern man-

agement, declared that the U .S. mili-tary was the best in the world at train-ing leaders. Not the Harvard BusinessSchool, or IBM, or P roctor andGamble. The U.S. Military.

In P art Two of this series, we willexamine Direct Mail, R adio,Television, Websites and the Internet.Then we will show how to create akiller mix of media that will leveragemaximum sales and profits.

Larry Mullins is a contributing editorfor F urniture W orld and has 30+

years experience on the front lines offurniture marketing . L arrys main-

stream executive experience, his cre-ative work with promotion specialists,and mastery of advertising principleshave established him as one of theforemost experts in furniture market-ing. His turnkey High-Impact programsproduce legendary results for every-thing from cash raising events to prof-

itable exit strategies. His newest books

are, The Metavalues Breakthrough

and Immature P eople With PowerHow to Handle Them , have recentlybeen released by Morgan JamesPublishing. Joe Girard, The WorldsGreatest Salesman said of this book:If I had read L arry Mullins bookwhen I started out, I would havereached the top much sooner than Idid. L arry is founder and CEO ofUltraSales, Inc. and can be reacheddirectly at 904.794.9212. See morearticles by L arry at www .furninfo.com

or www.ultrasales.com.40 FURNITURE WORLD September/October 2011

ROP Newspaper and Radio combined tosave Presidents Weekend for a ChainFranchise store in rural Minnesota. Readall about it in this article.

Most independents fail to brand with personal messages,creative graphics, illustrations, and USP factors that theircompetitors cannot answer.


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Bermex Division of BDM + Inc.





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Dreaming Of Better

BEDDING SALES?Part 3: Some Best and Worst practices.by Russell Bienenstock

Now, blessings light on him that firstinvented sleep! It covers a man allover, thoughts and all, like a cloak. Itis meat for the hungry , drink for the

thirsty, heat for the cold, and cold forthe hot. It is the current coin that pur-chases all the pleasures of the world at

small expense, and the balance thatplaces the king and the shepherd, thefool and the wise man at an equallevel. - Miguel de Cervantes, DonQuixote, 1605

I

f you ve just started to follow thisSelling Better Bedding series andwant too review past installments,

you can find a discussion of chang-ing consumer bedding demographicsin the March/April issue of F urnitureWorld Magazine. The July/August issueincluded ideas for selling with a plan,advertising, greeting customers andasking the right initial questions. Linksto these articles can be requested bysending an email [email protected] or by visiting themarketing management article archiveon the furninfo.com website.

This time, F urniture W orld asked

industry experts to tell us some of thebest and worst practices they see atretail, and to provide tips to improveperformance.

WORST PRACTICE

Poor execution of corporatepolicies at the store level.

A primary area that furniture guysand mattress guys dont do a good jobwith, advises Gerry Borreggine,Therapedic Internationals P resident &CEO, is to create a comfort level forthe consumer. There are a variety ofthings that can prevent that from hap-pening. It can be the look of the store,

the smell of a store, the location of thestore, the cologne of a salesperson,music playing too loud or too low in thebackground that s unintelligible oroffensive.

Its the job of store management toestablish the parameters and policiesfor a store manager to follow . You canhave the greatest policy in the world...you can determine that smooth jazz isthe best thing for consumers to hearwhen they walk into your store, but if the

policy is ignored and the manager has

Rush Limbaugh playing, that can kill thesale for a customer who has a more lib-eral political outlook. The key is gettingconsistent implementation at the store

level. Its great to have a policy for nosmoking, but if in reality the store man-ager and areas of the store reek ofsmoke, nothing has been accom-plished. Its one thing to have a policyand another for good management tomake sure that policy is executed.

WORST PRACTICE

Inconsistent look and poor

sales floor organization.

Many people start making their buy-ing decision as soon as they walkthrough the front door, so its importantto stand back and take a look at thestore and the bedding display as awhole.

One of the first things consumersnotice upon entering a store is consis-tency of look, says Stefano Marescotti,Chain Development Manager forMagniflex. I am not speaking of thekind of consistency where you have thesame mattress in soft, medium soft and

firm models, but of look that provides

you can determine that smooth jazz is the bestthing for consumers to hear when they walk intoyour store, but if the policy is ignored and themanager has Rush Limbaugh playing, that can

kill the sale. - Gerry Borreggine, Therapedic International

Better Bedding Sales


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consistency of image for the store as awhole. This was a principle weemployed when I was involved in the

creation of the Sleepy s F ifth Avenueflagship store, that can be applied toany bedding retailer.

And beyond the initial look, the storeneeds to be merchandised in a waythat isn t confusing to customers orsalespeople.

The first key of merchandising is tohave the product line-up make sense toyour salespeople, adds Ira F ishman,Executive Vice P resident, NationalSales for Anatomic Global. If it does-

nt make sense to your salespeople andthey are running from one end of themattress store to the other end just toshow the next model up, that doesn tmake a lot of sense. The merchandis-ing should be geared to not movingaround all that much for customers

looking at specific types of products.And that can be organized by manu-facturer.

Having the highest price merchan-dise in the front and the lowest pricedmerchandise in the back is about asimple a plan as you can probably puttogether, and quite a few retailers justfollow that plan. This strategy can givecustomers sticker shock as soon as theywalk through the front door and seethree sets of four thousand dollar bed-ding, so it s useful to mix in differentkinds of products to avoid scaring offcustomers. And the last thing a store

should do is have a customer lookingfor a meat and potato price point, say$999 for a queen, and then bringthem to the back of the store and showit to them in a twin. I don t think that svery good merchandising.

Owen Shoemaker, Sr. Vice President

September/October 2011 FURNITURE WORLD 49

On the first bed you

can make a big mistakein price. On the secondbed you can make amistake on the feel,but not on the price.On the third bed you

show you need to getboth the feel and theprice right. - Stefano Marescotti, Magniflex


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The only time you might want tocrowd them is if they are doing theold hand test and they wonteven sit down on a mattress.- Ira Fishman, Anatomic Global

of P roduct & Marketing Developmentat Comfort Solutions, Inc., observesthat, most retailers are taking chargeof the retail environment so that they

can have uniformity in their colors andcoordinated imagery. They want every-thing to look nice and crisp and youcant blame them. There are also storesout there where the boxsprings are stillin plastic, signs are everywhere and itsa mass of confusion. It s important tokeep in mind that customers want a bitof privacy, they want everything freshand clean, they want an element ofclarity in messaging around a productand they want to be able to relax andfigure this thing out, because there isreally a lot that the consumer doesn tunderstand when they come in to theretail environment. So it s very impor-tant to have point of sale organizedand laid out well. P ricing on mattressproducts is big and bold sometimes.Its part of the retail display. And retail-ers should be aware that when theirdisplays are all about the price, theyare probably addressing what con-sumers think is most important -- howmuch money they can save, what s the

best bargain, and what s the bestvalue. But on the other hand, findingthe right fit should be a major factoremphasized by the retailer in choosingthe right mattress product.

WORST PRACTICE

Present too many options.

Whenever I begin the training ofnew salespeople who never sold bed-ding before, notes P eter Marino,author of the Golden Rules of Selling

Bedding. I ask them to take a goodhard look at the sleepsets on the floor .Then I say these words: Take a goodlook at all these mattresses and memo-

rize that look because that s the waytheyre always going to look to all yourcustomers who see them for the firsttime. I go on to explain to thesebeginners that in a short time thosesame mattresses will no longer look thesame to them. Of course they won t,because of all the features they ll belearning about each one. On the otherhand, we all know that customers dontshop long enough to familiarize them-selves with our mattresses as well as wedo. To our customers, our mattressesmust at times appear like so manygeese on a pond or lake.

A big mistake that many mattressretailers make is that their product pre-sentations are too complicated, com-ments Magniflexs Stefano Marescotti.If the retail salesperson provides toomuch information and shows too manymodels, it is retail suicide. Y ou canmake a mistake on the first bed but ifby the second bed you don t haveenough information to focus on theright bed for your customer , then youwill end up being confusing . On thefirst bed you can make a big mistake inprice. On the second bed you canmake a mistake on the feel, but not onthe price. On the third bed you showyou need to get both the feel and theprice right. If you go to a fourth bed,much of the time, you ve already lostyour customer because you confusedthem.

The key is getting good informa-

tion, he continues. Ask them, whatare you sleeping on right now? Y oucan show them four beds of course, buttry to get the interest and try to get

more information on what the personneeds. If your customer is looking for abed for her summer home in the coun-try used fifteen days a year, she is prob-ably not going to be willing to spendthe same amount of money as wouldbe spent for everyday use.

Play doctor. Say, this is for yourhealth and well being . Come with me,I have another solution. F eel this. Wealways try to make them feel the mate-rials that go into our mattresses. Once

you do this... customers get a strongerattachment to the product. Then youcan ask, what are you sleeping onnow? How much did you spend the lasttime you bought a bed? How manyyears ago did you buy it? By the timeyou ask the second or third question,the customer should already be on thefirst bed. And from that point on thewhole goal is to see how well the prod-uct they are laying on will make themfeel.

We have over 60 beds on the floorin most of our stores, Cory L udens,Director of Learning and Developmentfor retailer Mattress F irm told us. Andvery few customers want to look at all60. We believe that they should get tosee the top and bottom and a fewproducts in between. So we believe thatcustomers should start at the top andwork down because of the finite num-ber of beds that people want to look atand also because the sales associatedoesnt necessarily know what that



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finite number is. It may be just threebeds. They get tired and don t want tosee any more. And if you start at thebottom and their limit is three beds theywont get to see the better beds.

There is some truth to the idea thatshowing too many sets of bedding canbe confusing , confirms Ira F ishman,

but there is a difference between hav-ing a customer bounce from bed tobed without any instruction or reason,and approaching it in a somewhat sci-entific manner. The reality of it is thatthe salesperson should continue to

show mattresses until they find one thatthe customer really likes. And they dontalways get that right off the bat. If youstart with a rock hard innerspring andthe person hardly gets down beforethey jump up, that doesn t even countas mattress being tried. Really what youare doing is use the process of elimina-

tion to narrow down their choices, butthe real process of choosing a mattressbegins after the initial comfort testing .And some comfort tests are not neces-sarily for firm and plush. Some comforttests are to determine whether cus-

tomers might like a specialty or aninnerspring product. And that might notnecessarily be just two sets of bedding .You might be on three or four sets of

bedding for a comfort test.There is no magic number regard-

ing how many sets of bedding to showthem, though it is important to narrowit down relatively quickly. When youveestablished a comfort level you mightsay to them, you can go up, you cango down, you can go sideways.Mention, this one felt the best to you.Do you want to go up, down or seesomething altogether different? Theymight reply by asking, Whats the price

of this one? If they want to go downfrom there, ask them what would be acomfortable price range. That s theway you can find a price range as wellas a comfort range. It s important notto do it in a nasty way or make them


They get tired and dont want to see any more.And if you start at the bottom and their limit is threebeds they wont get to see the better beds.

-Cory Ludens, Mattress Firm


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Retailers should be aware that when their displays areall about the price, they are probably addressing what

consumers think is most important -- how much moneythey can save. -Owen Shoemaker, Comfort Solutions

feel uncomfortable. No matter whatnumber they tell you, you should behappy to show them something in thatprice range. Even if you don t think itsvery good, you have to remain positive,because just because you show them alower priced set, it doesn t mean thatthey wont ultimately decide to buy the

higher priced sets they previously com-fort tested.

Ultimately it s the salesperson sresponsibility to know their craft, con-cludes F ishman. Every one of thosemattresses on your floor should have apurpose for being there. And at somepoint in time each one of them shouldbe sold to someone. There is no suchthing as one mattress for everyone. Andif a salesperson sells one set 80% of thetime, they are not using all the tools attheir disposal. So really knowing yourproduct line, knowing the purpose foreach mattress being on the floor iskey.

BEST PRACTICE

Have a strategy for movingbetween bedding categories.

If a customer walks in asking foryour $399 or $699 advertised inner-spring special, notes Stefano

Marescotti, the retail salesperson cantransition the sale by explaining thatalthough they might be sleeping in thesame coil technology as their grandfa-ther, there has been lots of evolution insleep technology. I tell them, L et meshow you the same feel with new tech-nology. Or , after the customer hastried the first bed you ve brought themto, they might bring up price, and youcan give them a ballpark... then askthem to try this other technology andtell them a bit about it.

WORST PRACTICE

Ineffective compensation strategy.

One way that bedding retailers andfull service furniture stores shoot them-selves in the foot, Furniture World wastold by Earl Kluft of luxury mattressmanufacturer E .S. Kluft, is that they

dont compensate the sales personproperly. There is a relationshipbetween how much time salespeoplespend with a customer and how manydollars they make on a sale. Y ou defi-nitely have to tell a story to sell a highend mattress, so that customers under-stand the importance of a good nightssleep. Go through the features andbenefits so that they understand that amattress is one of the most importantobjects they have in their house. Unless

your salespeople are prepared to takethe time to do it, and are compensatedfor their time, then they will probablysell one of the cheaper ones and gettheir next UP.

WORST PRACTICE

Over-emphasize warranties.

Warranty can be a slippery slope forthe retail salesperson at the point ofsale, Gerry Borreggine of TherapedicInternational explained to F urniture

World. For one, research shows thatit is a low -level priority for the con-sumer. Two, many product warrantiesexceed the useful life of the bedding .And finally, it undermines future salesfor the stores. P atti Ark, Director ,Customer R elations for R everie, con-curs. She says that one of the worstpractices is to over -sell warranties.Retailers often tell customers that, abed is better because the warranty islonger or that they are going to lovethis bed because it has a long warran-

ty. But that can sabotage repeat saleslater on if a mattress sold that waydoesnt perform.

Selling warranties without concen-trating

Documents

Furniture World - September-October 2011-Slicer