The main theme of this month, as always, is a summation of the recent High Point market. For me the overwhelming amount of congratulations and good wishes on my “Icon of the Industry” lifetime award was heartwarming. However, please note I do not feel the necessity of behaving in my presence as one of my smart-alecky lady buyers did. Every time she would leave the bay we were in, she made a deep bow as with the King of Siam and backed out of the room muttering something about an Icon!!!
We all had lots of fun and I was humbled by the friendship you all displayed!
As I told one and all, the thanks goes to my retail partners and the members of our team: Mike, Jay, Chuck and all the other who shared our representation through the years. Of course, the gentlemen and women from the many factories we represented, have been indispensable to my success. The synergy of all these parts made the job something that was pleasant and enriching. Even the many challenges we faced in these 60 years seem trivial compared to the fulfillment I have felt.
Moving on from this highlight for me, let’s talk about some other market observations. In reflecting on changes in our business, the emergence of a strong and talented group of youthful women and men in the business stands out. Particularly in buying and merchandise area, the women we deal with are shedding new perspectives on all aspects.
In both traditional retailers and especially in the internet teams these young ladies are giving a whole new dimension to the direction of styles, fabrics, items and distribution channels. Not to denigrate. Young men like my grandson Jay who has helped us envision new horizons for our services, I love the clarity and expertise that our female buyers bring to their jobs. I would love to name many of these superstars but as I said in my remarks at the Gala “if you can’t name everyone, don’t name anyone”. As times go by the young men and women will lead the home furnishings industry to new frontiers both on and off the internet.
I have one last observation on this years Southern Furniture Market. Major furniture buying teams are generally spending less time at the show and seeing fewer vendors. There are the stalwarts who see literally hundreds of spaces with their team. More and more with the partnerships that are formed because of delivery and distribution most buyers hone in on their key factories. The quality time we have with our retail and internet partners gets narrower but more productive. We thank you for all support.

I came across a very interesting quote from Niraj Shah, Co-founder and CEO of Wayfair. The article in Retail Dive was directed towards the company’s performance last quarter. Wayfair had a strong revenue quarter and one reason for their increased revenue was “Way Day”—a 24 hour event offering blockbuster deals and Black Fridayesque pricing.
Here’s the interesting quote from Shah:
“Retail holidays have traditionally been anchored to public holidays,” Shah said, noting that before e-commerce, people needed days off to shop. “With e-commerce … the importance of public holidays in retail have been reduced. [We] took advantage of a time of year when decorating homes is top of mind.”*
In past columns, we have talked about the ecommerce convenient factor. Being able to avoid crowds, wide selection of products to select from and shipped straight to your door. One additional convenient factor—being able to shop on your own terms; namely your own time and any location.
Other examples of shopping holidays are Amazon started Prime Day three years ago. Alibaba features “Singles Day” which generated $25 billion dollars in 24 hours.
These are “holidays” with no religious or government recognition. Pure marketing strategy aimed at customer acquisition as well as building a moat around their customer base. There is no reason why Brick and Mortar retailers can’t build their own sales holiday or jump on the bandwagon of Prime Day and /or Way Day.

At the recent April High Point Market, Emmet received the ICON of the Industry Award. It was presented in front of a crowd of almost 700 people giving him a standing ovation and then he had to deliver a speech. His message was in tune with what reps and retailers are facing in the industry today with changes from all directions.
Because of his more than 60 years and 200 markets, he was able to relay to the audience that the more things change, the more they stay the same. There’s a need for a good rep, a good brick and mortar store, and good relationships. He likened to furniture history when Levitz and Heilig Meyers were going to be the way of the future and put all reps and independent furniture retailers out of business. They are gone but the reps and brick and mortar retailers are still around. The Internet is just another channel of distribution not to be feared but to be embraced.
He of course is a role model in the relationship respect as all four of his sons and his wife of over 60 years made the trip to be there for the award ceremony. It is kind of eye opening in a way to see what an impact one can have over the course of a career in the same industry spanning more than 60 years.
Congratulations Emmet on this distinguished honor.

Recently I had the opportunity to be present on major retailer’s sales floor during their biggest event of the year. The event was Berkshire Hathaway stockholders meeting sales event at Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha. If you don’t know the back story, Warren Buffett holds the Berkshire Hathaway annual stockholder’s meeting at the Omaha Auditorium where people from all over the world flock to Omaha to hear pearls of investing wisdom as well as hang out with other shareholders and attend series of stockholder only events. Though it started small, it has grown to this year having 42,000 people in town for the meeting. In fact Warren Buffet is kind of a rock star in this environment with press and shareholders flocking in droves wherever he goes.
Two of Berkshire’s investments are retailers—Borsheim Jewelry and Nebraska Furniture Mart. Warren being the marketer he is, along with management of both these fine retailers, have turned the stockholders week into a major shopping opportunity to sell to shareholders who skew very affluent. All the information sent to stockholders all tout the deals. There are special displays at the auditorium where product is priced specially for stockholders. For example, Nebraska had stacks and stacks of BOSE wireless headphones that originally are priced at $149 that shareholders were not thinking twice about buying at $99.
So my first observation is the creation of a very believable sale. Much like Amazon now has Prime Day, Nebraska has developed this stockholders sale as their biggest sale of the year. They give believable savings to a customer who has the wherewithal to buy. In fact, many customers save their furniture needs and only purchase during this sale.
Reps are invited to come to the store over the weekend to help sell their products. Though some reps may view this as an inconvenience because they have to give up a weekend or it falls right after market, the truth of the matter is this is a wonderful incubator to determine what the ultimate consumer is looking for. You can see what customers are asking for that may not be on the floor, possibly identifying future product needs. In our case we identified several opportunities in the massage chair category and ultimately selling 65% of the high end chair versus the low end starters. It will help with future POP, training of sales associates, and even positioning of future lineup changes. It is great information to have when you are talking to a store full of customers who are ready, willing and able to buy (except the guy who had just bought a $5000 watch at Borsheims so he didn’t want to spend $5000 on a massage chair this year). It also is a great way to see how the sales staff works with the products, who’s good, who needs additional training, etc.
Another observation after several years of doing these events is the effort that goes in to making each year better. The booth at the auditorium was the best ever based on learnings they have had in previous years. In the early days all the sales associates had to write sku numbers down and go to kiosks to write orders. Now they have iPads and scan the barcodes to give customers a prices and a sales ticket right on the spot. The constant incremental improvement over the years in every retail store separates the winners and losers.
My final observation is its very hard to recreate a buying frenzy environment online. Brick and Mortar stores who have customers buying encourage those around them to buy. It is the ultimate social proof when a customer sees someone else physically buying the same or similar product. I tip my hat to all retailers because of the detail needed to be successful.

Stop me if you heard this one! I never get tired of gala store openings. Recently we attended the grand opening of Delta Shores California (Sacramento) of R.C. Willey. The ribbon cutting brought out many of the “who’s who” of Western factory and rep personnel, thus, Jay and I were accompanied by Robert VanFarowe, Vice President of Sales for Progressive.
As always, RCW had dazzling in-store displays of crisp new creation from the best factories in the U.S.A. It amazes me to see how many customers come out for these events that have no idea how intricate a process it is to merchandise and display that panorama of style and price points at prices that allow them to purchase for their home. While this event was fresh in my mind, a phone conversation with Tom Balisteri, of Colder’s in Milwaukee, allowed us to reflect on the importance of getting consumers through your store.
So much of the purchase, of items for a women’s home, is an emotion experience that needs to be satisfied. I contend that the internet purchase takes place as a rather business-like affair. Bringing consumers through the door to see the new soft grey finishes on case goods, to feel the luxurious fabrics of fine sofa, to delight in the comfort of a new leather motion sectional pre-sensual.
The internet does not offer price breaks that brick and mortar can but it does offer convenience and speed of transaction.
To counter those advantages, you MUST think outside the box!!! RC Willey was over-whelmed by patrons waiting an hour or more in the rain for some nominal “free” or bargain items.
Many of those bodies through the door may be mooches, but they also are going to remember the beautiful room settings and come back or tell a friend. What ever happened to the customer open house the days before an anniversary sale? Why are the door busters or limited quantity items at blow-out process not seen anymore? Is the only way to entice a customer 60% off a “whackout” price or 7 years no interest? What I’m driving at is the excitement folks feel in a beautiful store with America’s beautiful furniture and a friendly sales associate tactfully presenting it.
Cooking classes, guest speakers, “how to” sessions, welcome wagon parties, etc. The only rea-son for a visit to a brick and mortar operation is to FEEL good about experiencing your purchase.
Rose Blumkin always said she loved selling furniture to people because they were happy to be buying this to make their life and home better.
The internet will grow but so will regular furniture stores if they make people happy to be in your place of business.

Everyone reading this newsletter understands and appreciates ecommerce. Namely how retailers are able to create leverage with their digital presence and vendor relationships to generate sales with their customer base.
While this segment of the business will continue to grow (especially in the home furnishings niche) there are two emerging trends that will continue to develop and augment the customer, digital shopping experience. These trends are voice and visual shopping.
Many of you are familiar with (and possibly even own) a voice activated device. These devices include the Amazon Echo (“Alexa”), the Google Home and Apple HomePod. These de-vices are great for playing music, listening to the news, creating To Do lists and one more thing—making purchases.
A USA Today article reported that purchases through Alexa and Google Home (which is partnership with retailers such as WalMart, Target, Home Depot, and Costco to list a few) are projected to reach $2 billion this year. By the year 2022 that projection escalates to $40 billion as the technology continues to develop and the customers become increasingly more comfortable (and conditioned) to make purchases using voice.
While still processing this article and the ramifications that voice will have on the furniture buying process, I read an article in April’s Fast Company magazine featuring Pinterest. While Pinterest may have started as a digital scrapbook, it is much more powerful than just that— Pinterest recently revealed Pinterest Lens, which allows users (customers) to search for information and inspiration by pointing their phone cameras at an object around them.
It is easy to see why customers will continue to embrace these search tools. They are able to research and quickly find products they are looking for, at a price they are willing/able to pay and have the goods delivered quickly. This greatly reduces the total shopping time—including the preliminary re-search period through the final transaction.
As a retailer, it is important to know that these tools are currently available. It is also equally important to understand that the customer is becoming more comfortable and conditioned to use these features for all their shopping experiences.
These tools are top of the funnel tools—meaning if you have a sound marketing strategy, incorporating voice and image search along with other tactics, then you should be able to generate more traffic to your store (brick and mortar or digital store). To earn the conversion you still need to be able to win on price, outstanding customer service and all distinguishing characteristics that you offer versus every alternative the customer can choose.