november/december 2014—finding the right employee

Vol. 3 Issue 10

Hiring N

ovember/Decem

ber Issue N

OV /D

EC 2014

NOV/DEC 2014

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www.retailerNOWmag.com N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 1

IN S IDE

departmentsSales & Marketing24. Retailer Voice Buying the Be Back26. The Roller Coaster of Sales40. Ready, Set...Send!42. Sales to Plan. Do You Have One?

NOV / DEC 2014

in each issue04. NAHFA President’s Message06. Editor's Message10. Retailer2Retailer/Inspired Reading11. Roving Reporter High Point Market12. Connections The Furniture Bank Association19. Community Today Casual Market32. Product Focus Upholstery50. Government Relations Gearing up for 201552. The Scoop54. Industry Calendar56. The NOW List

Membership49. Increase Your Online Presence

features14. Looking to Hire?30. NGN Spotlight: Jordan Barrick38. High Point Recap

Home furnishings retailers know how difficult making the right hire can be, but it doesn’t have to be. Our experts offer advice on Page 14. Check out page 38 for the fresh finds we discovered in High Point. Jordan Barrick’s boss goes by another name: Father-in-law. His story begins on 0.

14.

Technology08. TechNOW47. Content Marketing

Operations28. Selling Out? Think Again

30.

38.

2 N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 www.retailerNOWmag.com

45 HIGH POINT MARKET OCTOBER18-22 , 2014

Contact Information:Mailing – Editorial and Advertising

500 Giuseppe Ct., Suite 6

Roseville CA 95678

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

thePlayers

Subscription: $70/year

RetailerNOW, ISSN# 2166-5249, is published monthly (except March and December) by the North American Home Furnishings Association, 500 Giuseppe Court, Ste 6, Roseville, CA 95678. Application to Mail at the Periodicals Postage Prices is Pending at Roseville, CA and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please address changes to: RetailerNOW, The North American Home Furnishings Association, 500 Giuseppe Court, Ste 6, Roseville CA 95678.

If you would like to stop receiving RetailerNOW, please send an email to [email protected].

If you would like to only receive an electronic version of RetailerNOW, please send an email to [email protected]. © 2014 North American Home Furnishings Association. Published by the North American Home Furnishings Association. Material herein may not be reproduced, copied or reprinted without prior written consent of the publisher. Acceptance of advertising or indication of sponsorship does not imply endorsement of publisher or the North American Home Furnishings Association. The views expressed in this publication may not reflect those of the publisher, editor or the North American Home Furnishings Association, and North American Retail Services Corp. Content herein is for general information only; readers are encouraged to consult their own attorney, accountant, tax expert and other professionals for specific advice before taking any action.

What we are so passionate about. . .

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

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

RetailerNOW StaffLisa Casinger Editorial Director [email protected] Bell Editor [email protected] Tilley Creative Director [email protected] Nygaard Sales Executive [email protected] Seites Webmaster [email protected]

Retail Advisory Team

Carol Bell Contents Interiors Tucson, AZ Travis Garrish Forma Furniture Fort Collins, CO Rick Howard Sklar Furnishings Boca Raton, FLMike Luna Pedigo’s Furniture Livingston TX Andrew Tepperman Tepperman's Windsor, ON

Membership StaffKaprice Crawford Membership Team Leader [email protected]

Jordan Boyst [email protected]

Michael Hill [email protected] Schupp [email protected] Sutherland [email protected]

Dianne Therry [email protected]

Please call (800) 422-3778 for all membership inquires.

Executive StaffSharron Bradley CEO NAHFA [email protected] Frye EVP NAHFA [email protected]

Contributors Kaprice Crawford, Jeff Giagnocavo, Marty Grosse, Ken Mahar, Sue Masaracchia-Roberts, David McMahon, Sydnee Seites and Tom Shay

Published by the North American Home Furnishings Association 500 Giuseppe Court, Suite Six, Roseville, CA 95678 800.422.3778 • retailernowmag.com


President's MessagePresident’s Message

What a great honor it has been to preside over the launch of NAHFA. Next month the torch will be passed to our new president, Marty Cramer. I want you to know how

much I’ve enjoyed serving you and how thankful I am for the talented board and staff we have in place.

I would like to thank my good friend Howard Haimsohn for the remarkable number of years he has served our industry both as a director and past president of WHFA and NHFA. He was also a key leader on the merger transition team and our first chairman of NAHFA. Having Howard as chairman and partner while we worked to help our board of director’s and staff become a cohesive unit has meant a lot to me. It not only made my role much easier, but we worked so well together that issues were always resolved quickly and calmly.

Your association is fortunate to have so many wonderful people who step up and dedicate their time to make our

association better for all our members. We have strengthened our board and executive team over the last 18 months and really become an efficient and powerful team that strives to help Sharron Bradley and her staff with good governance and creative direction. There are issues remaining to tackle, but with such a great team in place it can and will be done!

As chairman next year I look forward to working with our new president, our board and team at NAHFA to continue to raise the bar and tackle some of the issues that face our association and industry.

I can’t leave without telling our NAHFA staff and our board of directors how proud I am of your efforts and all that you have accomplished. Thank you all for your friendship, dedication, commitment and willingness to serve. We are also grateful for our strong and faithful membership base.

Rick Howard

Goodbye!

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3%ISO 12647-7 Digital Control Strip 2009

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6 N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 www.retailerNOWmag.com6 N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 www.retailerNOWmag.com

Editor’s Message

I had the opportunity to speak at my children’s middle school this fall about what careers they might be interested in pursuing. If the students of Brown Summit Middle School are a microcosm of the rest of the county, there’s going to be a wave of professional athletes, fashion designers and dancers infusing the workforce in the coming years. There’s also going to be a lot

of doctors, lawyers, teachers and military, too.

Good for them. But one occupation was conspicuously absent from the discussion that day: The Retailer.

I’m sure this comes as no surprise to the home furnishings industry. Like other retail businesses, we’ve had our share of problems luring the best and the brightest to our profession. Somewhere along the way retail positions got pushed aside in the rush for finding prosperous, meaningful work. Maybe that’s because the glamour and money of the tech and banking industries are too hard to ignore. Yet here’s the thing: The home furnishings industry is filled with well-paying careers that can bring purpose to one’s life. In our cover story this month I spoke with retailers who know this to be true, but in the same breath lament their frustrations with finding enthused, qualified workers.

RetailerNOW talked with storeowners, recruiting experts and people in charge of hiring to come up with a few solutions. Some

of the answers you might not like. For starters, are you sure you’re paying a competitive salary? We’ll point you to resources to find out. Can you make a future employee’s work schedule more attractive (read: fewer weekends)?

Check out our story starting on page 14 and let us know your thoughts. We’d love to hear from you.

Speaking of hearing from you, RetailerNOW is going to be undergoing many changes in the coming months—from its look to its content. If you have something you’d like to see, drop me an email or pick up the phone.

Robert Bell [email protected] | (916) 757-1169

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Cool Apps

Tech

facebook.com/RetailerNOW @RetailerNOW pinterest.com/RetailerNOW

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

[email protected]!

1PasswordHave you ever forgotten a password?1Password can manage all of your online logins and passwords for you. It also creates strong, unique passwords for all of your sites and logs you in with a single

tap. It’s simple, convenient security.Put it to use: Do you have multiple employees who need access to shared accounts? 1Password is great for shared passwords as well. Create multiple “vaults” or “identities” in the app and give each person the master password. That way, any time a single password gets changed, everyone automatically receives the updated password.Free; Available for Mac, Windows, iPhone and iPad, Android.

SwiftKeyReplace your on-screen keyboard with one that adapts to the way you type.Now available for iOS, SwiftKey is an on-screen keyboard that adapts to the way

you type. SwiftKey learns your writing style to suggest your next word, and will even autocorrect based on your personal writing style. We started using this app as soon as it became available for iOS (because it’s been such a big hit with Android users). While the first couple releases were buggy, SwiftKey has done a great job of fixing the app issues quickly. The keyboard actually does give you astonishingly accurate corrections and predictions, and gets smarter with every tap. You can make SwiftKey even smarter by enabling SwiftKey Cloud.

Sign up with Facebook and Google Plus Teach SwiftKey your writing style from Facebook

and Gmail Backup and sync your learning across your devices

Free; Available for iOS, iPad, Android.

Tech TipHacking the Hiring ProcessAt-home ways to leverage technology to create an overall better experience for prospective employees.Technology has transformed the hiring process for prospective employees and employers. Try these two “tech-niques”:

Automatic reminders for all candidates: You (and/or whoever does your hiring) are busy. Make sure you don’t miss anyone during your hiring process

by setting up automatic reminders so you’re alerted when a candidate hasn’t heard from you in a while. Even if you only have a few candidates for a position, you should still provide the best experience possible. Everyone deserves to know where they stand, and this automation will help you inform candidates faster and ensure you miss no one.

Candidate satisfaction surveys: After you’ve hired someone, set up a survey that measures how well everyone considered for the position felt about

the process. Narrow it down to three easy questions that will help you gather information on how your store’s recruiting process is perceived. Examples: Were you made to feel welcome? Were you treated professionally? What did you learn about our company?

Not only will you gain valuable insight into your hiring process, these questions will keep the lines of communication open with your second or third choice, which may come in handy down the line.

Education NAHFA’s January webinar will focus on the move toward a true omnichannel shopping experience. Jesse Akre, senior vice president of ecommerce & managed services at MicroD, will break down the initial requirements and steps for furniture retailers making the move to ecommerce.NAHFA’s webinars are free to members ($79 for non-members) and can be found on our website. Visit nahfa.org/events-education/webinars for more information.

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

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

The Northwest Furniture Transportation Leader

Eric ClarkePresident

Eric ClarkePresident

Grant LaidlawVP of Sales

Grant LaidlawVP of Sales

www.NWFXpress.comwww.NWFXpress.com

10 N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 www.retailerNOWmag.com www.retailerNOWmag.com N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 11

Inspired Reading:Retailer2Retailer

What are you most thankful for in your business?

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It—by Michael Gerber

Put down your lunch. It’s time for a pop quiz.

Which of these leadership roles best describes you at your store:

A. I’ve got the vision and am always looking at my company’s future.

B. I see the business from a practical standpoint and know how to fix problems as they arise.

C. I love diving in and doing the work. When a problem arises I take it as a challenge to fix it.

If you answered A you can return to your lunch. If you answered B or C here are some numbers you might have trouble digesting.

More than a million people a year start a business. Before that year is over, 40 percent throw in the towel. Within five years 80 percent of those who started are out of business.

In his book The E-Myth Revisited author Michael Gerber explores those failures in the book’s subtitle Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What To Do About It.

The E in E-Myth stands for entrepreneurs. The book is an update on Gerber’s 1980 classic. Gerber believes most entrepreneur businesses are born of lofty ideals, workers

“bravely defying insurmountable odds” to achieve their dream.

At least that’s in theory. In reality Gerber believes that fearless passion is fleeting in most entrepreneurs. In fact, the author calls the desire to start a business an “entrepre-neurial seizure,” something that takes place when someone has the sudden realization that he or she needs to be working on their own—not for someone else.

Retailer2Retailer

“I’m thankful for my customers and their loyalty. Outside of business, I’m thankful for my family’s health. There’s a lot of things I’m thankful for, but our health is the biggest.”

Galen Swartzentruber Owner, Walnut Creek Furniture Walnut Creek, Ohio

“I am thankful that we still have free-doms and an opportunity in this coun-try to conduct business and for the love and support of my family to work in a risky business segment. I’m thankful that we have made it through a very difficult time in our economic history, for our many great employees and I’m extremely thankful that we enjoy a great reputation in our community and that I earn an honest living.”

Ben Willis Owner, Willis Furniture Virginia Beach, Va.

“The holidays are a time for getting together with family and friends so I’m thankful that I have both in my life. At work I’m thankful for the opportunity to help people find the furniture that suits their lives. Not just let them settle on something that’s close to what they want, but something that really puts a smile on their face everyday when they walk in that front door.”

Ethan St. Michel Store manager St. Michel Furniture Bemidji, Minn.

And though that individual might have a firm grasp on the technical aspect of a business, that’s not the same thing as understanding how to actually run a business.

That concept, which Gerber calls the Fatal Assumption, is what dooms small businesses to failure. Working for your-self doesn’t mean working by yourself: some crucial elements of running a business, including hiring and business development, require different skill sets and, at times, entering into alliances with other people.

Remember our pop quiz? Gerber says there are three types of people in a work environment—the entrepreneur, who possess the vision, and is forever looking at the company’s future (A); the manager, who sees the business from a practical standpoint (B); and the technician, who is happiest doing work, yet is the one most likely to have an interest in setting out on their own path (C).

Gerber writes that there are too many technicians and not enough entrepre-neurs. Technicians, in Gerber’s view, believe the only solution to the obstacles that keep coming up is to work harder. Eventually, you realize that the business has become the boss you thought you were replacing when you left your job to set out on your own.

Gerber notes that a technician plays a vital role in any business, but that an en-trepreneur is the one who will succeed in the long run. For those people who want to sustain a small business, they either have to buy into the entrepreneur’s per-spective, or run the risk of failure—with considerable heartbreak and long hours along the way. The E-Myth Revisited shows how small-business people can become more entrepreneurial and less technical in their leadership.


Roving Reporter

Every retailer has an idea or two (OK, 17) for improving High Point Market, but they rarely get the chance to voice those

opinions to someone who can make those changes. At last month’s market, a special group of retailers actually got to share their suggestions with the one who counts: Tom Conley, the presi-dent and chief executive officer of the High Point Market Authority.

Conley, his staff members and some building owners, met with the North American Home Furnishings Associa-tion’s Retailer Advisory Council during market to discuss ways to make the fall and spring events even better. “In many ways we know we’re doing a good job,” Conley told the retailers at a Sunday morning gathering. “But we know we can be doing an even better job so we’re asking you for your help.”

There was one word NAHFA retailers used again and again as they spoke about improving the High Point market: Need. There needs to be consistent wireless Internet and cell phone service throughout the showrooms. There needs to be more mod-estly priced hotels. There needs to be tighter enforcement of the actual market days. There needs to be a more visible security presence in the showrooms.

Conley asked retailers not to spare his or the Market Authority’s feelings and retailers took him up on the offer—es-pecially when it came to the market’s dates.

Peggy Burns of Circle Furniture in Boston asked Conley why there is no clear starting date for market. Market officially begins on a Saturday, but buyers from bigger stores are increas-ingly meeting with manufacturers on

Thursday or Friday, hoping to beat the crowds and, just as important, lock in exclusive rights on certain lines. Un-fortunately, not every vendor is ready.

“I was here on Thursday and walking through some buildings it was like a construction zone,” said Burns. “That’s just not good business sense to me.”

Conley said official market dates have been announced through 2020, but the owners of the showroom build-ings—not the market authority—have control over their buildings.

“I sympathize with what you are saying, but that’s not something we can con-trol,” Conley said. “We can talk to (the building owners) and we have, but ultimately they have authority over their buildings.”

Dorian Sims, president of Stacy Furniture in Texas, told Conley the authority needs to become a stronger presence. “Market doesn’t need to be longer. You just need to enforce the days,” she said.

Retailers expressed frustration with the lack of wireless Internet and cell phone service in the bigger show-rooms. “Everything is done on iPads now,” said Eric Easter, CEO of Kittles Furniture in Indiana. “I can’t tell you

how frustrating it is not to have the access we need.”

Conley agreed and said he would talk with building owners about ways to improve wireless and cellular connec-tions. Conley also heard from retailers complaining about the high cost of hotels in and around High Point for years.

“We are constantly meeting and discussing this (with area hotels),” he said. “I understand… wanting

to take advantage of a time when there is great need for rooms, but we have fre-quently told them that if you kill the golden goose, it’s not coming back.”

Conely said he would be taking the retailers’ concerns to the HPMA board of direc-tors to discuss how to improve the market. “Some of things we can act on for next market,

others might take some time,” he said. “We really needed a meeting like this.”

Sharron Bradley, CEO of NAHFA, agreed. “This meeting was a great way to help our members be heard and conversations like these will create a better market experience in the future,” Bradley said. “When the market im-proves it attracts more attendees and everyone wins.”

Retailers offer advice to High Point officials


HELP A FURNITURE BANK NEAR YOU

Connections

The Furniture Bank Association of North American has members all across the country who need your help. Your product donation, in-store promotion or delivery assistance

can make a difference in helping a family get back on its feet. Learn more at Furniturebanks.org

WestBridging AZ, Mesa, Ariz.Furniture for Families, Folsom, Calif.Team Amvets Welcome Home, Fresno, Calif.San Jose Furniture Bank, San Jose, Calif.Providers Resource Clearinghouse, Aurora, Col.A Lift Up Furniture Bank, Elko, Nev.Benton Furniture Share, Corvallis, Ore.Community Warehouse – East, Portland, Ore.Community Warehouse – West, Tualatin, Ore.Home 2 Home, Bellevue, Wash.House 2 House Network, Bellingham, Wash.The Sharehouse, Seattle, Wash.Spokane Community Warehouse, Spokane, Wash.NW Furniture Bank, Tacoma, Wash.

N.J.

Vt.

Mass.

Conn.

D.C.

Md.

Rhode Island

SouthwestFurniture Bank of OKC, Oklahoma City, Okla.Community Sharehouse Furniture Bank of Tulsa County, Tulsa, Okla.Dallas Furniture Bank, Carrollton, TexasHouston Furniture Bank, Houston, TexasFurniture For Families Inc., Killeen, TexasSan Antonio Furniture Bank, San Antonio, TexasFurniture Bank of East Bell County, Temple, Texas


Connections

SoutheastCommunity Furniture Bank, Birmingham, Ala.Christmas Charities Year Round, Huntsville, Ala.Mustard Seed of Central Florida, Orlando, Fla.ECHO Furniture Bank, Tallahassee, Fla.Furniture Bank of Metro Atlanta, Atlanta, Ga.Action Ministries – Augusta, Augusta, Ga.Crisis Assistance Ministry, Charlotte, N.C.The Barnabas Network, Greensboro, N.C.The Bin, Huntersville, N.C.Lowcountry Furniture Bank, Charleston, S.C. Chattanooga Furniture Bank, Chattanooga, Tenn.Ecumenical Storehouse, Oak Ridge, Tenn.Annandale Christian Community for Action, Annandale, Va.CARITAS Furniture Bank, Richmond, Va.

MidwestRecycling Furniture for Families, Bloomington, Ill.The Shed, Decatur, Ill.Sharing Connections, Downers Grove, Ill.Central Illinois Christians in Mission, Mt. Zion, Ill.Comprehensive Community Solutions, Rockford, Ill.Mustard Seed Furniture Bank of Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, Ind.FreeStore, Inc., West Des Moines, IowaResurrection Furnishings Ministry, Leawood, Kan.His Helping Hands, Wichita, Kan.In The Image, Grand Rapids, Mich.Partners in Housing Transition, Kalamazoo, Mich.Furniture Bank of Southeastern, Mich., Pontiac, Mich.Saginaw County Youth Protection Council, Saginaw, Mich.Bridging, Inc. Bloomington, Minn.

NortheastHelping Hands Furniture Bank, North Haven, Conn.Make A Home Foundation Inc., Sandy Hook, Conn.New Haven Home Recovery, Inc., West Haven, Conn.Greater Portland Charitable Furniture Center, Portland, Maine A Wider Circle, Silver Spring, Md.Household Goods Recycling of Massachusetts, Acton, Mass.Project Home Again, Andover, Mass.My Brothers Keeper, Easton, Mass.The Wish Project, Lowell, Mass.Mass. Coalition for the Homeless, Lynn, Mass.Touchstone Furniture Depot, Marlborough, Mass.Mission of Deeds, Reading, Mass.New Life Home Refurnishing, Walpole, Mass.Central MA Housing Alliance Donations Clearinghouse, Worcester, Mass.Jaden’s Ladder, Rye, N.H.Home Front, Lawrenceville, N.J.Furniture Assist, Inc., Union, N.J.Furniture Sharehouse, White Plains, N.Y.CAADC Donations Warehouse, Folcroft, Pa.Off The Floor, Pittsburgh, Pa.Furniture Bank of Rhode Island, Providence, R.I.

N.J.

Vt.

Mass.

Conn.

D.C.

Md.

Rhode Island

Midwest Cont.Bridging, Inc. Roseville, Minn.Community Furniture Program, St. Cloud, Minn.Love, Inc. of Columbia, Columbia, Mo.New Life Furniture, Cincinnati, OhioFurniture Bank of Central Ohio, Columbus, OhioCORE Furniture Bank, Cuyahoga Falls, OhioSVDP Community Furniture Bank, Dayton, OhioCleveland Furniture Bank, Middleburg Heights, OhioHopeNow Furniture Bank, Mount Vernon, OhioBanner Mattress Furniture Bank, Toledo, OhioThe Lifewell Furniture Bank, Zanesville, OhioThe Neighbor’s Place, Wausau, Wisc.


Cover Story

LOOKING TO HIRE?

You’re not the only store trying to attract good help. But you can—and must—stand out from the rest.

GET IN LINE.

BY ROBERT BELL


Cover Story

“We’re a small family store,” says Carlson, the third-generation owner of Carlson’s Furniture. “Whoever I hire has to be able to do a little bit of this, a little bit of that and they’ve got to do a professional job at all of it.”

Carlson’s hiring process will not include a newspaper ad, pricey headhunters or employment websites. In the coming weeks Carlson will find his next employee the way he’s found all the others the past 15 years–by asking around town. “I’ll talk to some other business owners and see if they know of anybody,” he says. “Retailers are the best source for hiring because we know it takes a special person to do this job. Contrary to what most people think about furniture stores, you can’t just hire anyone off the street. It’s just a very difficult process of finding the right person. They’re out there, but they’re hard to find.”

And therein lies the dilemma for Carlson and his home-furnishings brethren: Even as the nation adds thousands of jobs—an average of 212,000 each month over the past year—store owners and hiring person-nel find it increasingly difficult to attract qualified workers to an oft-unappreciated profession.

“When I say it’s easier to fire five people than to hire one good one I’m kidding, but only a little,” says Carlson. “It’s a very time-consuming process, and you have to get it right the first time.”

Jeff Lewis can sympathize. “Easily, the hardest part of the job is finding good, dependable people,” says Lewis, general manager of Shofers Furniture in Baltimore. Lewis says the area’s top salespeople “fall into my lap” because the store, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year,

avid Carlson needs help. No, not that kind of help. Carlson needs a salesperson for his home furnishings store in Klamath Falls, Ore. And

not just someone to ring up sales—anyone can do that. Carlson needs someone who can absorb the product information for hundreds of pieces of furniture, recite the fine print behind every warranty, engage the customer, find out what she really wants then fill that need. Oh, and if the warehouse needs help moving a new sofa on the floor, well, that’s part of the job description, too.


Doug Fleener, president of Dynamic Experiences, Inc., a Massachusetts-based retail and customer-experience consult-ing firm. “You’re lucky if you get one chance—let alone a second chance—at that buyer. You need the strongest hires you can get your hands on.”

Many of O’Brien’s graduates are ready to enter management positions at some of the nation’s biggest retailers such as Target, Kohl’s and Home Depot. But

just as many are interested in working at family-owned or non-chain stores.

Too often, however, O’Brien and others say storeowners fall short in attracting strong candidates to the job. Hiring experts say home furnishings storeown-ers might want to rethink their hiring process, many of which date back to when their parents or grandparents ran the store.

“Hiring and finding good people is the one part of the business that keeps

owners up all night,” said Ellen Davis, senior vice president of the National Retail Federation. “And yet, in talking to store owners, it’s the one place they need the most help with.”

Davis and others hear it all the time from retailers: We can’t compete with other industries. Their response: Nonsense.

“Whenever you start out the hiring pro-cess thinking you’re going to have to set-tle, you’re going to do just that,” O’Brien says. “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

Start with the store itself. Don’t look at you business from the perspective of a customer, but rather from a potential employee. “The family brand most furniture stores market on TV and in print works for customers who are looking for a kitchen table and chairs,” says O’Brien. “If you’re in the market for an employee, you need a marketing campaign about what makes your store a good place to work.”

Fleener agrees. “The workplace environ-ment is probably important to you,” he says. “I promise that environment is just important to people who might be work-ing there one day.”

If you company’s moral is low, you’ve got bigger problems than finding a new accountant or salesperson. On the other hand, if you’ve nurtured a close working environment, where everyone enjoys showing up each day and helping each other out, show that off to potential hires.

One way to do that is to let some of your employees help in the interviewing process. “A great working environment is infectious,” says Fleener. “It’s going to show in the faces and attitudes of the people your job candidates meet. When your employees say ‘we’re great,’ it be-comes an awesome recruiting tool.”

Salary can’t be ignored. O’Brien believes many home furnishings stores price

is an institution in the city. “But every other job is such a struggle for us,” he says. “Not just to hire them, but to hold onto them.”

That’s not unusual, of course. The home furnishings business, like most retail sec-tors, always struggles with an image prob-lem in the eyes of many looking for work. The part of home furnishings retail most potential employees see involves evening and weekend work, frustrated customers, long periods of standing and salaries that lag behind banking, technology and other promising fields. Storeowners say that image—real or not—sometimes makes it difficult to hire strong candidates across all departments.

“There’s this skewed perception of retail as a default career,” says Jerry O’Brien.

“A lot of people probably walk into a furniture store and think the salesperson they’re working with is on Plan B of his or her career—maybe even Plan C.”

O’Brien is working to change that per-ception, one graduate at a time. He’s ex-ecutive director of the Kohl’s Department Stores Center for Retail Excellence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That’s right, there’s a university—several, actu-ally —geared to students who view retail and the science behind it as their Plan A for a career.

The need for qualified employees is even more vital for brick-and-mortar stores in mortal combat with their online brethren. ShoperTrak, which employs a network of 60,000 shopper-counting devices to track visits at malls and large retailers across the country, reports shoppers aren’t using physical stores to browse as much. Seven years ago shoppers visited an average five stores per mall trip. Today they do most of their research online and only visit three.

“That makes it even more critical for furniture stores to have the most quali-fied people on the showroom floor,” says


Cover Story

themselves out of a good hire right from the start because they aren’t willing to pay enough. “Retailers need to make sure their compensation is in line with everyone else,” says O’Brien. “If you haven’t updated your compensation in a few years, you’re going to get what you pay for.”

O’Brien says websites such as glassceil-ing.com are good indicators of what a salary in the home furnishings business should be based on experience. The NRF conducted a survey recently that offers in-sight into salary, benefits and commission for retailers of varying sizes and markets throughout the country.

Fleener also says store owners need to rethink their typical employee. As more Millenials enter the workforce, they bring with them different expectations of what a job is. That doesn’t always mean full-time work and weekends–two staples of the retail industry. “Retailers need to balance what’s most important with making the best hires,” Fleener says.

“As a store owner are you willing to give someone weekends–a busy period for

furniture stores–if you know they’ll be productive sellers during the week? If you’re answer is yes, you’ll get a lot more candidates, good candidates, wanting to work at your store.”

Perhaps the biggest hurdle for many retail-ers is convincing young employees to take a job in a family-owned business knowing the opportunity for growth is limited.

O’Brien says to be up front about that ceiling. “If there’s a hard cap as to how far an employee can move up in your store you need to talk about it. Candidates know its out there. Not talking about it can be a negative by default. Let them know they can get a good start, founda-tion if you will, for two or three years before they move on. I’d rather have a really good employee for two years than one who sulks around for 10.”

If you think your store location is going to make hiring hard, that’s not true. O’Brien says is you’re in a small town like Klamath Falls, show how far your money goes in terms of housing and other bills. “Most places to live have


Cover Story

Here’s the problem with interviews: Most candidates can sit in a chair for 45 minutes and look and sound perfect. We asked some retail hiring experts to offer some tips for making a great hire.

PUT THEM TO WORK Instead of asking predictable questions that lead to predictable answers, throw the candidate onto the showroom floor and stay with them. Do they approach customers with a smile? Engage them in conversation? They don’t need to have product knowledge in that short time for you to see if they have what it takes to sell.

DITCH THE RESUME “Anyone who gives me good service—at the bank, the grocery store or church—is probably going to be a good candidate for selling or working in a fur-niture store,” says Doug Fleener, a retail consultant.

“Keep your eyes open when you’re not at work.”

TURN THE TABLES Save some time at the end of the interview to let the candidate interview you. “The questions they ask might give you good insight into what kind of employee they’ll be,” says Fleener. “Are they focused on compensation and benefits or do they want to know about their responsibilities and how they can grow within your business.”

THINK LOCAL Nobody knows your community like you and other retailers. “Ask around to see if anyone knows of someone,” says Ellen Davis, senior vice president of the National Retail Federation. “Even if you’re not hiring, you should always be looking for that someone who gives you great service.”

va lue for everyone. You need to find that value and leverage it with potential employees,” O’Brien says.

Making the perfect hire isn’t impossible, but it takes effort. “It’s a big investment in time and that’s one commodity store owners don’t have a lot of,” says Davis.

“But it’s worth it if you get it right the first time and you find the perfect em-ployee to help you grow.”

Over-qualified employees? You might only have them for two years, but isn’t it a better choice than a mediocre employee for 10?


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

We’re looking for NAHFA members who demonstrate exemplary service to the industry

and to their communities and who provide an exceptional customer experience in their store.

� e 2015 Retailer of the Year awards will be presented on May 17th, at the annual Home Furnishings Networking Conference in Orlando,

Florida. Nominations must be received by December 19, 2014.

Celebrating the outstanding achievements and progressive leadership of the nation’s most respected home furnishings retailers.

Nominees will be considered in two categories—

• Businesses with sales volume under $10 million

• Businesses with sales volume of $10 million or above

ROY 2015 nominate ad3.indd 1 10/20/14 8:42 AM


BY SUE MASARACCHIA-ROBERTS

Community Today

Unique materials and designs, bold colors and novel styling are among the highlights of the new trends that were dis-played at this year’s Casual Furniture and Accessories Market held at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart.

Many manufacturers reported brisk sales tied into the surging economy and new home construction. “People also are replacing the sets they’ve had, as prices seem to be holding,” said Rick Pieth from Ebel Casual Furniture. “Wicker is starting to be a major part of the dealer showroom and a growing category.”

Byron Morton, vice president of leasing for the Mart said the popularity of Chicago’s market is a reflection of the popularity of extending the living space outdoors.

“Casual matters,” said Morton. “Outdoor space is much more than a table, chairs and an umbrella on the patio. It’s about lounging, fire, entertaining and cooking. The outdoor space is like no other canvas on which homeowners can express their tastes and enjoy their homes.” Morton likes the role the show plays as the “con-nection between the manufacturer, the specialty retailer channel and the homeowner.”

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

We’re looking for NAHFA members who demonstrate exemplary service to the industry

and to their communities and who provide an exceptional customer experience in their store.

� e 2015 Retailer of the Year awards will be presented on May 17th, at the annual Home Furnishings Networking Conference in Orlando,

Florida. Nominations must be received by December 19, 2014.

Celebrating the outstanding achievements and progressive leadership of the nation’s most respected home furnishings retailers.

Nominees will be considered in two categories—

• Businesses with sales volume under $10 million

• Businesses with sales volume of $10 million or above

ROY 2015 nominate ad3.indd 1 10/20/14 8:42 AM

Top: A retailer takes home some design ideas from the Casual Furniture and Accessories Market in Chicago in September. Insert: Retailers check out a fire pit offered by Housewarmings at the market.

—Byron Morton, vice president of leasing for the Merchandise Mart.


Community Today

get the breadth of what is here and I ap-preciate being able to attend such a large market.”

A first-time exhibitor, Caroline Hipple from Patio Daddyo’s creative team, loved

“the craftsmanship and the retail-focus. Buyers are category-savvy and they see this [show] as different. It is fun dealing with educated purchasers who understand their customers and the products in the market.”

Second year participant, design director Esther Parkhurst from TarHong, said,

“We really enjoyed getting to meet all the people who stopped by as well as getting feedback from buyers on what they loved and would like to see next year.”

Among the more popular items were the weatherproof high-definition photography of Rara Avis and unique pillow designs of ElaineSmith. These and others offered a distinctive twist on decorating spaces indoors and out. Materials like Zuo’s concrete table, Samsonite’s customizable glass and metal table tops, and the array of furniture made from bamboo and boats

Making a statement was a theme at the outdoor market. Treasure Garden’s cantilever umbrella (above) makes a bold presence while The Little Cottage offers custom Adirondack chairs (right) in your favorite school colors.

Matt Peterson, showroom manager for rug manufacturer Jaipur noted that his booth attracted “a lot of new customers that were not at the other shows, so this market opened a new customer base for us.”

“This is a fuller show with more attendees,” said Cambridge Casual vice president Ann Croi, “both distributors and wholesalers. Color has influenced everything—the use of color in frames, fabrics and a lot of new products with fresh ideas.”

Some smaller retailers like Sean Schneider of Backyard Adventures in Iowa enjoyed the access to vendors in Chicago they otherwise might not be able to see in High Point.

“I’m a small guy and it’s great to be able to come here and make contacts with people I couldn’t get to if I wanted them to see me,” Schneider said. “It’s a great opportunity to

“Color has influenced everything—the use of color in frames, fabrics and a lot

of new products with fresh ideas.”—Ann Croi, vice president, Cambridge Casual”

Exclusive DisneyInstitute Main StageSessions

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Park Tickets forAttendees Stayingat Host Hotel

Disney CoronadoSprings Resort$164 Per Night

HOME FURNISHINGS

“HFNC 2014 was my fi rst conference and it was amazing! The quality of the speakers was beyond my expectations. The folks I met, no matter the size of their store were so incredibly friendly and helpful. I was most impressed with the industry as a whole

and the overall message of the conference…helping others.”—Michelle Caragol, Moxie Home Consign and Design, Steamboat Springs, CO

DISNEY INSTITUTE EXECUTIVE SPEAKER SERIES ON THE MAIN STAGE

Find more Disney Institute and main stage education information at www.theHFNC.com

Compliments of: Lee Cockerell—Former EVP of Operations, Walt Disney World® Resort

Lee’s book The Customer Ruleswill be available to session attendees

HFNC ad nov/dec.indd 1 10/27/14 4:20 PM


Community Today

“There were a lot of innovations in the

protective corner as well as in outdoor room accessories with rugs

and lamps, deep seating, versatilities of fire pits and innovative wicker looks.”

—Kathy Chapman, buyer for The Great Escape.

created a lot of buzz. New also were expandable tables with self-contained leaf storage.

Aria’s Erin Corning said, “We are seeing coordinated collections between deep- and sling-seating. They have a contemporary design and colors that coordinate but don’t need to match.”

“There were a lot of innovations in the pro-tective corner as well as in outdoor room accessories with rugs and lamps, deep seat-ing, versatilities of fire pits and innovative wicker looks,” said Kathy Chapman, a buyer for The Great Escape.

“A new line of grill covers come out in 2015, in addition to sectional and custom covers,” said Ken Katz of PCI. “These are made of fleece and baked vinyl making it waterproof.” PCI’s line of “e-Cloths” for cleaning outdoor furniture and grills requires only water.

Texas buyer Debbie Matlock said the market was infused with a lot of hues and colors, upholstered furniture and variations on metal finishes as well as straps on furniture.

“There seems to be a move from the tradi-tional to transitional,” she said.

Morton said market attendance was up about 6 percent over last year. “This is really an opportunity to see new products, new trends and new ideas. Our exhibitors and showrooms were thrilled not with only the quantity of attendees, but also the quality,” Morton said.

That sentiment was backed up during market when market officials announced it had extended its lease with Mart, meaning the casual market will remain in Chicago through 2022.

Above, SunVilla’s Todd Wingrove (center) meets with retailers around a fire pit table. As usual, accessories like fire pits and throw pillows like those from OW Lee’s Emblem series (left) were a hit at the casual market.

IndoSoul elevates the lowly bean bag chair to a form of art and pushes it outdoors.


Community Today

Best Sellers in the Windy CityTechnology was a driving force at Chicago’s International Casual Furniture & Accessories Market in September. Reclaimed, re-engineered and sustainable products, as well as woven and natural fabrics were especially big sellers. Also popular were American-made products.

Here’s a quick look at what was buzzing in Chicago:

“There are a lot of new accessory lines like tea carts and smaller fire pits,” said Houston dealer Beverly Spence. “Elaine Smith is new, showing more accent pieces and bright colors. There are just more fabrics and more fun.”

“We were very pleased with the interest in our table-top and drinkware patterns and had great customer feedback about our fresh and innovative designs,” said design director Esther Parkhurst from TarHong.

“Fire tables are hot,” said Telescope Casual’s Bill Vanderminden. “We are doing a lot with aluminum stainless and polymers since they are not as hot to touch and offer a great mix of colors.” Vanderminden also noted a lot of interest in contemporary “compact sectional modular sets that need little assembly. We like to have bright colors, especially for the lower opening price points.”

Machine-washable canvas coated with PVC-polyester was the featured fabric for beanbags, while Sunbrella fabrics “are more supple and soft with a more resi-dential look that performs well indoors and out,” said Harrison Wood, a residential sales associate with Sunbrella.

Many sustainable structural bamboo and poly furni-ture products are milled like wood with the density of oak, often finished with an Italian urethane for dura-bility, according to Caroline Hipple of Patio Daddyo.

Patio Daddyo hired Hipple’s company, HB2 to help brand, design and launch its entrance into the casual market.

“Some of the more unique items (buyers liked) in-cluded the wave chair, the confab chair and Hang10 surf table, as well as the sports and team-colored Adirondack chairs made from recycled milk jugs,” Hipple said.

Top, Outdoor Room’s Broadway Gas Fire Pit table has a white marbelized onyx top that is easy to clean. Bottom, Jason Stoter, the owner of hammock company Vivere, meets with retailers.

Surya’s machine-made Marina rug is 100-perfcent polypropylene so it will stand up to the outdoor elements.


BY JEFF GIAGNOCAVO

Retail Voice

Shoppers are always saying they’ll “be back.” Here’s how to make sure they do.

n our high-touch, high-ticket retail environment many customers sim-ply will not commit to a purchase on their first store visit.

Traditionally, especially in the mat-tress world, retailers begin offering a flurry of discounts once the

customer indicates they aren’t buying now. This actually damages any integrity the retailer built up prior to the prospective customer arriving at their store and likely leaves a bitter taste in the prospect’s mouth. Consumers don’t want to play Let’s Make a Deal, they want to play let’s make a friend.

I’ve read studies that suggest consumers are checking as many as 13 places—both online and brick-and-mortar—before stepping foot into a business. Compare that number to five less than a decade ago. And why shouldn’t they check? Consumers have access to more information than ever and are more educated about the products and brands and the stores they do business with, so it’s important to have a consistent message across all media both online and offline (which is an entire system and pro-cess in and off itself ).

For the sake of this article I’m highlighting the strategy we use to buy the “be back” and make prospects become customers on their first visit even if they haven’t made a decision about their purchase.

That’s right, we buy the “be back.” We get the customer to do business with us before they make their final decision. By doing this, we take the customer off the market; they are now our customer and

they’ve stopped the discovery process and have selected our store as the place to do business. You can do this too, here’s how.

We follow very precise scripting and sales language. There is choreography to what we say, how we say it, what we present and when. Our customers’ responses help us navigate our store and position our mattresses as custom-ized solutions. It’s because of this process that we can take the same mattress set and create a customized solution using our adjustable bed bases, sheets, pillows, and mattress protectors that solves each customer’s need.

Home furnishings retailers can easily tailor questions to their specific needs and I suspect many of you already are. In our store, if the customer indicates that today is not the day to make their final decision we follow a second script that helps us buy the “be back.”

While we ask the right closing questions, we find that about 35 percent of our prospects simply aren’t going to buy today no matter what we say or do. That’s fine because our goal is to get them to say yes to us, not just to a one-time purchase, but yes to becoming a loyal, repeat customer.

If the customer indicates they are interested, but not making a purchase today, we ask:

“With all we’ve uncovered today would you be open to visiting our store again?” Everyone says, “Yes, of course.” Maybe it’s because they simply want to be nice, but most are just re-lieved that they haven’t been pressured to buy anything. Next we say, “Great, because your decision to come back at a later date pays off and we have a gift for you.” Now they are intrigued. We continue with, “Our next steps

Jeff Giagnocavo is co-owner of Gardner’s

Mattress & More in Lancaster, Pa.

He is also co-owner of Mega Mattress

Margins and regularly speaks at industry events on successful

retail strategies.


Retail Voice

together are to do one of two things. You may book a Dream Room appointment to try out the sleep system we customized for you today, or if you feel we need a little more discovery of which system is best we can set up an appointment and pick up right where we left off, with the same sleep consultant you worked with today. Which do you feel is best for you?”

Notice that we are asking them to make a decision about how they want to proceed in doing business with us. Mostly people now ask us about the gift. You should know our gift is not a discount or freebie from our store, rather a complementary experi-ence. We offer the chance for a free massage from a local salon and spa that we partner with. We go on to say “Our gift to you today is a $50 massage gift certificate when you book either a Dream Room appoint-ment or your next mattress consultation for a $50 deposit. When you make a purchase the $50 is applied to your invoice making the massage a free gift to you. Would you be open to booking your appointment and claiming your massage gift certificate?”

The $50 deposit is non-refundable as they are booking an appointment for which we have to have personnel available either for a consultation or a Dream Room experience. If they make a purchase this is applied to their invoice.

During any given week we book appoint-ments for two out of 10 customers. We have a 64 percent closing rate. For every 10 customers we convert 84 percent into paying customers—64 percent today, 20 percent at a later date.

Digging deeper into the numbers for the 36 percent who choose not to purchase today

we are getting more than 50 percent to commit to us on their first visit, thereby increasing our effective closing rate to 84 percent!

The system used here is based around two very robust systems. The first is sales scripting and the second is choreograph-ing how we present the solutions, our mattresses and the free gift.

You can use the same system in your busi-ness. The key to all of this is to position the comeback offer (the massage) as value added. It’s a service that’s compatible with our business, but still a surprise, an item the customer never expected to receive for doing business with us.

When done right this system keeps the sales process pressure free. The customer doesn’t have to make a hasty decision and you have dramatically increased your clos-ing percentage, increased sales and added bottom line profits with the same number of customers you already had walking through your door.


Sales & Marketing

You’ll enjoy more highs than lows if you follow a few of these tips BY MARTY GROSSE

f all the important things you do in a furniture store, planning and holding effective sales meetings may be the most important. Anyone who has ever man-aged a store knows the work never ends.

There’s merchandising, operations and marketing that need to be taken care of, but let’s face it: nothing else ever happens (or matters) until a sale is made. It is easy to overlook the importance of a good sales meeting and the impact it can have on your selling success.

When salespeople are selling and everyone is buying, there’s no feeling like it. And when salespeople are selling and nobody’s buying, well, there’s no feeling quite like that either. Selling is an emotional roller coaster. That’s why your sales crew needs meetings that help them grow, improve and stay focused.

Think about how you plan sales meetings. What does a good one look like? What do you include in your meet-ings? Where do you divine your creative inspiration? How do you deal with all the different sales people and their personalities? And if selling is a roller coaster, where is your seat?

Here are a few tips for improving the impact and effectiveness of your weekly sales meetings.

Create a sales meeting calendar

This should be done after establishing your advertising and marketing calendar for the month or quarter. Good sales meetings will maximize advertising expenditures. Advertising plans also provide a framework for sales meetings. When does the promotion run? What is the featured merchandise? Is there a finance offer or other specials with the promotion? All of this is important to review with your staff. Have you ever had a sales-person ask “Are we running any merchandise or other specials right now?” Not exactly reassuring, and a bit cringeworthy.

Create a meeting template

Think of your meetings as a hamburger. The top bun is the basic information of the promotion including time frame, types of advertising, merchandise specials, financing or any information that the sales team should know. The meat of the meeting should be something


Sales & Marketing

Furniche.com founder Marty Grosse has 35

years of experience including senior positions across

six top-tier retailers. Furniche

provides visitors real, relevant and timely shopping

advice with access to research, local furniture stores

and manufacturer information.

Contact him at [email protected]

that enhances or reinforces one of the tenets of selling such as the greeting, probing/qualifying, presentation, overcoming objections, closing or following up after the sale. The meat you choose may be guided by one of the key elements of your event. Maybe it is spending time in the bedding department working on “qualifying” the mattress customer during your gigantic “Pedic” event. The bottom bun of the burger is preparing the team mentally for the game of selling. We all have outside distractions in our lives (relationships, pets, mortgages, children, vacations, etc.) it’s important to help salespeople focus on the day at hand and the customers. Use the bottom bun, or end of your meeting, to reinforce any sales contests and goals.

Stay focused

Do not use sales meetings as a venue to review operational or team dynamics issues. These items need to be addressed but not here. I once attended a sales meeting where the manager reviewed a litany of problems and finished the meeting with an enthusiastic “Now let’s go out and have a big day!” Really?

Spice it up

Remember, selling is fun! Find creative ways to spice up your sales meetings and fight the “same old same old” syndrome. Think about occasionally changing the meeting location. I once held a sales meeting outside in front of the store. You can hold one in the back of a delivery truck complete with chairs and a movie screen. Engage your staff by involving them in the meeting in some way. Think about a skit, a scavenger hunt, game or simply researching a new product on the floor to share the features/benefits with the other sales people. There is always the old standby of having a factory rep come in and do part of the meeting. Make sure you trust the rep to keep it positive and upbeat.

Find a story

Everyone has a story. Find selling stories in everyday life that parallel the selling process on your floor. I once held a sales meeting named “The Selling Secrets Only Your Hairdresser Knows.” The meeting was held with the sales team behind me looking into the mirror complete with a customer in the chair in front. Think about it: Hairdressers have to ask careful questions of their cli-ents to determine their needs. Hairdressers are always looking in the mirror at themselves knowing that the customer is evaluating their looks and evaluating their

professionalism. Hairdressers must have all their tools within reach to do their job and, of course, they rely upon repeat business and word of mouth from happy customers. Sounds like selling furniture doesn’t it? Train yourself to look for selling situations everywhere you go. There is nothing like a story (good or bad) to reinforce selling skills. Another benefit of this could be you end up recruiting that employee at the dry cleaners to be part of your sales force.

Be open to critique

At the start of the next sales meeting ask for a rating of 1 – 10 on the previous meeting. By conveying a servant mentality to your team in helping them improve and perform at higher levels, you may be surprised at the feedback you receive. Let them know you want to improve to help them get better, make more sales and ultimately make more money.

Use technology

Videos and movie clips can help make your point. Blogs devoted to selling can also help. There is even a Pinterest board out there for sales motivation ideas.

Get everyone involved

Invite your non-selling staff to the meetings from time to time. It never hurts for them to gain a better un-derstanding of the selling process. They may ask some enlightening questions that benefit everyone.

Have fun

Take your work seriously but do not take yourself too seriously. Sure you’re the boss and, yes, you are impor-tant and of course everyone should cling to all those nuggets of wisdom you utter and … Come on this is the furniture business! Have some fun. Be sure to cel-ebrate individual and group successes in your meeting. Most importantly keep every sales meeting positive!

Effective salespeople and teams require positive, upbeat and regular sales meetings if you want them to get back on that roller coaster and ride it over and over again. Now get in the front car, buckle up, throw your arms over your head and scream with delight when your crew achieves sales goals. There is nothing like a roller coaster to get your blood pumping. And don’t worry, your sales people will be right behind you.


Their business had been on the market for three years without producing a sale. They were asking if it was time to consider Plan B—closing the store. This is not the first time this scenario had been discussed, but to this writer, Plan B is not a good alternative.

While they mentioned visiting with their attorney and ac-countant, it appears the conversation is a few years too late. When you want to sell a business, these discussions need to be held about five years before you want out.

There is a different strategy to operating a business through the last few years and the preceding years of the retail life cycle. When you are operating your business, as the owner you have an advantage that most people do not get.

Most people get a W-2 at the end of the year and there are a minimum number of tax and medical deductions they can take. The owner of a business can do a lot more. From having the business provide you with a car to giv-ing your children a salary instead of an allowance, there are many opportunities for the small business owner to place a lot of expenses within the operation of the store.

Of course, this makes the store earn less, but there’s something neat about paying your children to take out the trash at the store and being able to pay them money as a legitimate business expense instead of giving an allowance which is not tax deductible. You are not as concerned with the bottom line of the business when you are getting these perks.

Operations

Knowing the real worth of your business might make you reconsider closing its doors.

The subtitle of a Van Morrison album is, ‘No Plan B’. The album comes to mind as I wander the aisles of a retail show and see so many vendors offering their services to help you close your business. Just

before writing this column, I received an email from a couple who had been in business for 35 years and were looking at closing their doors.

However, when someone wants to buy your store, in addition to looking at the store they will want to look at as many as five years of financials. This is the same five-year time frame we were just mentioning.

When the buyer is going to offer a contract, they are going to pay for the inventory at landed cost, a fair valuation of the fixtures, equipment and the build out of the store, and the best part—‘good will’ or ‘blue sky’ money which is calculated as a multiplier of the average of your net profit for the last three to five years.

Stop and do the math for your store right now. Look at the net profit for the past five years and add those numbers together. Divide by five to get the average, and then we will assume your buyer is going to offer you 2.4 times that average amount. Nice pile of money?

That explains why for the last five years you own the store, you want to get all of these ‘marginal expenses’ out of the business. Look at all of that other money we talked about in inventory, fixtures and other items. If you choose Plan B and close the store, you are getting none of the blue sky or good will, pennies on the dollar for the fixtures, equipment, and build-out. Also, your now-empty building is not only worth less, but your insurance is going to be more expensive for an empty building.

I bet the couple who contacted me would think differently about closing their store if they knew how much money they could get by selling.

I have many questions for my prospective selling couple.

How many different brokers have you utilized in these past three years? Were those brokers specialists in small business? Where have they been advertising the business? Have you had someone give you a qualified business evaluation so that you know you are asking the right price? Have you considered keeping the building, but selling the business?

There are a lot of questions to be asked when you are thinking about selling the business. Those questions need to be asked—and answered—well before the day you want out. And knowing now what you can get from selling a profitable business, there should be no Plan B.

Subscribe to Tom Shay’s e-ret@iler, a free monthly newsletter packed with tips for improving the profitability of your store, at profitsplus.org.

Operations


Next Gen NOW Spotlight

GETTING TO KNOWJORDAN BARRICK Chief Operating Officer Quality Furniture & Appliance Mesquite, Texas

: You married into the retail business, right?

Jordan: Exactly. I took a job in GameStop and moved up pretty quickly. I think it was seven promotions in a very short time. My father-in-law (Stan Pickett) was watching all of this and one day he came up to me and said, ‘Hey would you like to come work for us?’

RN: Did you feel any pressure, seeing as he was your father-in-law?

Jordan: No, not a bit. GameStop was a nice place to work, but I knew that wasn’t where I wanted to spend the rest of my life, and it only took me a little while to completely fall in love with this place.

RN: Why? What’s so different between Quality Furniture & Appliance and Game Stop?

Jordan: It’s a world of difference in terms of customer engagement. Here you’re meeting and talking with people, helping them learn what it is they need or want. It’s so much more fulfilling.

RN: You handle your store’s online advertising. How has that changed your business?

Jordan: I’d say in the three-plus years I’ve been here our company has grown by 50 percent. A lot of that growth can be attributed to our online advertising. We’re in front of so many more people who are already shopping. That’s a big difference from trying to entice them into the market.


Next Gen NOW (NGN) is a community of young, passionate, engaged industry professionals whose mission is to give a voice to the needs and goals of the up-and-coming future generations. NGN strives to educate the industry on how and why it should attract and keep young talent. The NAHFA supports NGN by facilitating meetings and educational opportunities and introducing the industry to its members through RetailerNow. Connect with NGN members at ngnow.org or on Twitter @ngnow.

Next Gen NOW Spotlight

RN: What would you tell another retailer who’s reluctant to invest in online advertising or doesn’t see its worth?

Jordan: If you really measure how much time you invest in and stress over you’re print budget you’d be swayed. We were spending 90 percent of our energy on get-ting our print material together and distrib-uted. Online is so much more efficient and you can easily track your (ROI).

RN: What about the stores out there who don’t have someone who’s tech-savvy?

Jordan: You mean like us? We learned it. Google and others are making it easier and easier to understand and use. Or find somebody you know has integrity and is not going to spend a lot of money and who knows computers.

RN: Five years ago, did you see your-self in retail?

Jordan: Oh, absolutely not. I was going to be an actor or a musician. I also wanted to go into ministry, but I love what I’m doing now. I love being around family every day.

RN: And you’re not around just your father-in-law. Your father works for you?

Jordan (laughing): Yeah, I know that sounds a little weird. People say it sounds like an Everybody Loves Raymond episode, but it’s been great. Watching my dad (Bill Barrick) work and the humility he showed after losing his job has been inspiring to me. He started here part-time, but the past few months he’s been full time. I’ve been very blessed to have him around and part of my life.

RN: You’re back in school studying business. Best business book?

Jordan: Jim Collins’ book Good to Great takes the highest place in my required reads. Between my coursework and pro-fessional life it takes some discipline to add time to read, but his writing is so clear, transparent and necessary I find it much easier to come back to. After our company has grown 50 percent in three years, which is easier when you’re at our volume, it is tempting to keep pushing the same rock uphill to try and keep these results. However, Good to Great is all about sustainable breakthrough—not one three-year period.

RN: You worked at GameStop. What kind of video game would the furniture industry be?

Jordan: There was an 80s game called E.T. that Atari made and people thought it was going to be great, but it was a flop. I’m not saying the furniture industry is a flop. Video games are constantly changing and experimenting and a lot of times they fail—but they learn from those failures and become better. The home furnishing industry is so far behind the curve on some things. We’re afraid to experiment and fail, but really that’s the only way we’re going to grow.

RN: Why did you join NextGen?

Jordan: The relationships and friendships I’ve been able to build are the biggest reasons. You shouldn’t be the smartest guy in the room and with NextGen, you never are—or at least I never am. We’re all learning from each other. We’re all sharing ideas and stories and even frustrations, but we’re also growing and getting better.

Top, Jordan Barrick, right, kicks back with his father in law and boss, Steve Pickett. Below, Jordan and his wife Caitlin.


The Best Seat in the HouseManufacturers offer a snapshot of the upholstery market

Whether you call it a sofa, couch, divan, davenport or settee, few can refute the satisfaction it brings to plop down and relax on a comfy surface at the end of a long day. RetailerNOW spoke with four upholstery manufacturers for this snapshot of the market—Reyna Moore,

vice president of marketing and merchandising for Norwalk Furniture, Len Burke, vice president of marketing at Klaussner Furniture, Mark Gilmore, vice president of sales at CR Laine and La-Z-Boy’s Paula Hoyas, vice president of merchandising, Chuck Seilnacht, director of retail excellence and Mark Wagner, vice president of brand and retail marketing.

BY LISA CASINGER

Product Focus

RetailerNOW: What’s been the big-gest innovation in upholstery in the last five years?

Moore: Function and technology. Consumers want to maximize the use of their furniture. We’re not just talking about ottomans with built in storage but also about pieces traditionally re-served for use in one room showing up elsewhere. People are building master suites with sitting rooms furnished with elegant chairs and smaller sofas. Technology has been the biggest change in the industry. We need to embrace how we use technology to reach consumers.

Norwalk has launched an app for our Kent group—retailers download the app in-store and consumers can “play” with the furniture, changing arms, seats, fabric. It’s a nice tool to discover the collection and it diffuses the nervous-ness people may have about buying furniture; it’s a great icebreaker.

Burke: It’s important to keep up with technology so you can anticipate how that will translate to consumers’ fur-niture needs. For example, we used to have to keep in mind that users would need to sit right in front of the TV for maximum viewing pleasure—that’s

not true today. To keep up with new technology, Klaussner sends staff to the Consumer Electronics Show. We need to know what’s happening in technology. We’re fighting for disposable income and competing with electronics, travel, auto, not just furniture. CES is a very exciting show and we try to bring that back to our showroom. We show 12-15 big screens (55”— 90” TVs) and the new 4K; we do it to show dealers what they’re competing with. We partner with one of the largest electronic distributors in the U.S. to make these TVs available. Dealers need to embrace technology—not run from it. We also have to keep

Klaussner’s Studio theater seating (below) is the perfect mix of comfort and technology with its power recliners and lighted cup holders.

Norwalk makes furniture shopping fun and interactive with its mobile app developed exclusively for its Kent collection.


up with components that are compatible with Apple products. Everyone is sitting there with iPads/iPhones; everyone is connected and everyone is looking to integrate those components into the fur-niture. Tech dictates the consumers’ lives.

Hoyas: In motion the innovation is all about power, power, and more power. It’s finally here—I’ve been in the indus-try for many years and always felt it was coming. Powered motion offers comfort and adjustability literally at the touch of the button. The technology and design offer more angle options and the ability to independently recline the back or the foot rest. And the wallaways are perfect for smaller spaces.

Gilmore: Absolutely the changes in technology, from the way we commu-nicate via social media to our dealer’s ability to access information through our web portal. We’re using iPads and at some point catalogs won’t be used as much (though not right now). Five years ago the social media platforms didn’t

Product Focus

exist like they do today. Facebook has slowed and Instagram is huge. Houzz, Twitter, Pinterest—they allow us to reach out to consumers and inspire designers. They’re looking for ideas and using these tools. Our dealer portal on the website is filled with information and available 24/7 so they can look up orders, fabrics, access the digital library—our customers don’t have to wait to get their questions answered. Then there’s the technology in manufacturing itself—we’ve made several capital expenditures in our cutting equip-ment and manufacturing that’s helped us with capacity in that last few years.

RetailerNOW: There are so many col-ors and patterns in upholstery at market,

but on the retail floor there are a lot of blues/browns and neutrals. What is the consumer really after and are we giving them what they want?

Moore: Consumers want their furni-ture to have longevity; they add more color with accent chairs and pillows not

necessarily the big pieces. When we look at our patterns we don’t judge the performance of a fabric by the yard, but where it’s placed. Consumers are trying to be more on trend and with us having more custom options they’re able to do that.

Burke: As domestic business comes back to the U.S. you’ll see more retail-ers using color. Before, if you ordered a container of red sofas for example, and it didn’t sell you were stuck with lots of red sofas. We offer 600 fabrics but 40 percent of our business is special order. We give retailers choices; our business has come back and retailers are look-ing for a domestic supplier. This is a

fashion industry and everything derives from apparel and paint; we’re seeing retailers taking a bit more risks now.

Hoyas: We’ve been enamored with color; consumers love it and tell us that and then when

they have all of the options in front of them they pay homage to the neutrals. But the colors can come in accessories and accent pieces so their investment is safe for a number of years with the base colors. Retailers are pulling in more color on their sales floor. With patterns we see a lot of the smaller

CR Laine provides dealers with tools and resources to help them recreate the vignettes that draw consumers attention.


Product Focus

scale patterns, geometrics, abstracts, floral abstracts. We’re also seeing more traditional transitional looks—con-sumers want a traditional foundation but not grandma’s traditional. Think textural menswear looks, leather, tweed and natural fibers—the foundation is tradition, but updated it’s actually what you’re seeing in fashion with boyfriend cuts and oversized menswear cuts in women’s wear. Furniture always follows fashion, but with everything out there on TV and the Internet, we’re closing the gap and people don’t have to go off to study these designs or styles—everything is instantaneously available.

Gilmore: Market is the fashion runway; everything we do will get somewhat boiled down to the end consumer and the end consumer plays it far safer. Consumers want design help; they say ‘I’ll know it when I see it.’ We try to help dealers see the possibilities or ideas and then replicate them in their showrooms. We give them paint colors, and design ideas and information on the vendors we use for our lighting, rugs, accessories, etc. We’re trying to inspire the dealer to do this so the customer will just walk in and love it—and buy it. The reality is it doesn’t always happen that way. The way we merchandise our showroom takes a significant financial commitment; but

retailers can take pieces of it and make it their own. We put quite a bit of time and effort twice a year into d e s i g n i n g a n d merchandi s ing our showrooms, but retailers are doing it every day

and that’s hard work. Their sales floors are always changing. When dealers sell stuff it’s great, but it adds to your work. It takes a significant amount of effort to be done right.

RetailerNOW: How do the ever-changing regulations (such as in flame retardants) impact your business? Do your retail partners seem concerned about this issue?

Moore: In areas of the country where people are a little more exposed to the information, we get more questions. Moms are concerned about safety in the home—those customers are asking for it. Norwalk is more of any early adopter of these types of things; we want to take a position of leadership.

Burke: The retailers are asking questions. There’s been a lot of press about it; is it harmful? Is it not harmful? For us it hasn’t been an issue because we pour our own foam, we aren’t dependent on a third-party supplier and we can react quickly to what-ever needs to be done. We’ve been able to adjust to that.

Gilmore: The issue is the regulations are an ever-moving target for manufacturers and what [legislators] don’t realize is the number of steps in the manufacturing process. It’s not as simple as slapping a label on something. The reality of the flame retardant issue is very few dealers ask the questions. Quite some time ago we

took the (flame retardents) out. There are a few who are socially minded who are asking.

RetailerNOW: What type of product information or training do you offer your retail partners?

Moore: We have a corporate trainer and we have training here at the fac-tory. We just hosted a two-day training class and we had everyone from a new designer to someone who’s been selling for 15 years. After market we bring product back to the factory and mer-chandise our showroom here because we use it as a training ground. We do product training and sales techniques. Right now we have monthly classes, 35 people per class, and retailers are asking for regional training. Coming here is a huge success because they can see the factory and see how product is made. We follow their sales afterwards and we see huge spikes.

Burke: We launched Klaussner University in April, an online training course for sales associations. There are modules on Klaussner product knowl-edge, upholstery, casegoods, motion, sleepers, and leather. It’s interactive and allows them to work at their own pace. There’s backend reporting for managers, printable worksheets and testing and certification. Training is important and our reps do a good job but this new program provides instant training.

Seilnacht: La-Z-Boy offers all of our retailers a comprehensive online training curriculum. Our product knowledge courses cover upholstered products, new introductions, and mattresses. Our selling techniques courses include a seven-module se-ries and other selling skills courses are focused on presenting finance

Updated transitional looks are popular with La-Z-Boy consumers. They bring in pops of color with accent chairs and patterns on pillows.


options, selling casegoods, and more. We also have a suite of more than 20 manage-ment training courses that has both basic management skills training and courses specific to retail management.

Gilmore: The web portal is helpful, but our reps are consistently out in front of the dealers—training is important. Retail stores have turnover so you are constantly training; we have product-knowledge meetings multiple times a year. For the last three years we’ve offered intensive two-day training sessions here at CR Laine. The training is on things they should know about selling leather furni-ture or patterns on curved backed chairs, not specific to our product—we keep the numbers low—small groups (20 people). When they walk out of here they feel con-fident. More knowledge brings confidence, confidence brings trust and trust brings sales. If you can achieve those things…if you show that confidence to the consumer they will believe you and they will buy, it’s not complicated.

RetailerNOW: How are you effectively marketing to Millennials and/or how are you helping your retail partners do the same?

Moore: We’re marketing to them through social media and we’re reaching out to younger retailers to see how to go after that group. Our Urban Studio collection was designed for the younger customers as well as small space living (baby boomers downsizing). It’s for the young executive who invests in quality product and they tend to be more contemporary; they’re also more comfortable with colors and the color palette in that collection is strong. This members of this demographic group are curators of their own home and we recognize that.

Burke: We’re obviously designing product for them. We’re trying to stay informed on social media and we’re keeping our retailers tuned in. Photography changes every day, videos are important and we supply the marketing assets and ideas to the retailers;

“These are not jobs that have returned home, these are jobs that never left,” said Pat Bowling, vice president of com-munications for the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA).

Interestingly enough, these upholstery factories are having a hard time finding workers. AHFA’s Solutions Partners divi-sion is trying to help uncover the reasons why these jobs have been difficult to fill and possibly develop a campaign to help recruit new workers.

Part of the problem may be training. Lower end upholstery factories used to be a training ground for factories that spe-cialize in higher end, more custom prod-ucts. But as production of lower priced products moved overseas, U.S. factories lost their pipeline of trained workers.

our brand is the dealer’s brand; we have to help them come up with ideas.

Wagner: Our products are designed to appeal to consumers who are interested in creating a comfortable and inviting home, and are seeking high-quality furniture at a great value.

We market to more of a mindset, rather than a specific age demographic. We offer consumers a full line of products in a wide range of customized styles for the living room and family room. We support retail partners with comprehensive marketing programs, including national media cam-paigns, in-store promotions, public rela-tions and social media efforts.

Gilmore: Our focus is how to meet con-sumer needs not just one demographic. We build a product with the consumer in mind—does it have the right sit, pitch, comfort, styling, color. There are people in their 20-50s driving Mercedes; Mercedes doesn’t go after a certain demographic.

Another problem might be the miscon-ception that all the furniture jobs are going overseas. “If you think about it, all the media attention focused on plant closings over the last decade has most people thinking ‘no one makes furniture in the U.S. anymore’,” Bowling said.

Mark Gilmore, vice president of sales, CR Laine said “It takes a trained person to do eight-way hand tied and it’s not as simple to get those people. There aren’t as many people out there doing that.”

Gilmore and others in the upholstery industry are encouraged however. Catawba Valley Community College, Hickory, N.C. now offers a two-year course in upholstery manufacturing and it’s first class (soon to be graduates) was full.

Here’s something that might come as a surprise to you: The majority of upholstery sold in the United States is made in the United States.

Product Focus

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High Point Recap

Ahead of the CurveMake a statement with a new perspective on an accent chair from Elements. The Durian ($199) boasts tons of flair with a modern design and comes in four different colors. elementsgrp.com

Boogie NightsLike a modern Scandinavian disco ball, Renwil’s polished and lacquered brass fixture ($118) will send delight every which way with its square cut-outs and multifaceted design. renwil.com Sleeping Beauty

The Contour Bedroom ($3,628 for a queen), by Copeland is crafted in solid American black walnut hardwood with a natural finish and solid ash in three finishes. Made to order in America. copelandfurniture.com Curve Appeal

The Contemporare Chair ($4,128), part of Hurtado’s MON Collection features a chrome base with an ultra-comfortable, detachable seat. It’s available in customizable fabrics. hurtadofurniture.com

Precious GemThe Diamond Console ($1,797) from Alden Parkes features a plank top and a diamond patterned apron. It comes with either a crackled painted turquoise finish (shown) or a rustic black painted finish, which can be paired with the Diamond cocktail table. aldenparkes.com

All prices shown are MSRP.


High Point Recap

Boston BluesPianca’s Boston sofa ($4,200) offers details of the past made and embellished with handcrafted workmanship quality. pianca.com

Handcrafted BeautyThe Oasis rug collection is inspired by famous Moroccan rugs of the past. Harounian Rug International’s master artisans hand knot this warm, yet authentic pattern ($799 for a 5x8), a favorite of designers. hrirugs.com

Thin is InTronk Design’s elegant and light table ($800) can be customized to any shape–oval, circular, square or rectangle–size and color desired. Its natural walnut top merged with industrial hairpin legs creates a timeless design. tronkdesign.com

Clearly AppealingThe Marilyn Acrylic Side Chair from Global Views ($4,999) is made of acrylic (surprise!) and upholstered with 100% mohair. The upholstery comes in Emerald Green, Brown Sugar Gold, Sultana Lavender and Pewter Grey. The arm chair option is $6,249. globalviews.com

Transitional YouthBig Sur by Wendy Bellissimo, part of Legacy Classic’s youth collection, features a saddle brown, warm cherry tone finish with a subtle burnishing and distressing. The Monterey Bonded Leather Headboard Platform Bed ($599 full, $499 twin) is the centerpiece of the group. legacyclassic.com


READY, SET …. SEND!It’s never too late to launch an email campaign

Have you launched an email campaign? If not, you have an amazing oppor-tunity on your hands.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing delivers the best ROI of any marketing tool. Email is better than TV, radio, newspaper, social media and even search engine market-ing. Think about it: You read your email every day. Since nine out of 10 consum-ers check their email daily, and six out of 10 do it first thing in the morning—the inbox is where you want your message to be. But first you have to earn the right to be there.

Last month I wrote about winning strategies and common pitfalls of running an email marketing campaign. This month, I’d like

to address how to get started.

First, it’s important the ent i re management

t eam buy in tha t email marketing

w o r k s . L a s t year companies attr ibuted 23 percent of their t o t a l s a l e s t o email marketing

and 70 percent of respondents had used a coupon they received via email in the previous month.

T h o s e n u m b e r s should get anyone’s attention. Campaigns for furniture retailers have delivered millions of dollars in annual sales, so it’s definitely worth

doing.

Next, it’s important to actually launch your campaign before beginning to collect email addresses. This in counter-intuitive to some with the thinking that it would be smart to collect emails first, and then once there is critical mass begin a program. The reasons this is a flawed strategy are numerous, but I’ll tell you the biggies. First, your people are not going to keep asking people for email ad-dresses when they don’t have a good story about what it will be used for. Second is that email addresses get old and die, so

you need to communicate immediately. If those two reasons aren’t enough, your messages will likely get labeled as spam when they start coming six months later because the recipients will forget they gave you permission, and that will get you black listed resulting in all of your future efforts getting labeled as spam.

When launching the program you’ll have an important decision—do you spiff or not? Since commissioned sales people will closely align their activities with their pay plan, this may be a smart move. But you have to then decide if you can accurately and easily measure their efforts, and also be able to detect fraud. Another idea is to have a kick-off contest that rewards top collection performance for a limited time. This creates some excitement and gets the new habits formed.

Speaking of salespeople, it’s absolutely critical that this group buys into your program. One of the techniques we imple-ment with our campaigns is to make sure that all future email to that customer has the salesperson’s name included in the email. It doesn’t take long before your salespeople start seeing previous customers holding an email in their hand and asking for them by name, which will cement their new habits for life! Until then, they will need encouragement to have the faith that it’s in their best interests to ask for an email address with every sale. Be sure to “inspect what you expect” or your new program will certainly fall flat. Simply measuring and publicly posting collection percent-age results may be enough to motivate competitive salespeople, but also be ready and willing to offer more training to those with challenges.

Sales & Marketing


To get the best performance from your salespeople, you need to give them the proper tools. I’d highly recommend some role-playing as part of your launch. Write down the top five objections your salespeople think your customers will have, and make sure that each is addressed. One common concern is “What are you going to do with my email address?” Salespeople should be ready to answer this question with something like: “Now that you are a customer of ours, we’d like to give you the VIP treatment. About once a month you’ll hear something from us that is actually interesting, and you’ll also be invited to private events and sales that we don’t advertise to the public. And of course we never share your email address. Since you can always unsubscribe with a single click, let’s give it a try!”

In addition to your in-store efforts, you’ll need to make a decision of whether or not to collect email addresses on your website.

If you have substantial web traffic, this can be an excellent way to gather prospects and then use email to get them in the door. We implement a “Super Collector” for many of our clients, which is about three times as likely to gather an email address than just having a form on your site. The Super Collector is a pop-up that asks the visitor if they would like to receive email. We have

lots of tips around how to design this for best results, but mainly you should offer a great reason to sign up. You should send these new prospects several emails spaced out over a period of time on your com-pany’s USP (unique selling proposition). By now you may be thinking about who on your executive team is going to handle

email marketing. It can be a big job to shop for an email platform, implement it, and then keep it running correctly. You’ll also want to make sure your content is excellent and focused on your customers not on your company. If your messages are all about your next sale, you’ll lose the attention of your audience. With the amazing potential email marketing offers, you’ll want to make

a serious commitment to your campaign. You may have a marketing executive that has experience in this area, or you may be wise to look outside your firm for a company that can do all the heavy lifting so that you can stay focused on selling furniture. Alternatively, you may look for a hybrid

solution—hire a firm to get you started and then see if you can take it over.

Ken Mahar enjoyed a successful career in retail sales, including furniture, before founding Email Broadcast. That retail experience has helped him become an expert in email marketing. Learn more about email marketing at www.emailbroadcast.com or call 206-714-4767.

Sales & Marketing

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Sales & Marketing

BY DAVID MCMAHON

SALES TO PLAN. DO YOU HAVE ONE?Without this Key Performance Indicator, you may be setting yourself up for failure

A few years ago, I attended a sales leadership conference of a multi-billion dollar

corporation in Hawaii. I sat with the top 20 percent of a sales force that numbered in the thousands. It was like a rock-n-roll show with two massive screens on either side of the

stage in the auditorium.

The vice president came on the stage. Before speaking, he presented two slides: The first slide was plain and simple: “Sales to Plan.” The second slide was even simpler:

“104%.” Music erupted and a standing ova-tion ensued.

There are many Key Performance Indicators to measure a company’s success. Sales to Plan was the most important performance indicator that this company’s team was concerned with. Most other numbers in the company relied on the sales team achieving this metric. Profitability, operating spend, inventory, number of employees and liquid-ity levels—all required sales to achieve their plan. Your home furnishings store is no dif-ferent. It is interesting, though, that many other smaller businesses don’t always share the same focus on setting and achieving an actionable plan as this top corporation.

Achieving your desired sales volume is critical to growing your profits and cash flow. If you fall short of your sales target, your fixed expenses will eat into your profits and make payables difficult. This is fairly obvious, but the truth is that many small home furnishings stores don’t have a good handle on what their targets should be and how to achieve them. Some retail-ers even ignore company-wide sales goals altogether choosing instead to focus only on the goals of individuals. Best-practice businesses, on the other hand, set achiev-able sales volume targets. They ensure they have sales and marketing teams in place that can match or exceed their targets.

Actual sales are easy enough to determine. The tricky part is setting the target. Should you just pick a number, say 10 percent, and add it to the previous year? Should you keep the number flat? Should you ask your salespeople what they think they can achieve? Or, should you figure out what sales you need to produce a certain profit?

Whatever you decide it is a prediction. Your sales target will rarely be perfect. No one can see the future and everything that will occur in a market while factoring re-gional and national economies. However, setting this target is the best way to send a message to your team of the direction of your business. Without this goal, your chances of getting there and surpassing it become much less likely.

Achieving your

desired sales volume

is critical to growing

your profits and cash

flow, but the truth is

that many small home

furnishings stores don’t

have a good handle

on what their targets

should be and how to

achieve them.


There are six steps to setting sales to plan:

Determine your annual sales plan on written business. You can use a percentage-increase-over-last-year method or a profit-up method. With a profit-up method, you start with your bottom-line net income and factor all fixed and variable expenses to determine a required sales volume. A third way is to use this formula: Planned Sales = Planned Number of Customer Visits x Planned Average Sale x Planned Close Rate. Just make it realistic.

Break down your sales target into four quarters and 12 months. Review your three prior years to determine if there is any significant seasonality. You cannot just take annual goals and divide by 12 as different months have a different number of weekend days.

Break down your sales target into 52 weeks, seven-day weeks. (Monday-Sunday). This accounts for full weekends and allows you to set an average weekly volume target.

Review the company goals with your sales team.

Help your salespeople set achievable targets. Individuals are just that—individuals. Some are proven top writers, some are average. Do not set everyone with the same sales goal. This is less motivating to the top people and unrealistic to others.

Define your strategy. What do you need to do to make your numbers? This will involve defining specific operational tactics. For example, if you determine that planned customer visits and close rates are going to remain constant, average sale size must increase to produce a higher volume. This may be done through focusing on add-ons, group pricing and merchandising tactics.

So how do you use Sales to Plan as a Key Performance Indicator to grow your business?

It’s easy, really. At the end of each week, report the results for each salesperson and for the entire operation. Weekly

Actual Sales/Weekly Planned Sales. This is your weekly report card. On a weekly basis, report the month-to-date numbers with respect to the target. If you are above 100 percent, you are on target. Once the month is over, nothing can be done. The purpose of weekly tracking is to check your progress while you can still do something about it.

Remember to spend some time after the month has concluded to analyze why you exceeded your planned volume or why you missed. Make tactical adjustments to correct when necessary. Here are some areas to dig into when determining how you ended up where you are:

Break down sales into its parts: Total number of customer visits, average sale, and close rate.

Look at sales produced by each one of your sales reps.

Review sales by inventory, vendor and category.

Review return on promotional activities.

Your sales plan needs to be assessed every quarter—not just for the prior three months, but also year-to-date. You want to be over 100 percent here. If you’re off target by more than 5 percent, you should re-examine your strategy. Are your goals unrealistic or too low? If you find that hitting your numbers is not possible, you may need to reduce other expenses to maintain proper profit levels. If you find that you are well ahead of your target level, it may be time to up the bar. That’s a good thing!

Your annual review is a time to reflect on the past. Use what you learn from that review to set a new strategy for the following year. Build on your successes and, just as important, learn from your failures. Go through the entire process of setting a new planned level of sales.

The first step to improving something is to track it. The absence of a plan is either a plan to fail or a just dream. The KPI Sales to Plan allows your organization to be forward looking and gives you a performance report on arguably the most important number in your business: Your Sales Revenue.

David McMahon is an industry business consultant and certified management accountant. He is director of consulting and performance groups for PROFITsystems, a HighJump Product. He can be reached for questions or comments at [email protected].

Sales & Marketing


GO TO NAHFA.ORG to register for the next webinar or to view previous webinars.

CHECK OUT OUR ARCHIVES:Reputation Management–Handling Negative Reviews on Yelp

In this webinar, Brian will cover how you can take control of what shows up in Yelp when someone searches for information about your store.

• The inner-workings of Yelp’s review �lter • How to respond to negative reviews • Tactics for resolving fake reviews • Best practices for getting more positive reviews • Proven ways to increase your star rating

Hiring the Best Candidate–Do’s and Don’ts in the Interview

This webinar covers best practices seminar that will provide speci�c tips concerning the hiring process.

• The actual job posting • Proper interviewing • Questions interviewers can and cannot ask • The use of social medial in the hiring process • Screening candidates legally

Reputation Management–Handling Negative Reviews on YelpHiring the Best Candidate–Do’s and Don’ts in the InterviewBlending Traditional Media & Social Content

NEXT LIVE WEBINAR: JAN. 29, 2015 @11am PDTThe move towards true omni-channel; breaking down the initial ecommerce requirements and steps

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Brian Patterson is an Online Reputation Management consultant who's work has been seen and heard on ABC and NPR. Brian works with businesses both small and large to manage complex search engine optimization and online reputation management initiatives.

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The furniture industry’s image problem is real. The competition we face—cool start-ups, sexy tech firms, even our online breth-

ren—makes it difficult to recruit top talent. Compounding this problem is the growth of social recruiting, the practice of using social media to reinforce existing recruit-ing methods—which has made it easier for potential candidates to scrutinize every detail of a job before an initial interview.

Current hiring trends—especially in the areas of online and social recruiting—actu-ally present a unique opportunity for you to stand out. With 1.7 billion active users on social media, your store can connect with people it usually wouldn’t. So it’s time to step up your game.

Bill O’Malley, chief recruiting officer at Connector Team Recruiting, has worked in home furnishings since he was 19 when he began with Levitz Furniture. O’Malley started his own recruitment firm in 2012 and has worked with high profile furniture retailers and numerous NAHFA members across the country.

“Furniture is a great industry that has seen a lot of change, but with these changes an opportunity has been created, especially as the economy has improved” says O’Malley,

“But we have to work really hard to bring great people in because there are a lot of old habits that die hard.”

One of these habits is passive hiring: hiring based on a friend of a friend or circulating a job posting and waiting for candidates to apply. “This is not 2008. It’s not even 2012,” O’Malley said. “The job market two years later is so different, and it’s becoming more and more of a candidate-driven market.”

Here are a few tips to help you start engaging potential candi-dates online:

Have a robust online career center.

Add compelling employee s ta tements to your webs i te . Include employee photos and spotlights. Focus on building a following just like you’d build a customer following. People want to know that your business is a great place to work—candidates are asking more and more about the workplace and the people they work with versus money.

Identify your ideal candidate and seek her out.

As O’Malley states, we are living in a can-didate-driven market. Businesses have to act to get their hands on the much-desired passive talent—those who are working and happy but looking for opportunity and ad-vancement. These candidates are the tough-est to reach, but because of their talent they offer the most return on investment. This requires someone within the company to build a rapport via social media and make that critical connection.

Make this easier on yourself by involving your employees. Employees should enjoy where they work and want to see your business grow and thrive. Their advocacy helps expand your social reach. Undercover Recruiter found that an average employee will have 150 contacts on their social net-works—even 20 employees means reaching 3,000 potential candidates.

BY SYDNEE SEITES

Follow, share and engage with potential candidates.

You’re defeating the purpose of social re-cruiting if you don’t actually interact with potential candidates on your social media channels. Again, involve your employees. If your operation is big enough, create a social recruiting account on which you and your employees can talk specifically about open positions and the exciting things happening with your store.

For smaller operations, assign one socially strong employee to lead employee advo-cacy—to create content that is genuine, informative or entertaining. Encourage employees to join industry-specific groups (say, on LinkedIn), participate in industry-related Twitter chats, share enticing content about your business and interact with po-tential candidates who’s values align with those of your business.

Hiring might be a process, but it’s still about creating real relationships with real people, and connecting with people through online social media channels is a great way to start and build that relationship.


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BY KAPRICE CRAWFORD

INCREASE YOUR ONLINE PRESENCENAHFA’s Get It Near Me Program Can Help

In the last several years, consumers have been more empowered by the web and mobile phones than ever before. GE Capital Retail Bank’s 2013 survey indicated that about 81 percent of

consumers researched online before visiting a store, up 20 percent from 2012, and on average they spent 78 days gathering infor-mation before buying. This trend highlights the importance of a digital presence; brand information must be easy to find, helpful, and understandable.

The age of information is not the swan song of the brick-and-mortars, however, just the opposite—this may be your greatest opportunity yet.

Shopper habits are constantly evolving with modern tools, but the driving force behind consumer motivation is as relatable as ever; they want the best information, the best warranty, the best product and the best deal. Shoppers are simply more informed than they have ever been, and they are equally more willing to interact with well-represented brands outside of physical retailers.

Webrooming—browsing online and purchasing in store—is on the rise with 78 percent of respondents having done so in the past 12 months. On average, consumers visited five unique retailers for large purchases—at least three online merchants and two brick-and-mortar stores—before making their decision. Consumers who research online and buy offline are attracted to data, they want to be fully educated before they enter a retail outlet. Consumers visiting websites are rarely there to make a

purchase, instead, they are collecting product details, shopping for inspiration or educating themselves on options and competi-tion. Home furnishing stores best aligned to take advantage of digital habits will create an informative digital presence. A great brand must have a cloud of information floating digitally, so when consumers are flipping through options on their phones, they’re doing it walking into your store.

NAHFA has aligned with Wayfair.com, an ecommerce retailer and content publisher that focuses on home goods. Their goal is to give their visitors easy access to “a zillion things home” all in one place. With more than 10 million unique monthly visitors and 100 million page views you too can increase your online presence.

Wayfair’s Get It Near Me program offers brick-and-mortar retail stores the opportunity to advertise on the Wayfair website network. Retailers can target local shoppers based on geography, product category, brand and price point. This program works on a cost-per-click structure which only charges retailers when a shopper clicks on their ad and is taken from the Wayfair site to the retailer’s site. As an NAHFA member you will receive a rebate of up to five percent on your pay-per-click charges.

Kaprice Crawford is NAHFA’s membership team leader. For more information about Wayfair’s Get It Near Me program, call Kaprice at 800.422.3778.Wayfair’s Get It Near Me program allows retailers to

advertise on the popular online furniture store’s website.

Membership

50 N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 www.retailerNOWmag.com www.retailerNOWmag.com O C T O B E R | 2 0 1 4 51

By the time this issue of RetailerNOW hits your desk the midterm elections will be over and the dust will have

settled a bit even though the real work won’t start until after the new year. The outcome (i.e. which party comes out on top) will determine the course of action we, and many industry and national associa-tions, take on those big issues that affect us all—Internet sales tax, Hours of Service, tax and healthcare reform, regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and more.

The North American Home Furnishings Association (NAHFA) will also have results from a membership survey we fielded after the High Point Market in October. We questioned members about the above issues to ensure we’re championing the causes they find important. Everyone has a voice and each is important.

Since the NAHFA refocused its attention on government relations last year, we’ve helped affect change. We’ve rallied members on more than one occasion to support the Marketplace Fairness Act (Internet sales tax); we’ve worked in coalition with the American Home Furnishings Alliance on both California regulations and proposed national regulations on flame retardant

and formaldehyde use in furniture; we’ve helped prevent a proposed requirement in a California labeling law that would have retailers responsible for posting point-of-sale signs on upholstery stating whether it contained flame retardants or not; we’ve created a team of retailers focused on gov-ernment relations who are driving change, inspiring fellow members, and sharing their ideas and passion throughout our industry and the retail industry as a whole; and we’ve continually educated our members on the ins-and outs of myriad issues, big and small.

Government relations isn’t glamorous.Many of you find it boring and frustrating and possibly even unimportant. But, I’m noticing change. More people are calling or emailing looking for clarification on the nuances of the language in regulations or asking how to get more information or who to talk to about getting something changed or even declaring that we should initiate new laws. Sometimes people thank us for keeping them informed, some express their frustration. Everyone has a voice and each is important.

It is fascinating, this system of government we have. Granted, for me it often moves too slow. The fact that the CPSC has been considering a national flammability

Government Relations

standard since 2008 and we still don’t have one baffles me. Who gets those kinds of deadlines? The fact that an elected official can propose a bill in March (California SB1019, the bill that requires manufacturers to check a box on the label on upholstered furniture to indicate whether it contains flame retardant chemicals for example), and we the people can make suggestions and comments on it and they’re actually considered is empowering. We can influence change. We can make a difference. Everyone has a voice and each is important.

As you take time to set your goals and make your business plans for 2015, take a minute to think about some of the struggles you may be up against. Rising healthcare costs; increased restrictions for your delivery driv-ers; labor law updates and changes; sales taxes; regulatory compliance. Before you get frustrated and overwhelmed—we can help. NAHFA helps its members navigate these issues. And, if you’re passionate about find-ing solutions and raising discussions, join our members-only Government Relations Action Team. Everyone has a voice and each is important.

Lisa Casinger is NAHFA’s government relations liaison. Contact her at [email protected] or 800-422-3778.

Care to Join Us?BY LISA CASINGER

www.retailerNOWmag.com O C T O B E R | 2 0 1 4 51

Our Association gratefully recognizes all of our sponsors whose dedication and commitment have strengthened our industry.

To become an industry sponsor contact:North American Home Furnishings Association800.422.3778 or email: [email protected]

*List as of October 15, 2014

Signature SponsorSerta Mattress Company

Premier SponsorFurniture Today

Surya Rugs

Titanium Sponsorsaspenhome

Coaster Company of AmericaCory 1st Choice Home Delivery

Emerald Home FurnishingsFurniture Wizard

Synchrony FinancialInternational Market Centers

Jaipur Rugs Inc.Leggett & Platt

MicroD, Inc.Myriad Software

NourisonSTORIS

Platinum SponsorsACA Advertising Concepts of America • American Leather

Ashley Furniture Industries • Best Buy for BusinessFurniture of America • FurnitureDealer.net • High Point Market Authority

Netsertive • Northwest Furniture Express • PROFITsystems, Inc. • R & A MarketingSimmons USA • Steve Silver Co.

Gold/Silver/Bronze SponsorsAramark • BrandSource AVB • Color Ad • DSI Companies • Horich Hector Lebow Advertising

Mail America • ShockWatch • Therapedic Idaho • TruckSkin, LLC.

SponsorThing_HFA NEWBLUE.indd 1 10/29/14 9:28 AM


vRiver of Goods helping bring pieces of Downton Abby to consumers’ homes

River of Goods, a national leader in sourcing, designing, and de-veloping unique lighting and home décor, has been granted the license to produce the first Downton Abbey Lighting collec-tion. Downton Abbey Lighting by River of Goods will feature an exclusive collection of deco-rative floor and table lamps, wall sconces, accent lamps, pendants and chandeliers inspired by the

award-winning period drama.

The collection intends to capture the grand style of the popular se-ries that is set in an English castle, spanning the years leading up to World War I through the 1920s.

The Downton Abbey Lighting col-lection will include approximately 20 exclusive designs that range from Edwardian-inspired to Art Deco, including one-of-a-kind and hand-crafted stained glass, crystal pendants and chandeliers,

elaborate shades with tassels and fringe, and ornate bases. Retail price points for the lamps range from $35 to $400.

The collection will debut to re-tailers during the AmericasMart Atlanta market in January in River of Goods’ showroom located in Building 2, Suite 1135. The debut will coordinate with the airing of the Downton Abbey Season Five premiere on PBS January 4, 2015.

v Furnishings store owner Rex Maynard honored for commitment to tennis

NAHFA member Rex Maynard has been selected as the recipient of the United States Tennis Association’s Eve F. Kraft Community Service Award . Maynard , who owns Maynard’s Home Furnishings in Greenville, S.C., was honored earlier this month in Atlanta.

Maynard, who never played tennis in college or professionally, runs multiple tennis programs focused on the youth in Belton, S.C. These programs impact the lives of more than 600 juniors, and this year will impact some collegiate varsity players

as well. From 10 and Under Tennis to the upper ends of junior competi-tion—and now collegiate—Maynard embraces tennis players of all abilities

“I feel flattered, humbled and sur-prised to win this award, but most importantly, very honored knowing there are many others doing even greater work at the local level,” said Maynard.

“This is both unexpected and unbe-lievable,” Maynard added. “It con-firms my belief that even though I’ve had the opportunity to serve in some

state, section and national positions, my best and most important place to serve and grow tennis is in my community.”

The USTA awards the Eve F. Kraft Community Service Award annually to an individual who best exemplifies Kraft’s selfless mission to bring the sport of tennis to everyone who wants to play.

The USTA said Kraft was a tennis pioneer whose ability to touch people’s lives exceeded the boundaries of the tennis court.

vRetailers learn how to strengthen their web presence at networking conference

Furniture retailers from Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina gathered in Charlotte last month for a Southern Regional Lunch & Learn sponsored by the North American Home Furnishings Association and hosted by furniture store web designer Micro D.

Retailers learned about how to update their websites and offer relevant content to their shoppers. With more than 73 percent of U.S. shoppers doing their research online before heading into a store, an engaging web site is more important than ever.

After the Lunch & Learn attendees toured the Havertys store in Charlotte.

vNAHFA President passes the gavelDuring the High Point Market in October, the North American Home Furnishings Association held its annual membership meeting in the Retailer Resource Center during which out-going president Rick Howard, Sklar Furniture, Boca Raton, FL passed the gavel to the incoming 2015 president, Mary Cramer, Cramer’s Home Furnishings, Ellensburg, WA.

Howard also recognized Howard Haimsohn, Lawrance Contemporary, San Diego, CA as he stepped down from the board. Haimsohn was instrumental in working on the merger and has served the retail associations for more than 30 years in many capacities, including president of the former NHFA and WHFA.


The Scoop

Share your stories with RetailerNOW. Did you or your business receive an award? Host an event? Open a new location? Hire someone amazing? Send your news or press releases to us at [email protected]

vBravo’s Jeff Lewis will headline Dallas’ Total Home & Gift Market

Jeff Lewis, the star of Bravo’s Flipping Out and Interior Therapy will headline Dallas’ Total Home & Gift Market in January.

Lewis is widely regarded as America’s most well-known house flipper and designer. He will participate in a moderated Q&A session at the World Trade Center Hall of Nations on January 16 at 1 p.m. He’ll also appear at Codarus for a meet and greet in celebration of the company’s 10th anniversary.

“Jeff has pioneered the high visibility of house flipping, and we look forward to hear-ing his insight on renovating exterior and interior living spaces,” said Cindy Morris, chief operating officer for the Dallas Market Center. “We continue to look for new ways to inspire our buyers and know that Jeff will be an exciting addition to our events, education and wide range of unique product to launch 2015.”

“We’re thrilled to have Jeff join us in January to commemorate 10 years of providing innovat ive and on-trend manufacturers to our buyers,” said Cody Hutcheson-Ables, chief executive officer for Codarus, a sales management orga-nization that represents home accessories, furniture, bedding, rugs and lighting. “His knowledge of house flipping combined with expertise in design will be a great addition to the celebration.”

Lewis believes in finding the true integrity of a house during renovation and then breathing life back into the space in a way that will connect with a certain type of buyer. By taking his knowledge of more than 20 years of designing and renovating his own homes, Lewis is now designing and consulting on client projects across the country with his one-of-a-kind personality.

v Sklar Furnishings owners recognized by Office Depot for green practices

S o u t h F l o r i d a - b a s e d S k l a r Furnishings was the only small business in Florida to be recog-nized with a 2014 Office Depot Leadership In Greener Purchasing Award. Sklar was in good company, joining prominent fellow nationally ranked award winners this year in a variety of categories that included the City of Chicago, TD Bank, JM Family Enterprises, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, University of Michigan and the Miami Heat.

The Office Depot Leadership In Greener Purchasing Award program annually recognizes no more than 30 organizations throughout the U.S. out of thousands evaluated.

“We are so very honored to be recognized by Office Depot along with major corporate, education, municipality, healthcare and profes-sional sports leaders that are making outstanding strides in sustainability,” said Sklar co-owner Rick Howard, who is also the outgoing president of the North American Home Furnishings Association. “Our team at Sklar knows that to truly be ef-fective, environmental awareness, advocacy and ultimately engagement must be a continuous year ‘round mission.”

Right: Sklar Furnishings owners Rick and Pat Howard were honored recently by Office Depot for their commitment to environmental awareness.

Above: House flipper Jeff Lewis will appear at Dallas’ Total Home & Gift Market in January.

www.retailerNOWmag.com N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 5554 N O V / D E C | 2 0 1 4 www.retailerNOWmag.com

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE INDUSTRY EVENTS

Showtime

December 7-10

High Point, North Carolina showtime-market.com

Atlanta Winter Gift, Home Furnishings Market

January 6-13, 2015

Atlanta, Georgia americasmart.com

Dallas Total Home & Gift Market

January 14-20, 2015

Dallas, Texas dallasmarketcenter.com

Las Vegas Market

January 18-22, 2015

Las Vegas, Nevada lasvegasmarket.com

KEM Furniture and Accessory Mart

February 1-3, 2015

Edison, New Jersey kemexpo.com

Tupelo Furniture Market

February 5-8, 2015

Tupelo, Mississippi tupelofurnituremarket.com

High Point Market

April 18-23, 2015

High Point, North Carolina highpointmarket.org

International Contemporary Furniture Fair

May 16-19, 2015

New York, New York icff.com

Calendar SubmissionsDo you have an industry event you’d like to see published in our calendar? Send the event name, date, location and website to [email protected].

Serving the U.S., Canada and the U.K.Call (800) 824 - 2238 or www.LynchSales.com

Copyright 2014 Lynch Brothers Licensing Corporation

Don’t Run Your Next High-Impact Sale Yourself

Doing so could cost you far more than you’ll save. A high-impact sale event,utilizing the time-proven, copyrighted Lynch sale plan will double the resultsyou can get on your own.

Don’t risk your next sale. Choose the leading professional in the sale event industry, the Lynch Sales Company.

Contact us for details and receive a special, 100th anniversary commemorative gift. Plus, if you hold a Lynch Sale during 2014 you’ll become eligible for our Grand Prize trip for two to Ireland!

Home Furnishings Networking Conference

May 17-19, 2015

Orlando, Florida nahfa.org

Showtime

May 31-June 3, 2015

High Point, North Carolina showtime-market.com

Dallas Total Home & Gift Market

June 24-30, 2015

Dallas, Texas dallasmarketcenter.com

Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market

July 7-14, 2015

Atlanta, Georgia americasmart.com


Image from Kincade Furniture

Contact Our Advertisers

When contacting our advertisers, please be sure to mention that you saw their ads in RetailerNOW.

For information on advertising in RetailerNOW contact Michelle Nygaard (916) 757-1160.

Furniture Wizard(619) 869-7200furniturewizard.com

furniturewizard @furniturewiz

Page 33

High Point Market(336) 869-1000highpointmarket.org

http://tinyurl.com/HighPtMarket @hpmarketnews

Page 3

Jaipur Rugs(404) 351-2360jaipurrugs.com

jaipurlifestyle @jaipurlifestyle

Inside Back Cover

Las Vegas Market(888) 962-7469lasvegasmarket.com

facebook.com/wmclv @worldmarketctr

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Lynch Sales(616) 458-6662lynchsales.com

facebook.com/lynchsales @lynchsales

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MicroD(800) 964-3876microdinc.com

microdinc @microdinc

Back Cover

Myriad(800) 676-4243 myriadsoftware.com

Myriad Page 37

NAHFA Sponsors(800) 422-3778retailerNOWmag.com

retailernow @retailerNow

Page 51

Northwest Furniture Xpress(828) 475-6377nwfxpress.comPage 9

RetailerNOW(800) 422-3778retailerNOWmag.com

retailernow @retailerNow

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Serta(888) 557-3782serta.com

SertaMattress @SertaMattresses

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STORIS(888) 4-STORISstoris.com

STORIS.solutions @STORIS

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Surya(877) 275-7847surya.com

SuryaSocial SuryaSocial

Inside Cover

Synchrony Financial(800) 422-3778 nahfa.org Pages 5

Tidewater Finance Company(800) 535-4087 x6553tidewaterfinance.com

Tidewater Finance Company @TidewaterMotor

Page 29

AD Index

Celebrate the Holidays with Industry Friends

All members of the home furnishings industry are welcome.

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Thursday, December 11, 2014 6:00 to 9:00pm

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RetailerNOW is the only association publication delivered to dedicated home furnishings retailers across the U.S. and

Canada. We’re devoted to helping

furntiure retailers grow their businesses—

just like you.


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

(or useless) bits of info

The Now List

Indie AlaskansIn the midst of a competitive election for U.S. senate in Alaska, 59% of Alaskans identify as political independents. Fewer Alaskans identify as Republicans (25%) and as Democrats (13%) than in recent years.

Definitely don’t kiss it“Mistletoe” is from the Anglo-Saxon word misteltan, which means “little dung twig” because the plant spreads though bird droppings.

Videos $coreIn a recent social media platform study that tracked purchase interaction—YouTube affected more online sales.

Try FloridaBased on affordability, jobs, activities, quality of life and healthcare, these cities ranked as the worst places to retire: 15. Boston, 14. Fayetteville, NC, 13. Buffalo, NY, 12. Modesto, CA, 11. Fontana, CA, 10. Jersey City, NJ, 9. Baltimore, MD, 8. Fresno, CA, 7. Worcester, MA, 6. Stockton, CA, 5. Chicago, 4. New York, 3. Philadelphia, 2. Newark, NJ and 1. Providence, RI.

Visual stimulationThe Internet Archive has added 2.4 million images to Flickr’s Creative Commons section. The nonprofit plans to add about 14 million total.

Canadian shoppersCanadian shoppers spend an average of C$954 (about $855) annually online. Online retail sales in Canada are expected to reach C$34 billion (about $30 billion) by 2018, about 10% of retail transactions, up from 7% in 2013.

Throwing it all away133 billion pounds; that’s how much food was wasted in the U.S. in 2010—that was 31% of the food supply.

Concrete designs Neal Aronowitz’s concrete canvas table was on display at ShowPDX’s October event. The Portland, Ore.-based ShowPDX coincided with Design Week Portland and featured pieces from 75 furniture makers.

All work, no play57% of small business owners plan to go on vacation; of those who do, 67% will check in at least once a day. About 48% don’t make vacations a priority.

CompensationEmployers spent $8.8 trillion on total compensation in 2013; $7.1 trillion on wages and salaries, and $1.7 trillion on benefits.

Health benniesEmployers spent $735.1 billion on health benefits in 2013; the average total cost of health benefits per employee is $10,779.

AARPPad?AARP launched its own tablet, the RealPad. It’s a $189 tablet with iPad-like looks, easy-to-use for the association’s demographic, supports Android and hit retail stores (namely Wal-Mart) in October.

Online estimatesU.S. online retail sales will total $294 billion by the end of the year and $325 billion by the end of 2015.

Seeking securityOnly 5% of U.S. Internet users have shopped via social media sites; 42% said they would be more likely to if they knew their financial information was secure and 38% said they’d be more likely to buy if they knew their purchase info wouldn’t be shared.

Sources: Gallup, VentureBeat, AARP, ThinkAdvisor, Internet Archive, Ipsos, Forrester, OnDeck Capital, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Harris Poll

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