Furniture World

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

56 The Big Hand -OffDon’t get “tackled” by the IRS when handing off your business to the next

generation.

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

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

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

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

2 FURNITURE WORLD September/October 2011

FURNITURE WORLD MAGAZINEBPA Association of Business Publishers

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

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

Editor-In-Chief, CEORussell Bienenstock • [email protected] EditorS.T. Bienenstock • [email protected] & Retail Feature Editor Janet Holt-Johnstone • [email protected] Education Feature EditorPeter Marino • [email protected] Feature EditorDan Bolger • [email protected] Feature EditorLarry Mullins • [email protected]/ Design EditorBarbara Bienenstock • [email protected] Gifford Dorival • [email protected]

Publisher Barton Bienenstock • [email protected] PresidentThelma Mason Davis • [email protected] Manager, Eastern RegionJon Siegel • [email protected] Consultant Larry Stein • [email protected] Director West, Mid-West, International Gary Siegel • [email protected] Manager, ChinaMaggie Zhao • [email protected]

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

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

IN THIS ISSUEThe Business Solutions Magazine For Furniture Retailers

FOUNDED 1870 • Visit www.furninfo.com The Industry’s Most Extensive Furniture Site

Thinking of OursourcingYour Home Delivery?

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

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OK. For all the football fansout there who are operat-ing retail furniture compa-nies, think of the dominant

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

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

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

But what happens if every playerdecides to execute the plays their way,instead of the way the team manage-ment wants it done? Instead of block-ing this opposing player , they decideto block that player. Instead of kickingthe ball, the kicker decides to run.Imagine the results if there were nostructured plays, no coaching, and noadherence to the playbook. Chaoswould result and team goals wouldnever be met. Of course there isalways the need to react to the situa-tion on the field, and the great playerscan do that, but it all begins with a setstrategy.

In furniture retailing our opponentsare not our customers, but we dohave to engage them, understand,convince and serve. We have to do itbetter than our competitors and seekto consistently exceed our customers’expectations to achieve our goals. Yetmany stores have as many differentstrategies as they have salespeople.Everyone has “their way ” of doingthings, and often the outcomes arewidely divergent, providing a widerange of performance from the high-est to the lowest performers.

Everyone gets the same number ofcustomer opportunities, but with far

different results.Today, with the inception of whole

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

I’ve been around retail furniturestores for 40 years and a lot of thingsstill look pretty much the same, exceptfor the “made in China” labels on justabout everything . I remember whenthe goods we sold at Ethan Allen weremade in V ermont or New Y ork State.Most of the players in our industrycontinue to believe that it ’s all aboutthe “stuff ,” but I have argued fordecades that it ’s really all about thepeople and the room first – then it ’sabout the stuff.

When things were cruising alongnicely in the 1980s, 90s and early2000s, just about every business strat-egy worked, and not much impor-tance was placed on strategic thinkingor execution. As long as new homesales (and of course used home sales)were booming, everyone was a retailgenius. It really was all about the stuffneeded to fill all those new homesand rooms. But now, things are differ-ent, and still retailers are applying thesame old strategies to a reducedaudience. Y es, there’s still a lot ofbusiness to be done, but the competi-tive environment is sharper than ever ,and in case you haven ’t noticed –

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

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

Imagine theresults if therewere no structuredNFL plays, nocoaching, and noadherence to theplaybook.


The Sales Management Game



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Categorize yoursales training by category for product knowledge,presentation andselling skills.

“I can predict that you’ll be surprised when youlook at individual salesperson performance bycategory over at least three months.”

of your fears of abuse or misuse.Figure it out and protect yourself tech-nologically, but if you are not usingemail marketing directly from individ-ual sales associates, you ’re missing ahuge opportunity for additional busi-ness.

People build relationships with peo-ple, not companies. Why should youcontinually spend additional market-ing dollars to get non-buyers backwhen email is virtually free? And, it ’salso personal, one -to-one marketingto prospects your sales associateshave already met, know somethingabout, and with whom they (hopeful-ly) have a good relationship. If youview not closing every sale today asfailure you’re on a track to continuousdisappointment. The fact is that withclose rates still hovering around 20-25% for many furniture retailers, thereal situation is even worse for first -time shoppers on a furniture purchas-ing project. In my experience, backedup by substantial monitoring of theflow of business over many years, first-time shoppers in your store purchaseabout 15% of the time, and this willbe higher for your star performers andlower for your not -so-stars. On thesecond visit, however , closing ratesare 70% or higher, and that’s how youget your 20% close rate overall. Thequestion is – how many shoppersmake a second visit? Again, experi-ence shows that this varies amongsalespeople depending on the qualityof their work, but the best I’ve seenhave as many as 15-20% of their total

monthly opportunities as return shop-pers on a project.

3.Categorize your sales training .That’s right, train by category for

product knowledge, presentation, andselling skills. F irst, that ’s how peoplelearn best – by category. Second, dif-ferent emotions, feelings, and thoughtprocesses apply to purchases madefor different rooms and uses. Uniquepresentation and sales approacheshave to be used for living rooms andbedrooms. Dining room presentationsrequire different questions and settingup alternate visions for customers.Dinettes often have a completely dif-ferent emotional foundation with peo-ple than dining rooms. If you are nottracking salesperson performance bycategory, start now . All of the furni-ture-specific computer systems retainthis information, and I can predict thatyou’ll be surprised when you look atindividual salesperson performanceby category over at least threemonths. Y ou’ll find that some salesassociates just don’t know how to sellsome things. The great people tend tobe great at everything. Keep the cate-gories fairly broad. Consider masterbedroom a category , youth bedroomanother, and separate formal diningand dinettes. Sub -categorize leatherupholstery by motion and stationary .Make it make sense.

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

and use the metrics to do something .If you ’re keeping sales metrics you

everyone’s selling the same stuff . Justlike always.

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

1.Have a selling strategy that isclearly stated in writing and

ensure that each employee fullyunderstands it. If you develop andadopt a new strategy or a new wrinkleto an old one, retrain everyone.Cover every aspect of the sellingequation, and make your sales asso-ciates and coaches (otherwise knownas sales managers) partner to ensurethat your strategic approach is exe-cuted. If the only time your “players”hear about the company ’s sellingstrategy is in initial training , you can’texpect them to take it seriously . Yourselling strategy has to be a “walk-the-walk, and talk -the-talk” everydayissue for everyone from the salesmanagers to the CEO. Corporate ini-tiatives fail most often because of alack of attention from the top.

2.Connect your sales associates toyour customers in every way you

can. Don’t hold back email because



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THE SAME STUFF! Different emotions,feelings, andthought processesapply to purchasesmade for differentrooms and uses.

tomer-centric selling systems. Joe canbe reached by sending an email [email protected]. See all ofhis sales management articles that areposted to the information packedFURNITURE WORLD Magazine web-site www .furninfo.com in the salesmanagement article archives section.

don’t use to manage today , in thegame, on the field, throw them away .There are three parts to the sales suc-cess equation: Number of customeropportunities, your closing ratio, andyour average sale. That ’s it!Salespeople can take actions in allthree areas to improve their sales andtheir income, and the start of every-thing is shoppers. When they bring ashopper back to become a customer ,that’s their impact on your traffic. Ifyou don’t know that you live on returnshoppers on specific projects, take thetime to measure this and find out justhow important those second visits are

to your business.

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

His recently published book, ”LivingOn The T op Line”, available onAmazon.com, helps home furnishingsretailers to create and implement cus-



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

Most home furnishings retailersdon’t have a plan. I did say most.The best operators do plan. They usebudgets to help them react faster tounforeseen situations in the future. Aquantifiable plan is a budget.

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

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

Flexible Budgeting lets you “Flex”your top line and observe the resultingoperational effects on your P&L andoperating income. T o see theseeffects, a nontraditional financial

statement will be used that separatesvariable expenses and fixed expenses.This is called a contribution marginfinancial statement and can be usedfor internal reporting , planning andanalysis. The separation of variableand fixed expenses are importantbecause they act differently whensales volume changes.

Examples of variable costs in theretail environment are cost of goodssold, sales commissions, financecompany fees, and a portion of mar-keting and distribution costs. Theseexpenses are only incurred when asale is made. When you look at totalvariable costs, you see that as output(sales) increases, variable costs

increase at the same rate. If you lookat variable costs per unit of output,they remain fairly constant. For exam-ple, the ratio of sales commissions tosales may be 7% no matter what theoutput volume is.

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


FLEXIBLE BUDGETINGFlexible Budgeting lets you ‘Flex’ your top line and observe

the resulting operational effects on your P&L and operating income.

by David McMahon

Financial Success Strategy

Tota

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Output Level

Varia

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Output Level

Tota

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Output Level

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“In the 90% flex scenariothe fixed costs are higher as a percent and all profitability hasbeen eroded.”


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

FLEXIBLE BUDGETINGBasic Retail P&L Example

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

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

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

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

After contribution margin, all fixedexpenses should be subtracted. This

results in the net operating income forthe month’s sales.

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

“So, what would happenif your master budgetprojection is not correct? Well, let’s find out. That is whatFlexible Budgeting is for!”

Master or Static BudgetSales $ Flexed at 100%

Ratio100%

Flexible BudgetSales $ Flexed at 90%

Ratio90%

Flexible BudgetSales $ Flexed at 110%

Ratio110%

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

Less Variable Expenses

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

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

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

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

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

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

Less Fixed Expenses

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

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

Marketing Expense (Fixed Portion)

$25,000 5% $25,000 5.6% $25,000 4.5%

Selling Expense(Fixed Portion)

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

Distribution Expense(Fixed Portion)

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

Other Fixed Expenses $5,000 1% $5,000 1.1% $5,000 .9%

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

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

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

Contribution Margin Financial Statement


September/October 2011 FURNITURE WORLD 15

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

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

Look at the example again. In the center column to the rightof the master budget, we have two Flexible Budget scenarios:the first flex sales at 90% of the master while the second flexsales at 110% of the master . L ook at the variable expensesas a dollar amount - they change. However , notice the ratio(percentages) to sales? They are exactly the same for all sce-narios. That is the nature of variable expenses. While chang-ing sales levels, variable expenses have no additional impacton profitability. Contribution margin is exactly the same.

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

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

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

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

FLEXIBLE BUDGETING

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


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

the original 13 states. And citizensappear to come by their reputationsfor optimism honestly , based perhapson the 1662 grant from Connecticut ’soriginal Charter, its boundaries statedto extend to “all the land to the SouthSea”, otherwise known as the P acificOcean!

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

UNITED HOUSE WRECKINGThird generation R oss L odato

shared the family story . “In 1954, ourDad, R oss Senior , along with two

brothers, Phil and John and his broth-er-in-law, R ay, established UnitedHouse Wrecking, Inc. As they earned aliving demolishing homes, theylearned there was interest in the sal-vage from their projects. L umber, win-dows, old brick, doors, old fireplacemantles and architectural featureswere just some of the items which theybegan to salvage at their ‘yard’.

“As time passed, their business cre-ated great interest for all sorts ofpotential customers. Homeownersdoing renovations, builders, as well asdecorators, all came to this place nick-named the ‘junkyard with a personali-ty’, this unusual place where hundredsof people came each week to see whatwas new . They ’d heard so muchabout United House Wrecking andhad to see it for themselves.

“We have fond memories of theoriginal location. All our cousins

were allowed to work there as kids.

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


“They made it theirSaturday morningadventure, to come forfree coffee and rummagethrough what we’d salvaged that week.” - Ross Lodato, United House Wrecking

Our Retail Furniture Heritage 1800-2011

RETAIL STORIESPart 9: Furniture retailers share interesting stories

of growth, hardship and their strategies for success. by Janet Holt-Johnstone

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


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Stadium seats, sorting the porcelainstreet signs from New Y ork City, bur-nishing strap hangers from NY C sub-way cars, or just making coffee for thecustomers, there was always work tobe done. W e saw some of the samecustomers every weekend. They madeit their Saturday morning adventure, tocome for free coffee and rummagethrough what we’d salvaged thatweek. It was a real special place.

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

didn’t arrive before 1:00 p.m., there’dbe no place to park. P eople camefrom everywhere to see such anunusual business, it was a tourist des-tination! It was a special time in ourlives. We were so proud to be associ-ated with our family business. We wereliving the ‘American Dream’!

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

“In the late ‘80s, Dad’s brothersplanned to retire and sell the land. ButDad wanted to keep the businessgoing. He found a two acre parcel,still in Stamford, Connecticut. His

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

“Our cousin, Andy, who grew up inthe business, became his generalmanager, and my brother , Mario, aLoyola graduate, was part of theeveryday operation of the business. Mydegree from Villanova was in civilengineering and I had been employedsince college in my uncle’s construc-tion/development business, so I assist-ed in the planning and renovation ofthe new location. In the passingmonths, I felt a need to help Dad inthis new venture, so I came aboard inthe fall of 1988.

“All was well until 1993, when Dadwas diagnosed with brain cancer . Wehad great hopes that he would beatthis dreadful disease. It was difficult toimagine this business and our worldwithout this wonderful man as part ofit. He battled his illness without ever acomplaint or question ‘why ’ untilAugust of 1994 when he passed away.We had already been running thebusiness, but life just wasn ’t going tobe the same ever again. There was avoid in our hearts that would never befilled. At this point, I think my missionto keep the business alive was drivenby the anger inside me; why was sucha good man taken so early in our

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

In the Design Center, “customers could buy interior and exterior furnishings, both antiqueand reproduction, in onelocation, antiques as well as Oriental rugs, sofas, window treatments, etc.” - Ross Lodato, United House Wrecking


“Dad taught us to work hard. ‘DOYOUR BEST! was his advice to us. Aman who led by example, he’d say ,‘Don’t ask anyone to do anything youwouldn’t do yourself .’ Our Mom andDad prepared us well. W e were partof a true family business, where some-times family was just as important asthe business itself. Maybe that’s whereour Italian roots began to show!

“In late October, 1994, I began totravel in search of new imported prod-ucts. My first trip involved 13 flights in14 days. I was in the Philippines,Indonesia and a bunch of places inbetween. I travelled and purchaseditems all over Europe, buying old aswell as new products. In Asia, I founditems never seen in the U .S.A., andevery trip was more successful thanthe last. Over the next 10 years, webecame serious importers from 13different countries. W e had so muchstuff coming in every month and,thank God, so much going out! Ournetwork around the world was verystrong. I kept this up until the econo-

my fell, and the formula didn ’t workanymore.

“In 1998, Philip L odato, Mario’sson, came aboard with us full time.He represents the third generation inthe business. With his computer savvy,Phil took the role of Director ofCommunications. His responsibilitiesinclude maintenance of our website,weekly e -mail blasts, press releases,social media, advertising, etc.

“In 2005, we built a 13,000 squarefoot addition to house our newDesign Centre. It gave us both theopportunity to hire designers, and anew location to showcase our waresin a different way . Now we couldcompete with traditional furniturestores, a location where customerscould buy interior and exterior furnish-ings, both antique and reproduction,in one location, antiques as well asOriental rugs, sofas, window treat-ments, etc.

“Our outdoor display areas featurestatuary, fountains, patio furniture,

“People come to us in the hope of ‘findingsomething different’!This was it! This wassignificant! This was the ‘eureka moment’!Our motto became‘furnishDIFFERENT’.”- Ross Lodato, United House Wrecking

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

Photos from the1960s when UnitedHouse Wrecking wasactive in the salvage business.

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

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

“A large photo of our Dad, R ossSenior, is also on the wall. He’s nolonger with us physically, but is in spir-it every day. His memory helps in allour daily decisions. Dad taught uswell. A man of few words, he was aperson everyone loved and trusted. Aman of his word, a handshake was allyou needed, as strong as a contract.So loyal and humble. W e still hearkind words about him from many cus-tomers.


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

“Our product diversity became astrength for us and a challenge aswell! We found that it takes hard workto be everything to everyone. We hadto be really focused. You must alwayshave on hand what you are known forsupplying, yet always search forunusual things. It’s what is expected ofus.

“Today, as the next generation, we

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

“Although we no longer demolishhouses, our family business hasevolved into one of the most uniqueshopping destinations for homedécor. A customer will discover every-thing here for their home, the 43,000square foot showroom store, the addi-tional 20,000 square foot display ofoutdoor product on the exterior of thebuilding where old items are dis-played with new , and our full servicedesign centre, staffed with qualifieddesigners to assist in beautifying andstylizing homes. It ’s a relaxed family -friendly setting where the entire staff isnon-commissioned and the inventorychanges literally every day.

“Famous people have and do shophere; the staff recognizes them best.

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

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

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

“My next mission was to analyze our


ARE YOU A RETAILERWITH A GREAT HISTORY?

WANTS TO TELLYOUR STORY

Our editors are looking for more furniture retail histories to feature

in future issues. Call 914-235-3095or email [email protected].

“We don’t look for ‘homeruns’ anymore. We lookfor hits which add to‘runs’. We believe thatwe create our own destiny.”- Ross Lodato, United House Wrecking

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



23 furnworld 1011 furniturecore_furniture world 9/25/11 7:01 PM Page 23

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

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

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

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

“I always laugh when I say that as asmall business owner I never have aday off, and this crazy business is onmy mind 24-7. However , there’s nobetter satisfaction knowing that I carryon the legend of such a special smallfamily business with pride and devo-tion to those who began it in 1954.When asked if this is my business, myfavourite answer is that it was my Dadand his family ’s business. They plant-ed such good seeds for us. Myresponsibility is taking care of them. Imust admit at times I find myself giv-ing it ‘Miracle Gro’! T o be successful

today, an owner has to have real pas-sion for his business. W ithout it, whoknows how long he’ll last.”

We asked R oss if there were anyissues that stand out amongst all oth-ers that ensured the success of HouseWrecking, benefiting both customersand the community at large. Heanswered, “ Our realization that ourcompany had to be at its best (everyday) in regards to customer service isone of the most important commit-ments we make today. We always feltwe had good customer service.However, we needed to feel we’dmade every effort to serve above theexpectations of our customers andconsistently give that level of service.We strive to be better than the rest. Westressed the importance of each per-son in our company ’s role to overallsuccess. From the way we answer thephones to the way we assist loadingcustomers’ cars, it ’s all important tothe overall experience of shopping atour store. It ’s all about consistentlydoing the small things other firmsdon’t want to bother doing . Ourmotto is simple. P ut yourself in theshoes of the customer . Ask yourself ,how would you like to be treated?Our actions should follow this simple

Ross Lodato, Sr. pictured in a

1987 newspaperarticle leaning

on a Sicilian wedding cart.

Design Center


RETAIL STORIES



25 furnworld 1011 cologne_furniture world 9/22/11 2:22 PM Page 25

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

It’s a natural that House W reckingwould have heavy involvement incommunity activities. Their outreachincludes the Bennett Cancer Centre,Bravo P olice Dogs, JuniorAchievement, the Red Cross, StamfordHospital’s Mobile MammographyProgramme, the Sexual Assault Crisisand Education Centre, and a pokernight and silent auction forHadassah’s neo -natal incubators forIsrael. Close to home, HomeWrecking is now making their DesignCentre available to “put a new spinon venues for charitable events”. Ifany sales should occur during thesegatherings, the company donates 10per cent of all revenues.

If you should find yourself anywherenear Stamford, there’s an open invita-tion to come visit. If that ’s impossiblein the near future, get acquainted ontheir truly intriguing website,www.unitedhousewrecking.com. L ookparticularly at “Meet the F amily”.You’ll see Ross, Mario and Andy, plustheir incredible, dedicated staff , eachwith her or his own interesting stories.United House W recking...“furnishDIFFERENT!”

SLEEP COUNTRY USAThe entrepreneurial spirit was and is

just as strong on the west coast.Seattle, W ashington, is theNorthwest’s major sea port, the scenicgateway to trade with Asia, and only110 miles south of V ancouver,Canada. Seattle was founded in1853, and experienced the boom andbust of the lumber industry , theKlondike Gold R ush, and the ship-building surge that reached its peak inWorld War I. Jim Hendrix and grungemade the Seattle scene and, in recentyears, Boeing, many technology firms,Amazon.com, Starbuck ’s, and UPS ,amongst many others, settled inSeattle. Interestingly , the city claimsthe highest percentage of universitygraduates in the U.S.

Undoubtedly influenced by thismulti-faceted corporate efferves-cence, Sunny K obe Cook and BobCook founded Sleep Country USA twodecades ago. They opened with eightstores and 25 employees. This year ,Sleep Country marks its 20th anniver-sary with an amazing 75 stores and ateam of 350 employees. The “num-ber one mattress store in the P acificNorthwest” spans the region, northfrom Bellingham, W ashington, to thesouthern part of Oregon in Eugene.

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

Beginning with the forward-thinkingCooks, Sleep Country has operatedunder various ownership structures.The Cooks sold to a venture capitalfirm, afterwards to a corporation, thento a single owner who sold a portionof the firm back to its employeesthrough the ESOP. “During these vari-ous ownership structures, our compa-ny experienced the two most commonmanagement styles,” said CEO DaleCarlsen, “ bottom-up, meaningemployees up to the management

“Having this understandingor ‘eureka moment’ demonstrated the importance of the company being run fromthe bottom up with theemployees playing an integral role in the strategy and decision making process.”- Dale Carlsen, Sleep Country USA


Sleep Country USA inventories top quality, brand name mattresses as well as premium adjustable beds, futons and wood and metal accent beds.

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

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

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

“Complementary to our ‘eurekamoment’, we recognized the influenceour employees had on the overall suc-cess of our business. To further incen-tivize employee feedback, participa-tion and input, we determined thatcreating an opportunity for employeeownership in the company was thenext step. Undergoing the rigorousprocess of setting up an ESOP , wetransferred 25 per cent of the compa-ny ownership to the employees inSeptember of 2010.

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

input as the new owners of our com-pany. This included annual retreatswith the strategic leadership team,annual roundtables in each marketwhere all employees are present,deep-dive brainstorm sessions, flashpolls, checkpoints during the year ,and a reiteration of our open doorpolicy. Creating an ESOP cements ourcommitment to our employees toremain a bottom-up company andaffirms to them that their ideas andinput are so important to us that we’vemade them an owner.

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


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

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

Part of the corporate philosophyinvolves the obligation to properlyeducate the consumer . SleepCountry’s website is an excellent tool,www.sleepcountry.com. The “LearningCentre” offers answers to questions

about construction and terminology. Itexpands the knowledge opportunity toinclude “Sweet Dreams P odcasts andArticles”, like “Mattress Myths”, “BigKid Bed” (just when your toddlershould graduate from her/his crib tothe next level!) and “ What to expectfrom your new mattress”. They evenenlighten you about mattress sizes,back pain, the dreaded snoring part-ner and bed bugs!

The 20th anniversary marks 2decades of giving back ” to SleepCountry’s various communities. In theearly years, gently used mattresseswere donated to St. Vincent DeP aul.“We created the new programme tofocus our charitable efforts on onevery important social cause, fosterchildren. By doing this we significantlyincreased the impact of our charitable

efforts, providing organizations thatsupport foster children and foster fam-ilies in our region with donations ofimportant items like clothing , coats,shoes, school supplies, pajamas andholiday gifts, as well as tickets to funevents and theme parks, and morethan $500,000 in cash for summercamps, music lessons, tutoring andcounseling.

“For our community , the SleepCountry F oster Kids programme hasbecome the voice for the more than20,000 foster children in W ashingtonand Oregon, telling their story andrelaying their needs. The programmehas been instrumental in transforminghow our community thinks about fos-ter children and provides them with away they can help these kids, positive-ly impacting their lives and giving


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

Finding GREAT PEOPLE Is What We Do!Furniture Team is your top talent recruiting solution! From mid-level managers totop executives in retail, wholesale, and distribution--let us find the best candidatesfor you. We will access, qualify, interview, evaluate, and secure potential candi-dates to help you get the best team possible.

• We work with home furnishings companies nationwide and abroad. • We not only find great candidates for you, we can also assist in the offer/

negotiation and transition processes. • We have worked with over 200 client companies in 10 years. • Member, NFHA and WHFA.

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


29 furnworld PFP 1011_furniture world 9/25/11 6:45 PM Page 29


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

them a chance for a better future.”Janis Avery, of Treehouse for Kids, a

non-profit organization dedicated tofoster children advocacy, said, “SleepCountry USA has become incrediblyimportant to the cause, creating along-term marketing commitment toraise awareness about the needs offoster children and urge action. Thecompany’s approach and emphasison positive, action-oriented messagesis inviting and attainable for everyone,making the general public feel theycan really make a difference. F or us,the Sleep Country F oster Kids pro-gramme has translated into growth forour organization and has a powerfulimpact on the lives of these childrenand their families.”

For customers, it offers another wayfor them to engage with the SleepCountry brand and the opportunity todo so more often than they might dur-ing the mattress purchase lifecycle. It’s

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

Said Carlsen, “ The Sleep CountryFoster Kids program has receivedacclaim for its results, including theNational Daily P oint of LightPresidential Award and regionalrecognition. Creating this award-win-ning program and experiencing itsprofound effect on individuals and thecause as a whole has also been ben-eficial to our team, fostering a senseof team building and communityinvolvement.”

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

NEXT ISSUE BELFORT FURNITURE

Another firm with its own uniqueapproach to the community in which it

flourishes is Belfort Furniture of Dulles,Virginia, founded in 1982. Belfort ’sCEO, Michael Huber , will recount itsabsorbing history and discuss out-reach involving the American CancerSociety, L oudoun Abused W omen’sShelter, Embry R ucker Shelter, ECHO(Every Citizen Has Opportunities),YMCA L oudon County , Be Green,Education F oundations and City ofHope, W ashington, DC.. P art 10 ofRetail Furniture Stories. Don’t miss it.

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

“For our community, theSleep Country Foster Kidsprogramme has becomethe voice for the more than20,000 foster children inWashington and Oregon,telling their story andrelaying their needs.”- Dale Carlsen, Sleep Country USA

ARE YOU A RETAILERWITH A GREAT HISTORY?

WANTS TO TELLYOUR STORY

Our editors are looking for more furniture retail histories to feature

in future issues. Call 914-235-3095or email [email protected].



31 furnworld 1011 loloi_furniture world 9/22/11 9:40 PM Page 31


32 furnworld 1011 wizard_furniture world 9/26/11 10:05 AM Page 32

32 furnworld 1011 wizard_furniture world 9/26/11 10:05 AM Page 33

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

by Larry Mullins

Advertising Advisor

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

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

First of all, understand that amedium delivers a message.That’s all it does. There are no“good” media and “bad” media.There are situation-appropriatemedia, and media that are situa-tion-inappropriate. When some-one suggests the latest socialmedia fad will solve all yourmedia problems, don ’t believethem. When someone tells youthat all you need is radio, or thatROP newspaper doesn ’t work,”or direct mail never works, run,don’t walk for the exit. F or maxi-mum results in your market, thereare only strong , effective, evi-dence-based messages deliveredin a timely , appropriate way .These messages may be deliv-ered by a single medium, or acombination of several media.This does not only apply to inde-pendent home furnishings stores;it also applies to franchise storesthat have some control over theirmedia mix.

MEDIA’S BIG SIXThere are six major media cat-

egories we will consider in thisseries. Each has its pluses andminuses for the home furnishingsmarketer: • Newspaper preprinted inserts.• ROP newspaper advertising.• Direct Mail.• Radio.• Television.• Websites and Internet. • People media.

All other things being equal,how well each of these mediumsperforms depend upon one fac-tor: the power of the media mixto deliver graphics and/or thespoken or written word to articu-late your Unique SellingProposition (USP) in such a waythat it answers the prospect’s pri-mary concern: “ WHAT’S IN ITFOR ME?”

Why is this important?Because, a prospective customerwill want to deal with you only tothe extent that they see a uniqueadvantage in it for themselves.The better you are at answeringthe WIIFM? question (comparedto your competition), the moremarket share and business youwill get. If you and your competi-tors are equally weak in your pre-sentations, then the playing fieldis leveled. If you are brilliant inarticulating your USP regardless

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

“FUSION FACTOR”AND YOUR USP

In a print ad, the power beginswith the headline. A well-fash-ioned, benefit -rich headline canout-perform a weak headline bya factor of ten or more. If youcan legitimately SA Y somethingyour competitor cannot say , andyou neglect to do it, your com-petitor will rejoice. Moreover , ifyou can SHOW something thatyour competitor cannot show ,and you fail to do it, your com-petitor will rejoice even more. Butif you learn to leverage with the“Fusion F actor” you will makeyour competition irrelevant. TheFusion F actor is one of thosepowerful principles of effective,evidence-based advertising thathas been generally lost on “mod-ern” ad people. Y et, when Iexplain it you will see that it is soself-evident that it is astonishingthat very few ad people areaware of it.

Home furnishings preprintsand flyers are almost exclusivelyprice-item presentations. Theproblem with price -item offershas always been the same. If alady is shopping for a living roomgroup and she sees a hot priceand a beautiful full color illustra-tion in a flyer, but she doesn’t like


35-7 furnworld profit 1011_furniture world 9/22/11 2:54 PM Page 35

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

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

The big box could show dramaticconcept shots of their showrooms, butthey do not. There are too many dif-ferent showrooms involved and thecopycat strategy of inundating themarket with price item offers seems towork. And herein lies a huge opportu-nity for the smart independent.

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

they do but who have no concept ofevidence-based, effective print pre-sentations. W ith all the talk about“branding,” very little concept is pre-sented in big box flyers. So take homethis principle: Show things and saythings your competitors cannot inevery medium you use. It may be truethat TV is potentially most effectiveand dramatic in establishing a brand,but it is also cost -prohibitive to domi-nate the fragmented TV market. Allmedia should reflect your brand, notjust TV. Walt Disney originally estab-lished the Disneyworld brand almosttotally by means of People Media, themost powerful, most underrated, andleast understood advertising forceever discovered. More on this in laterarticles.

Newspaper Preprints. This has beenthe favorite medium for home furnish-ings for some time, and for good rea-son. A full color preprint brings furni-


Myth About Print Media MYTH: “People do not read longcopy anymore.” Perhaps not. Butprospects will. And prospects will read a lot of it, provided it is good,service-rendering copy.

The Lifelock page at left ran in theWall Street Journal recently. (Theopen rate for a page without color is$209,114).

The headline is brilliant: “By the timeyou finish reading this, 79 peoplecould have their identities stolen andyou’ll know how to avoid being oneof them.” A great headline can out-produce a weak one by a factorof ten or more. So what has this gotto do with selling home furnishings?See below how a brilliant entrepre-neur adapted this one to a mattresspromotion.

“Gina did two months of remarkable record-breaking business while she gother store ready for aGrand Re-Opening Saleand the resumption ofregular business.”


35-7 furnworld profit 1011_furniture world 9/22/11 2:54 PM Page 37

ture to vivid life. Unlike TV , theprospect can linger over the offers.The reproduction is much better thanROP newspaper advertising . Thedownside for independents is the cost,and the growing clutter (especially onspecific days) in many markets.Unfortunately, most independents whoare able to produce their ownpreprints tend to copy the big boxes.They use label headlines, price -itemoffers, neglect articulating benefits,and fail to brand with personal mes-sages, creative graphics, illustrations,and USP factors that their competitorscannot answer. Social media is fine,but why confine it to the internet? Whyso few personal messages and fasci-nating home furnishings stories in

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

Newspaper ROP Advertising . I amgoing to use the rest of this article toaddress newspaper advertisingbecause it often gets a bad rap. Oneof the myths I have heard is that “noone reads the newspaper anymore.” Itis true that the readership of newspa-pers has drastically declined, espe-cially among the young . However, alarge segment of the older populationstill reads the paper. And, it should benoted that the over 40 group controls

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

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

ROP newspaper can do somethingthat no other mass media can achieve

MEDIA MIX MAGIC

Don’t panic! See how onestore manager quicklybooked a page newspaperad for the weekend, just afew days away. She thentook digital photographs ofthe situation in her store.She bought radio time. By the time the weekendarrived, she had a powerfulnewspaper ad in the paper,strong radio commercials,special sale tags, signs for her windows and abarebones strategy for the next eight weeks.

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

38 FURNITURE WORLD


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

A DISASTER TURNS INTORECORD SALES MONTHSLast February, the manager of a big

box store in a western state was awak-ened by a phone call very early onemorning. (W e will call her Gina.)Disaster had struck her store. Here isthe way she described it: “I knew itwas forty below zero outside. But I didnot expect our sprinkler system to rup-ture! My jaw dropped when I sawwhat had happened to our beautifulstore. Nearly twenty -five percent ofour furniture suffered some degree ofwater damage. Special crews ofrestoration experts were soon at workdrying and refreshing the merchan-dise. But the showroom was in chaos,furniture and mattress sets werestacked everywhere. I felt lost.”

Many entrepreneurs are feeling lostthese days. It is tough out there. Beinglost in a situation such as Gina’s (or ina deep recession) is almost like beinglost in the wilderness. Unfortunately ,most people who get lost in thewilderness give in to fear . They fail todo the one thing that could savethem. They fail to think. They arefrozen in the headlights. There is anold adage by the famous psychiatrist,Alfred Adler: “ Trust only movement.”Gina thought things through and shebegan to move. F irst she got autho-rization from the local owner of thefranchise store to take action.

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

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

I know of no other media that couldhave gotten Gina ’s story out to thepublic as quickly and as cost -effec-tively as ROP newspaper and radio.The corporate management of thisparticular big box chain is wiseenough to allow franchise stores thelatitude to outsource advertising cre-ation when time frames make it nec-essary. This leads to another weather-related story that took place a coupleof weeks later, and a thousand milesaway. This event took place in a ruralarea of Minnesota.

PRESIDENTS’ WEEKENDSNOWED OUT IN MN!

It is virtually unheard of forMinnesotans to be stopped cold (liter-ally) by the weather . But it happenedlast February. Coincidentally, this storyis about another big box store, onebelonging to a different chain. OnPresidents’ Weekend, record snowfalland high winds impacted the state.The Minnesota Department ofTransportation recommended no trav-el for the southern half of the statedue to high winds and heavy snow .700 flights were canceled. 323 auto-mobile crashes were reportedstatewide from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.High winds and freezing mix madesome areas impassable.

Of course, the big sales volume they hoped for on P residents’ weekendnever happened. What to do? The

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

Aside from the immediacy factorand the proven ability to leverage thelongevity and local appeal of apreprint, there is yet another com-pelling reason that newspaper ROPshould be part of your advertising mix,whether you are a franchise or anindependent home furnishings store.Preprinted corporate flyers lackwarmth, personality, and the ability toconnect on a local level. A localnewspaper can use illustrations of thehometown store and its personnel,and offer limited stock “ door-buster”items to augment corporate merchan-dising. Too often, there is an enor-mous amount of local store innova-tion and creativity that is stifled byrestrictive corporate policies. A com-mon complaint I hear from franchisestores is this: “Unless the idea origi-nates in corporate, they quickly dis-card it.” Control is important, butthere is an alternative to crushinglocal initiatives and innovations.

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

owners respect and understand thecorporate brand and that their adver-tising efforts are in compliance withFTC regulations. These top producingstores would become the prototypemodels for the other stores. T op per-formers are the creators, the innova-tors, the leaders, and the best of thebest. My mythical home furnishingsbig box corporation of the future willuse these ideal models to create aHome F urnishings University , theequivalent of McDonald’s famous“Hamburger University.”

This HF training center would con-duct regular classes for other fran-chise locations. That big box wouldvault ahead and be very hard tocatch. This is the technique of leaderstraining leaders that is used by themilitary. And this is why the late P eterDrucker, the father of modern man-agement, declared that the U .S. mili-tary was the best in the world at train-ing leaders. Not the Harvard BusinessSchool, or IBM, or P roctor andGamble. The U.S. Military.

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

Larry Mullins is a contributing editorfor F urniture W orld and has 30+years experience on the front lines offurniture marketing . L arry’s main-stream executive experience, his cre-ative work with promotion specialists,and mastery of advertising principleshave established him as one of theforemost experts in furniture market-ing. His turnkey High-Impact programsproduce legendary results for every-thing from cash raising events to prof-itable exit strategies. His newest books

are, “ The Metavalues Breakthrough ”and “Immature P eople With Power…How to Handle Them ”, have recentlybeen released by Morgan JamesPublishing. Joe Girard, “ The World’sGreatest Salesman” said of this book:“If I had read L arry Mullins’ bookwhen I started out, I would havereached the top much sooner than Idid.” L arry is founder and CEO ofUltraSales, Inc. and can be reacheddirectly at 904.794.9212. See morearticles by L arry at www .furninfo.comor www.ultrasales.com.


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

“Most independents fail to brand with personal messages, creative graphics, illustrations, and USP factors that their competitors cannot answer. ”



41 furnworld 1011 microd_furniture world 9/25/11 7:09 PM Page 41

Contact information on index page 92.


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September/October 2011 43

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Contact information on indexpage 92.


44-45 furnworld 0911:04-05 2 design 9/29/11 11:26 AM Page 44


Bermex Division of BDM + Inc.




44-45 furnworld 0911:04-05 2 design 9/26/11 1:05 PM Page 45

Dreaming Of Better

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

by Russell Bienenstock

“Now, blessings light on him that firstinvented sleep! It covers a man allover, thoughts and all, like a cloak. Itis meat for the hungry , drink for thethirsty, heat for the cold, and cold forthe hot. It is the current coin that pur-chases all the pleasures of the world atsmall expense, and the balance thatplaces the king and the shepherd, thefool and the wise man at an equallevel.” - Miguel de Cervantes, DonQuixote, 1605

If you ’ve just started to follow thisSelling Better Bedding series andwant too review past installments,you can find a discussion of chang-

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

This time, F urniture W orld asked

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

WORST PRACTICEPoor execution of corporate policies at the store level.

“A primary area that furniture guysand mattress guys don’t do a good jobwith,” advises Gerry Borreggine,Therapedic International’s P resident &CEO, “is to create a comfort level forthe consumer . There are a variety ofthings that can prevent that from hap-pening. It can be the look of the store,the smell of a store, the location of thestore, the cologne of a salesperson,music playing too loud or too low in thebackground – that ’s unintelligible oroffensive.

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

Rush Limbaugh playing, that can kill thesale for a customer who has a more lib-eral political outlook. The key is gettingconsistent implementation at the storelevel. It ’s great to have a policy for nosmoking, but if in reality the store man-ager and areas of the store reek ofsmoke, nothing has been accom-plished. It ’s one thing to have a policyand another for good management tomake sure that policy is executed.”

WORST PRACTICEInconsistent look and poor

sales floor organization.

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

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

“you can determine that smooth jazz is the bestthing for consumers to hear when they walk intoyour store, but if the policy is ignored and themanager has Rush Limbaugh playing, that cankill the sale.” - Gerry Borreggine, Therapedic International

Better Bedding Sales

furnworld 10-11 most-2_furnworld 9/28/11 11:01 AM Page 48

consistency of image for the store as awhole. This was a principle weemployed when I was involved in thecreation of the Sleepy ’s F ifth Avenueflagship store, that can be applied toany bedding retailer.”

And beyond the initial look, the storeneeds to be merchandised in a waythat isn ’t confusing to customers orsalespeople.

“The first key of merchandising is tohave the product line-up make sense toyour salespeople,” adds Ira F ishman,Executive Vice P resident, NationalSales for Anatomic Global. “If it does-n’t make sense to your salespeople andthey are running from one end of themattress store to the other end just toshow the next model up, that doesn ’tmake a lot of sense. The merchandis-ing should be geared to not movingaround all that much for customers

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

“Having the highest price merchan-dise in the front and the lowest pricedmerchandise in the back is about asimple a plan as you can probably puttogether, and quite a few retailers justfollow that plan. This strategy can givecustomers sticker shock as soon as theywalk through the front door and seethree sets of four thousand dollar bed-ding, so it ’s useful to mix in differentkinds of products to avoid scaring offcustomers. And the last thing a storeshould do is have a customer lookingfor a meat and potato price point, say$999 for a queen, and then bringthem to the back of the store and showit to them in a twin. I don ’t think that ’svery good merchandising.”

Owen Shoemaker, Sr. Vice President


“On the first bed you can make a big mistakein price. On the secondbed you can make amistake on the feel,but not on the price. On the third bed youshow you need to getboth the feel and theprice right. ”- Stefano Marescotti, Magniflex


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

of P roduct & Marketing Developmentat Comfort Solutions, Inc., observesthat, “most retailers are taking chargeof the retail environment so that theycan have uniformity in their colors andcoordinated imagery. They want every-thing to look nice and crisp and youcan’t blame them. There are also storesout there where the boxsprings are stillin plastic, signs are everywhere and it’sa mass of confusion. It ’s important tokeep in mind that customers want a bitof privacy , they want everything freshand clean, they want an element ofclarity in messaging around a productand they want to be able to relax andfigure this thing out, because there isreally a lot that the consumer doesn ’tunderstand when they come in to theretail environment. So it ’s very impor-tant to have point of sale organizedand laid out well. P ricing on mattressproducts is big and bold sometimes.It’s part of the retail display. And retail-ers should be aware that when theirdisplays are all about the price, theyare probably addressing what con-sumers think is most important -- howmuch money they can save, what ’s thebest bargain, and what ’s the bestvalue. But on the other hand, findingthe right fit should be a major factoremphasized by the retailer in choosingthe right mattress product.”

WORST PRACTICEPresent too many options.

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

Bedding. “I ask them to take a goodhard look at the sleepsets on the floor .Then I say these words: ‘ Take a goodlook at all these mattresses and memo-rize that look because that ’s the waythey’re always going to look to all yourcustomers who see them for the firsttime.’ I go on to explain to thesebeginners that in a short time thosesame mattresses will no longer look thesame to them. Of course they won ’t,because of all the features they ’ll belearning about each one. On the otherhand, we all know that customers don’tshop long enough to familiarize them-selves with our mattresses as well as wedo. To our customers, our mattressesmust at times appear like so manygeese on a pond or lake.”

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

“The key is getting good informa-

tion,” he continues. “ Ask them, ‘whatare you sleeping on right now?’ Y oucan show them four beds of course, buttry to get the interest and try to getmore information on what the personneeds. If your customer is looking for abed for her summer home in the coun-try used fifteen days a year, she is prob-ably not going to be willing to spendthe same amount of money as wouldbe spent for everyday use.

“Play ‘ doctor’. Say, ‘this is for yourhealth and well being . Come with me,I have another solution. F eel this.’ Wealways try to make them feel the mate-rials that go into our mattresses. Onceyou do this... customers get a strongerattachment to the product. Then youcan ask, ‘what are you sleeping onnow? How much did you spend the lasttime you bought a bed? How manyyears ago did you buy it?’ By the timeyou ask the second or third question,the customer should already be on thefirst bed. And from that point on thewhole goal is to see how well the prod-uct they are laying on will make themfeel.”

“We have over 60 beds on the floorin most of our stores,” Cory L udens,Director of Learning and Developmentfor retailer Mattress F irm told us. “Andvery few customers want to look at all60. We believe that they should get tosee the top and bottom and a fewproducts in between. So we believe thatcustomers should start at the top andwork down because of the finite num-ber of beds that people want to look atand also because the sales associatedoesn’t necessarily know what that



51 furnworld 1011 kluft_furniture world 9/29/11 12:16 PM Page 51

finite number is. It may be just threebeds. They get tired and don ’t want tosee any more. And if you start at thebottom and their limit is three beds theywon’t get to see the better beds.”

“There is some truth to the idea thatshowing too many sets of bedding canbe confusing ,” confirms Ira F ishman,“but there is a difference between hav-ing a customer bounce from bed tobed without any instruction or reason,and approaching it in a somewhat sci-entific manner. The reality of it is thatthe salesperson should continue to

show mattresses until they find one thatthe customer really likes. And they don’talways get that right off the bat. If youstart with a rock hard innerspring andthe person hardly gets down beforethey jump up, that doesn ’t even countas mattress being tried. Really what youare doing is use the process of elimina-tion to narrow down their choices, butthe real process of choosing a mattressbegins after the initial comfort testing .And some comfort tests are not neces-sarily for firm and plush. Some comforttests are to determine whether cus-

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

“There is no magic number regard-ing how many sets of bedding to showthem, though it is important to narrowit down relatively quickly. When you’veestablished a comfort level you mightsay to them, you can go up, you cango down, you can go sideways.Mention, ‘this one felt the best to you.Do you want to go up, down or seesomething altogether different?’ Theymight reply by asking, ‘What’s the priceof this one?’ If they want to go downfrom there, ask them what would be acomfortable price range. That ’s theway you can find a price range as wellas a comfort range. It ’s important notto do it in a nasty way or make them


“They get tired and don’t want to see any more. And if you start at the bottom and their limit is threebeds they won’t get to see the better beds.”

-Cory Ludens, Mattress Firm


53 furnworld Anatomic 1011_furniture world 9/28/11 2:59 PM Page 53


“Retailers should be aware that when their displays areall about the price, they are probably addressing whatconsumers think is most important -- how much moneythey can save.” -Owen Shoemaker, Comfort Solutions

feel uncomfortable. No matter whatnumber they tell you, you should behappy to show them something in thatprice range. Even if you don ’t think it ’svery good, you have to remain positive,because just because you show them alower priced set, it doesn ’t mean thatthey won’t ultimately decide to buy thehigher priced sets they previously com-fort tested.

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

BEST PRACTICEHave a strategy for moving

between bedding categories.

“If a customer walks in asking foryour $399 or $699 advertised inner-spring special,” notes StefanoMarescotti, “the retail salesperson cantransition the sale by explaining thatalthough they might be sleeping in thesame coil technology as their grandfa-ther, there has been lots of evolution insleep technology. I tell them, ‘L et meshow you the same feel with new tech-nology.’ Or , after the customer hastried the first bed you ’ve brought themto, they might bring up price, and youcan give them a ballpark... then askthem to try “this other technology ” andtell them a bit about it.

WORST PRACTICEIneffective compensation strategy.

“One way that bedding retailers andfull service furniture stores shoot them-selves in the foot,” Furniture World wastold by Earl Kluft of luxury mattressmanufacturer E .S. Kluft, “is that theydon’t compensate the sales personproperly. There is a relationshipbetween how much time salespeoplespend with a customer and how manydollars they make on a sale. Y ou defi-nitely have to tell a story to sell a highend mattress, so that customers under-stand the importance of a good night’ssleep. Go through the features andbenefits so that they understand that amattress is one of the most importantobjects they have in their house. Unlessyour salespeople are prepared to takethe time to do it, and are compensatedfor their time, then they will probablysell one of the cheaper ones and gettheir next UP. ”

WORST PRACTICEOver-emphasize warranties.

“Warranty can be a slippery slope forthe retail salesperson at the point ofsale,” Gerry Borreggine of TherapedicInternational explained to F urnitureWorld. “For one, research shows thatit is a low -level priority for the con-sumer. Two, many product warrantiesexceed the useful life of the bedding .And finally, it undermines future salesfor the stores.” P atti Ark, Director ,Customer R elations for R everie, con-curs. She says that one of the worstpractices “is to over -sell warranties.Retailers often tell customers that, abed is better because the warranty islonger or that they are going to lovethis bed because it has a long warran-

ty. But that can sabotage repeat saleslater on if a mattress sold that waydoesn’t perform.

“Selling warranties without concen-trating on presenting quality , causeslater problems for younger con-sumers,” she continues, “who will be inthe market for additional bedding astheir families and income grow, as wellas for older consumers who are con-vinced that a long warranty guaranteesthat the mattress they purchase will bethe last bed they will ever have to buy .Well guess what? It doesn ’t last thatlong. The customer is uncomfortable,and the retailer has done both the cus-tomer and themselves a disservice.

WORST PRACTICECrowd customers.

“You never want that consumer tofeel like you are on top of them,”observes Ira Fishman. If a customer islying down and especially if she iswearing shorts or a skirt, you need tobe positioned at the head of the bed.You should move away and re -assurethem. Give them space, don ’t crowdthem. The only time you might want tocrowd them is if they are doing the old‘hand test ’ and they won ’t even sitdown on a mattress. What I used to dois just lie down on a mattress, not farfrom them and say , ‘ This is really theonly way to try out a mattress.’ Andusually when they saw me lying down,they said to themselves, “ OK, this iswhat they do over here, and so theywould follow my lead.”

Editor’s Note: Additional best andworst bedding sales practices will befeatured in a future issue of F urnitureWorld Magazine.


55 furnworld Ergo 1011_furniture world 9/28/11 11:11 AM Page 55

It’s First and 10 on your own 5 yardline on the final drive of the SuperBowl. You’re down by 6 points andyou’re facing arguably the most

dominating defense of all time, the‘85 Bears.

Sound like an overwhelming task? Itshould! The chances of scoring onthis drive are slimmer than your nextshopper asking for that one -of-a-kindnightstand that ’s been in your ware-house since 1981! It ’s “Da ’ Bears”,

after all.Call a T ime-out! R emember what

coach said, “Design, practice, andexecute and you’ll win ball games.”

It’s not the ‘85 Bears defensive linethat you’re trying to run the ball on,but you are looking to hand off some-thing... your business. If you thoughtRefrigerator Perry and the other majorappliances on the Bears line wereFEARSOME, wait until you are facingthe new Tax and Banking Laws! It canbe a daunting job, especially if youhaven’t properly designed and execut-ed a plan.

Furniture store owners are tough!They’ve grown successful businessesand survived countless recessions,regulations, and market conditions.Yet one concern consistently arisesduring the estate planning process;“How do I hand down my business tomy children and not leave them with amassive tax burden?”

There is often a dichotomous strug-gle: On one side of the coin, when itcomes to management and opera-tions, you want to insure that theorganization continues to run smooth-ly. On the other , you want to make

sure that children and family membersare well-provided for , whetherinvolved with the company or not. Themajor goal, in either situation, is todecrease the potentially large estatetax bill; which will hurt the organiza-tion and reduce the total dollaramount your family receives as yourlegacy.

One strategy that is commonly usedto provide this is called “Gifting”. Thisstrategy can potentially alleviate someof the financial problems that comeup when passing businesses or estatesto family members. The following isan example of a “Gifting” strategyand how it can work when handing afamily business to the succeedinggeneration.

GIFTING CASE STUDY Vince (no, not L ombardi) owns a

thriving retail company , Vince’s F ineFurniture valued at $7.5 million. Hewas married for 35 years but his wifepassed away in 2007, leaving Vinceand his two adult children behind. Hewants to divide his estate equallybetween his two children. However ,only one child, his son, is involved


THE BIG HAND-OFF Part 1: Don’t get “tackled” by the IRS when

handing off your business to the next generation.

by Gavin von Loeser

“Vince owns a retail company, Vince’s FineFurniture valued at $7.5 million. He wantsto divide his estateequally between his two children. Only one child,his son, is involved withthe company...

Retail FinancialPlanning


with the company. His daughter is not.Giving up control of a business is

not always an easy thing for an ownerto do, particularly when he or she isstill fully engaged in the day to dayoperations of the business, as Vinceis. However , his financial advisoryteam; including his CP A, F inancialPlanner, Attorney and Insurance spe-cialist, are swaying him to transfer at

least some of the ownership to his twochildren as soon as possible.

Through a Gifting strategy , Vincecan simultaneously maintain controlof the business and reduce some ofthe taxable value from his estate.Vince prefers that his son takes controlof the business, but he wants bothchildren to economically benefit fromthe company’s continued growth.

His Attorney ’s Advice: The “K eep itsimple solution ”. He suggests thatVince create voting and non-votingshares for his business.

This will accomplish the following:

• Vince will provide the control ofthe company to his son by givinghim the voting rights.

• His daughter will receive economic

Year 2011-2012 2013 & Beyond

Value of Vince’s Business $7,500,000 $7,500,000

One Time Exemption $5,000,000 $1,000,000

Taxable Amount $2,500,000 $6,500,000

Estate Tax Rate 35% 55%

Estate Tax Amount $875,000 $3,575,000

Current and Scheduled FederalEstate Tax Exemptions and Rates

The chart at right illustrates theeffect of changing exemptionsand rates. The estate tax due onVince’s business (assume that hehas no spouse, no other assets,no other tax planning strategies,and that Congress does notchange the rules for 2013) mushroom from 35% of 2.5 mil-lion dollars (if he dies in 2011) to 55% of 6.5 million dollars (ifhe dies in 2013).


benefit (from any dividends, distri-butions or liquidations of the com-pany) by owning the non-votingright shares.

Sounds great! It ’s easy and straightforward!

Not so fast…The problem that mayarise with this simple solution is that ifthe business does not pay dividends,have any distributions or liquidateassets, his daughter is no longerreceiving an equal portion of theestate. The variables in this solutionmay not work for Vince and his fami-ly.

Vince’s CP A adds in: “What aboutVince’s annual exclusion?”

That’s one way for the businessinterests and estate to be gifted to hischildren. Vince’s “annual exclusion” -which is currently at $13,000 peryear/per recipient, is an extremely tax-efficient way of gifting the estate. Thisstrategy will be spread out over thecourse of many years, and (accordingto current code), have no tax conse-quences.

If Vince re-married, he and his wifecould “split” the gift (thereby doublingit) and give $26,000 to each child,each year, tax-free. But when a com-pany‘s value is as great as Vince’s,this tax-efficient tactic will never trans-fer a substantial proportion of thecompany’s value.

And there is always the possibilitythat Vince may choose to expedite thegifting process with a one time giftthat exhausts his entire lifetimeexemption, due to retirement or healthconcerns.

These two strategies alone candrive the ball down into field goalrange, but coordinated with other

designs, they can be part of a largerstrategy that scores the winning TD.

Life Insurance is an option thatmany people forget about until it’s toolate (either health has declined or pre-miums make the cost of coverageunattainable due to age). Life insur-ance death benefit proceeds can giveyour estate enough liquid assets tohelp complete your wishes. These mayinclude providing enough funds topay for administrative costs, gift taxesand estate taxes. Y our estate mighthave assets and family heirlooms thatyour heirs may not wish to sell (to payexpenses), or that are not easily sold.That may include the family home,land, artwork, collectibles, the familybusiness, etc.

It’s also imperative that the righttype of life insurance is owned. Thereare many types of life insurance prod-ucts available on the market today .Some are used to provide coveragefor a specific amount of time, whileothers are used to maintain coveragefor the entire life of the owner , andsome are used as a managed asset tohelp mitigate market exposure inretirement years.

Regardless of what the need is, it ’simportant for business owners to havea meaningful conversation with theiradvisors to determine what actionsteps are necessary to accomplishyour goal.

YearEstate TaxExemption

Top EstateTax Rate

1916 $50,000 10%

1917-1923 $50,000 25%

1924-1925 $50,000 40%

1926-1931 $100,000 45%

1932-1933 $50,000 60%

1934 $50,000 70%

1935-1940 $40,000 77%

1941 $40,000 77%

1942-1976 $60,000 70%

1977 $120,000 70%

1978 $134,000 70%

1979 $147,000 70%

1980 $161,000 70%

1981 $175,000 70%

1982 $225,000 65%

1983 $275,000 60%

1984 $325,000 55%

1985 $400,000 55%

1986 $500,000 55%

1987-1999 $600,000 55%

2000-2001 $675,000 55%

2002 $1,000,000 50%

2003 $1,000,000 49%

2004 $1,500,000 48%

2005 $1,500,000 47%

2006-2008 $2,000,000 45%

2009 $3,500,000 45%

2010 N/A 0%

2011 $5,000,000 35%

Historical Federal EstateTax Exemptions and Rates

Over time, estate tax rates and exemptions(right) have been variable and unpredictable.This points to the need for businesses such asVince’s to concentrate on structuring businesssuccession and estate plans that take intoaccount possible legislative policy fluctuations.Properly designed plans are designed to protect wealth, account for variables whileminimizing expense.



59 furnworld AGIO 1011_furniture world 9/26/11 1:33 PM Page 59

Handing your family business downto the next generation takes planning,design and execution, just like in theSuper Bowl. Simple solutions, likesimple playbooks may get you close,but who remembers the Super Bowllosers?

A properly planned design is a teameffort, just like a winning footballteam; The offensive line is coached todo a specific task, as are the defensiveand special team players. They knowtheir role.

And just like in football, your suc-cession planning team needs a quar-

terback, to manage the progression,coordination, strategizing and adjust-ing. There needs to be a trusted per-son that has managed the coordina-tion of an estate plan. That personneeds to bring your family , your CPA,Attorney, Banker and others togetherto make sure that everyone involved isworking to protect your assets andorganize them in the most tax efficientstructure.

Your CPA and your Attorney maybe very good at what they do. A finan-cial advisor with succession and busi-ness planning expertise can assess

your situation to ensure that yourefforts are coordinated properly soyour business and family can avoidunforeseen pitfalls and variables, andlike the Star Quarterback, lead yourteam to victory.

With 11 years in the finance indus-try, Gavin von L oeser is a StrategicAdvisor & F inancial Risk Managerfocusing on Estate and BusinessPlanning at Strategies for W ealth. Hehelps clients (in the furniture and relat-ed industries) design financial plansthat allow for transiting businesses andestates while maximizing tax efficiency.

Questions about the issues broughtup in this article or any other aspect offinancial planning can be sent toGavin care of [email protected] can also be reached directly at203.621.8203.

Gavin lives in Stamford, CT with hiswife and three daughters. Gavin hasworked on business strategies withnumerous companies in the retail andwholesale space as well institutionaland private investment firms.


“You want to insure that the organization continuesto run smoothly. You alsowant children and familymembers to be wellprovided for, whetherinvolved with the company or not.”

THE BIG HAND-OFF

THE NATION’S LARGEST PRODUCER OF REGIONAL FURNITURE & ACCESSORY MARKETS

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61 furnworld 1011 cory ad _Layout 1 9/22/11 4:06 PM Page 61

Just when you think you have theart and the science of home fur-nishings retailing mastered, youhave an experience that brings

you back to the basics of customerbuying behavior. I had an experiencelike this last weekend at our annualneighborhood garage sale.

We have about 100 houses in ourneighborhood and once a year every-one gets together for a massive sale.Well over 75% of the people partici-pate. It could not have happened at abetter time for us at the Hecht house-hold. We had just completed a majorbasement and closet cleaning and Iwanted to get rid of the flotsam andjetsam. For me, the sale was a one -way ticket from my house to someoneelse's-regardless of profit or loss!

We didn't have a lot of small items,but some were fairly large ones, themost expensive being priced at $120.I had twelve pieces of framed artworkthat originally retailed from $30 to$300. Also 2 boom boxes, a 5 x 7rug, a futon, dressing table, deskchair, 1 dinette chair from K ofabco(remember them?) and many other$2-5 items, including a computermonitor circa 1998. At 7:45 am Iarranged the items in my driveway ,pulled up a lawn chair, and sat with ahot cup of coffee to await my first "up".I wanted to set the mood, so I hadsome easy rock playing on one of theboom boxes. (Rock on Eagles!)

HERE IS WHAT I LEARNEDShe wants what she wants, no mat-

ter what the price! My wife, Michelle,and I had a serious discussion about

putting out the most expensive item. Itdoesn't matter what it is, I'll call it thewidget. I wanted $100 for the Widget,but we understood that most peopledon't come to garage sales to spend$100 on a W idget, or even $100 onanything. I took a chance and put outour long unused W idget-and being atrue retailer, I tagged it a $120 hop-ing to get that $100.

My very first up arrived at 7:55 andshe walked right up to the W idget.She walked around it and touched it.She spoke to her partner and thenasked me if I would take $75 for theWidget. I told her I really wanted toget $120 out of it. She upped it to$90. I went over to a shelf in thegarage and brought out two acces-sories for the Widget, and said I wouldthrow them in if she gave me a C -note. Bingo- First sale of the day! Shegave me the money and said shewould be back in an hour to pick itup. (WOW, Trust!)

The lesson is... customers love tonegotiate, but if the item is what shewants, she will buy it. Also-create apackage and you will build value!

She doesn't want what she doesn'twant, no matter what the price! Backto those twelve pieces of artwork-therewere two signed watercolors, onesigned oil, a couple of numbered lith-ographs, and the rest were prints.Problem was, they just didn't matchanything in our house any more. Itook the smallest and cheapest andmarked them $2. The others werepriced from $5-10. Y ou couldn't buythe frames that cheap. Every shopper

took time to look at every piece. Themost common comment was "Theseare nice and great prices, but I don'tknow if they will work with my (decor)".About an hour into the sale, a womanlooked at one of the watercolors, alandscape of Elko, Nevada in a rusticpine frame, about 24” x 30”. It wasfive bucks. She took out a 5 spot andtold me "I know what this is, and youpriced it too cheap". Towards the endof the sale I marked every picturedown to a buck. Still no takers, noteven to the woman carrying a P epsishe had just paid $1.29 for.

GARAGE SALE! Lessons a veteran furniture guy learned watching

people browse, decide and negotiate at a garage sale.by Gordon Hecht

“Don't even try to guesswhat your customer canspend. The woman whogave me $100 for the‘widget’ drove up in a15 year old rusty van.She peeled that bill froma roll of ten more.”

The Retail Observer




63 furnworld 1011 genesis_furniture world 9/22/11 9:46 PM Page 63

The lesson is... customers want toaccessorize their homes, they arejust not confident to do it. The besttime to sell accessories is when youcan show them what it will look likewith the new furniture they are buying.If they see it all together , they will buyit. You can sell some things at 70%off, but people will still hesitate to pur-chase, even at give -away prices,because they don't want to make amistake!

Customers make up their mind inthe first 20 feet of your store. We've allheard that before - now I saw it inaction. There is a class of profession-al Garage Sale Shoppers out there.And they don't waste their time! Here'show they work - two in a car, one dri-ver, one scout. They slow down andpeer at your wares on the driveway . Ifthey like something, they'll stop. If not,they gun the engine to the next house.This was more depressing than theLadies Choice dance at my HighSchool Prom when all the guys linedup, and the girls looked us over. Theyeither asked us to dance or kept walk-ing. I didn't get to "Do the Hustle" untilthe last 30 seconds. Most of theneighbors had tables of items; myitems were sitting right on the drive-way. Those with tables got the mosttraffic. The driveways with the mostshoppers attracted even more shop-pers.

The lesson is... She wants it at eyelevel! not too high, not too low . Putthe best values up front to get the cus-tomer excited about the rest of yourstore. Have a clean parking lot, entryway, and doors. Activity breeds activi-ty. Many people will not stop at storesbecause they don't want to be the onlyone in the joint. On weekdays -"Dummy Up" the front of your storewith five or six employee cars at thefront door, to let people know you are

open for business. People don't read signs! The

Garage sale lasted until 3 pm, but wehad someplace to be at 1 pm, so Idecided to shut down at noon.Remember, the goal was to clear thelot, not move things back inside - so Iremoved all of the price tags andplaced two big signs on the street -EVERYTHING IS ONE DOLLAR. I hadat least a dozen people pick up itemsand ask me - "How much is this?" Ifinally moved one sign against thegarage door, and then starting sellingthings for the buck I wanted.

The lesson is... Signs on your win-dows have little value, your cus-tomer just wants to get into yourstore, and they are not readingthem. Place your promotional signsabout 15-25 feet back, make them sixwords or less -and they will getnoticed.

The second lesson is... be sure theprice tag is obvious to the customer-don't over -tag, just be consistent.You can have 2,000 items in yourstore, but have one of them un-tagged and your customer will spot itand ask!

She will tell her friends about agreat deal - Back to the futon - I amnot sure why I even bought it in thefirst place, horrible to sit on, miserableto sleep on. But we had one, andeven paid someone to move it fromone house to another. I wanted to seeit go, so I marked it $20. Two womenlooked at it, and said, this will be per-fect for T iffany. L uckily, T iff was ontheir speed dial-they called her andshe came down with the double saw-buck in her hand. I was happy to seethat item go!

The lesson is... The Shopper in yourstore is really worth about 15-20

customers. I have to be honest, I haveno idea of what my friends are shop-ping for to make their life complete,but that's not true for everyone.Understand that when she comes in toyour store, your Guest may be shop-ping for herself , but she is aware ofwhat her sister, her mother, and Tiffanyare looking for . Treat her right, andyou'll get all of them as customers!

Some things NEVER Sell! At noon Iclosed up shop. I brought back in theremaining artwork, but I left four itemson the driveway , and tagged them"FREE". A fireplace grate, 2 wickerbaskets, and the computer monitor .When we got back home, around2:45, all that was left was the monitor.I saw two guys across the street and intheir truck were a fax machine andsome other office equipment. I askedthem if they wanted a monitor for free.They took one look at our behemothmonitor-and laughed!

The lesson is... If you are holding onto a lot of damaged, discontinued,undersold and over parked mer-chandise in your DC, odds andends, rails and footboards, maybeit's time to let them go. Even for free-donate the items with some value,give them to your employees, or sell'em for a buck, if you can get it. Justrefuse to keep paying rent to store


GARAGE SALE

“On weekdays, ‘DummyUp’ the front of yourstore with five or sixemployee cars at thefront door, to let peopleknow you are open.”


“This is the place to go if youʼre looking forKid Friendly, and good looking furniture. Ipurchased a sectional couch 6 years ago,and it still looks like new!! We went back tothe El Cajon store recently looking for abedroom suite for our daughters. It was instock and professionally delivered and set

up the very same day!! I would definitely tell people to check out Jeromeʼs during

your furniture hunt.” -unsolicited letter from a military family.

Read this example of how professional home delivery by Diakon Logistics completes the sale and creates satisfiedcustomers every day for top 100 retailer Jerome’s Furniture...

L O G I S T I C S The Difference is in the Details703.530.0677www.diakonlogistics.com

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65 furnworld 1011 diakon_furniture world 9/27/11 10:36 PM Page 65

“Customers make up their mind in the first 20 feetof your store. We've all heard that before - now Isaw it in action.”

them.

FINAL OBSERVATIONSPeople are curious. After I sold the

widget, I took off the tag . P eopleasked me if it was for sale and I toldthem that it had been sold. They allasked how much it sold for! It wasn'tlike I had four more in the DC! Just forfun, I told a guy I sold it for $200 andhe said he would have given memore.

And what about the cash- ola weraked in...? Our total haul was about$190, but the object was to clear out-regardless of profit or loss! Just makespace. About 3 pm I took a walkthrough the neighborhood...and thenI saw this Widget, I just had to have it,and it was such a deal!

Gordon Hecht is Director of Salesfor Ashley Sleep division of AshleyFurniture Industries. He started his30+ years experience in the HomeFurnishings industry as a deliveryhelper and driver; switching over tofurniture industry sales while in col-lege.

Gordon has been recognized foroutstanding sales and managementachievement with several organiza-tions including Drexel-Heritage, RBFurniture, R eliable Stores, and SofaExpress. He has served as StoreManager, Multi-unit manager andDirector of Training.

Joining Ashley F urnitureHomeStores in 2007, Gordon man-aged a 44 store district covering 11states and 4 time zones. He joined the

Ashley Sleep team in 2009 and hasworked to make it one of the fastestgrowing bedding lines in the country.

Gordon has been a frequent con-tributor to company newsletters, andcontributing writer for industry maga-zines. He is based in Columbus, OHand is married with one adult son. Hecan be reached at [email protected]


67 furnworld 1011 miff_furniture world 9/27/11 10:37 PM Page 67

OPENED & READ A great way to get your direct mail opened & read -- 3D Mail.

by Mike Root

New Media Marketing

“A 3D mailer can be any number of thingsfrom a cylinder or a box to something

simply stuffed into an envelope that makes it look lumpy.”

Photo compliments 3D Mail Results

The most profitable, consistentand reliable marketing cam-paign for national advertisers isdirect mail. In fact a direct mail

campaign done right is the “HolyGrail” of direct response marketing. Itcan get customer ’s attention, piquetheir interest in a product or store,pre-sell them with a well deliveredsales pitch, and in some industriesmake the sale with no store involved.

And yet, in the furniture industry ,direct mail is one of the most under-used media forms. Many independentretailers try one mailing , do it poorlyand never want to try it again. In thisinstallment of new media marketing ,you’ll learn how to add pizzazz to yourdirect mail to get extraordinary results.

People see numerous advertise-ments every week and receive count-less flyers in a year . If you want toappeal to your customer you have tostand out and not do what everyoneelse is doing. The advertisements thatare unique are always the most mem-orable. Bold measures stick in peo-ple’s minds.

CUSTOMERS HAVEA JUNK MAIL FILTER

Think about the process your directmail piece will take when it gets to thecustomer’s home…

Today about mid-afternoon thepostman will show up outside of thefront door of your customer ’s houselike he does every day except Sunday.He will dutifully place whatever per-sonal correspondence, subscriptionmagazines and bills addressed to thefamily into the mailbox. This mail hasinterest to someone in the householdand will go to a pile of mail to beopened and read.

The rest of the mail consists ofunsolicited mail like catalogs, V alpakand junk mail including numerouscredit card solicitations. Unfortunatelymost furniture store solicitations fall inthis 2nd category of unwanted mail. Ifa furniture store mailing piece cannotmove from the junk mail pile to theopened and read pile, it will be des-tined to find the trash can. It will notmake any difference how good theoffer inside the envelope is, if the mail

does not get opened and read. Thesedays so many people just throw awaywhat looks like junk mail without evenopening it. When mailers becomejunk mail the company fails: the effortbecomes a complete waste of moneyand the customer is left clueless aboutthe message since the mail was neveropened. A message that is notopened cannot be acted on.

So how do you get your mail intothe pile of mail that gets opened andread?

IT’S ALL ABOUT CURIOSITY! Make your customers so curious

about what is inside that they can ’twait to rip it open! To create curiosity,send your customer a mailing piecethat is different from all othersbecause it obviously has more than aletter inside. The best way to do this iscalled “L umpy” Dimensional Mail,also known as 3D Mail.

3D Mail, is a piece of mail that hasdepth in addition to length and width.The depth is what sets a 3D mailerapart. A 3D mailer can be any num-


ber of things from a cylinder or a boxto something simply stuffed into anenvelope that makes it look lumpy . Apiece of 3D mail stands out (literally)from the otherwise ordinary flyers thatso many companies have fallen intothe rut of sending out. 3D mail sparksa little bit of curiosity!

Because of its unique shape, thereis no way it can sit, let alone get over-looked in a pile with all of the othermail.

For example, if you received ababy’s pacifier in an envelope in the

mail there is no way you could stackall of your other mail on top of it.Given the shape of the pacifier or anyother 3D mail object, it has to be onthe top of the mail stack or the wholestack will fall. If your mail does notstack it simply won ’t end up in thestack! This is a great feature of 3Dmail that is sure to make it stand outfrom all other mail.

There are some minor disadvan-tages such as the added cost to eitherdesign and produce the mailer your-self, or purchase a ready made prod-

uct from a supplier. Mailing costs arealso generally higher for 3D mail thana traditional flat mail piece.

WHAT IS THE MAGIC THATMAKES 3D MAIL WORK?People love to be entertained.

People love to feel like things are per-sonalized just for them, and they lovethings that are unique. This is just why3D mail works: it serves all three ofthese purposes with just one mailing!

It is entertaining and it gets yourprospect or customer involved! When


“The next key to make dimensional mail work for you is to tie the offer into why you are sending something odd in the mail to the customer .”



you actively involve your prospects,they’ll stay with your mailing longer .Any good salesman knows the moretime you spend with your prospect, themore of your story you can tell, andthe more you can sell! When you tieyour sales message to 3D mail you ’llentertain your prospects and customerand keep them involved and sellmore. 3D mail simply needs to beopened and read because it signifi-cantly increases response rates.

An added benefit is that it ’s differ-ent. If people get something out of theordinary in the mail, it is likely they willshow it to someone else because it ’sinnovative or humorous.

Most importantly for you the retail-er, 3D Mail is cost effective, especial-ly if you take care to include lightweight and inexpensive inclusions. Ofcourse some industries go all out withexpensive mailing pieces. But furnitureretailers do not have to do that. Beloware several examples where the extralittle cost to make the mailing dimen-sional will give a far higher return oninvestment.

HOW TO USE 3D MAILINGSTO ATTRACT CUSTOMERSThe next key to making dimension-

al mail work for you is to tie the offerinto why you are sending somethingodd in the mail to the customer. Workhard to create a believable offer andyou will find great things will happen.

You can create a 3D Mailer in

house by starting with a great idea fora sales letter or offer that can be putin a simple box, a cylinder or a cus-tom made container . An amusing or“cute” message can be made morepowerful by including an item thatreinforces your message. You can finda number of ideas for this type of pro-motion later in this article. There isn ’tany reason why you can ’t adopt amore serious tone by including usefulinformation or an item that reinforcesyour emphasis on color, design, com-fort, service or materials.

You can also purchase ready mademailer promotions. Some of the bestdimensional response items are mail-ing pieces that you slap a label onand place a sales letter inside. Hereare several ideas for 3D mailing pro-motions that have been successful forfurniture retailers.

You'll sleep like a Baby on a newmattress... I don’t have to tell you thatMattress sales are good business.Premium mattresses offer great bene-fits for the consumer and good mar-gin for the retailer , so a direct mailcampaign sent to affluent householdscan yield some great results. Andwhat’s not to like about a pacifier. It’snot something that gets mailed outevery day . It ’s fun! And it will getresults. Tie your message and mailinginto “sleeping like a baby ” and you’llcry all the way to the bank.

What's the Catch? When your offer istoo good to be true, send them a toyfisherman pinball game with theHeadline “ What’s the Catch?” They

can’t help but try it out. An addedbenefit is they will remember you everytime they see the game.

Save a fortune on new furniture...What’s not to like about a fortunecookie arriving at your house with thefollowing message inside the cookie“Read the enclosed letter to find yourfortune...” And then the letter starts offwith the headline savings claim “Savea F ortune on New F urniture from(Your Name) Furniture Store”. You canalso create a custom fortune insidethe cookie.

J. Squirrel - Are you Nuts... A classicdirect mail letter for the second orthird mailing of a sequence is the J .Squirrel letter that basically asks thequestion ‘Are You Nuts” for missingthis sale. A copy of this letter alongwith further information on this salecan be found by checking out the freeguide mentioned at the end of thisarticle.

Bosnia-Herzegovnia 100 DinaraBank Note... Once in a while a letterwill come with a penny or nickel oreven occasionally a $1 bill. I’ll bet younever got a bright colored 100 DinaraBank Note before. Nor has your cus-tomer and that ’s what will get themtalking about you. Attach this to thetop of the L etter and use a headlinelike “I’ll Bet Y ou’re Wondering Why Isent you 100 Dinara Bank Note” or“Trade this 100 Dinara for $100 offany purchase over $999”. There arecountless ways to use this to attractattention.

“You can create a 3D Mailer in-house bystarting with a great idea for a sales letteryou can put in a box or cylinder, or purchaseready made mailer promotions.”

Photo compliments 3D Mail Results


“There are a number ofcompanies that produceready-made or customdimensional mailers.”

ANOTHER GREAT WAY TO USE 3D MAIL

Develop a three step campaign foractivating old customers who have notdone business with you in a while.

Old customers are always a sourceof new business. Sometimes, peopleforget you, or had a bad experience,or any number of reasons they mighthave stopped doing business withyou. Go back through your files andstart this three step mailing sequence.

Step 1: W e W ant Y ou Back!!! TheBoomerang letter. Who wouldn’t thinktwice about a business that sends outboomerangs with a letter headlined“We want you back”. A customer whogets this unique item in the mail willthink it ’s fun, and if they have kids,you just gave them something for thekids to play with so they will thinkkindly about your store.

Step 2: Are Y ou Lost? Send out theCompass L etter on the second lostcustomer mailing campaignsequence. This is an entertaining wayto remind a customer , who has notdone business with you for a while, onhow to find your store. This is a greatway to get back “ lost” customers withthe humorous headline “ Are Y ouLost?”

Step 3: This is the Last Time I'm

Going to Bug Y ou!!! Use the BugLetter for the third sequence of the lostcustomer campaign. Build the mailingpiece around the theme of “This is theLast T ime I am Going to Bug Y ou”.The multi-step mailing is a great wayto break through the clutter . W ithdimensional mail like this, your mail-ing piece is bound to get opened.

A multi- step campaign always out-performs a single letter. After your cus-tomer has received a couple of thesefun dimensional offerings, they willbecome interested in what you willsend them next. This automaticallymoves your mail from the “junk ” pileto the “I want to read” pile.

There are a number of companiesthat produce ready -made or customdimensional mailers. F ind them bydoing an internet search for “3DMail”, “3 Dimensional Mail” or“Dimensional Mail”.

Note: You can request useful guidethat provides 3D container ideas andcopyright-free generic sales letters atwww.FurnitureResponse.com, thewebsite of 3D Mail Results, a supplierof #D mailers.

Mike R oot is P resident of F urnitureSales of Mid-America (www .furniture-sales.biz), a furniture wholesale andrep company in the Midwest andRocky Mountain states. His perspec-

tive is one of a third generation furni-ture guy who has been involved inmany aspects of the furniture businessincluding furniture retail, wholesaleand rental. Mike has his finger on thepulse of the industry by serving on theExecutive Committee of theInternational Home F urnishingsRepresentative’s Association (IHFRA)as well as the CQRID A dvisory Boardof the Interior Design Society.

Over the years, Mike has been rec-ognized by the Small BusinessAdministration, the Omaha Chamberof Commerce, and numerous nationalfurniture factories for sales and mar-keting excellence. Mike helps furnitureretailers and factories through hiscompany, Get Customers Right Nowbuild their sales through the use of lowcost and no cost direct response mar-keting strategies including online mar-keting and social media. F urnitureWorld readers can get a free resourceat www .GetCustomersRightNow.comentitled “7 Little Known CustomerAcquisition Strategies Y ou CanQuickly Implement T o Get NewCustomers And Explode Y our IncomeIn Ways That Your Competition HopesYou Never Discover.”

If you have questions about this arti-cle or other marketing topics, [email protected] or visitwww.MikeRoot.com.

72 FURNITURE WORLD September/October 2011 Photo compliments 3D Mail Results

OPENED & READ


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73 furnworld Service Lamp 1011_Service 9/26/11 2:49 PM Page 73

INFESTATIONPractical steps to minimize risks of warehouse infestation,negative media attention and frivolous consumer lawsuits.

by Dan Bolger

Bedbugs are on the rise in theUS, and can present problemsfor furniture and beddingstores. R etailers who pick up

and dispose of used mattresses, ortake back products due to warranty or"customer satisfaction" guarantees riskthe possibility of bedbug infestationsbeing transferred to new bedding andother furniture items.

Just having a bedbug infestation inyour store can be a public relationsnightmare. On numerous occasions,local and national TV and newspaperreporters have given top billing to bedbug infestations. News that your storewill be closed for several days or thatyou have infested even one singlehome is publicity you don ’t need orwant.

Even worse, are real or imaginedcustomer claims against your storestating that new delivered goods

caused a home infestation resulting intens of thousands of dollars in reme-diation costs. Damages in favor ofconsumers have occasionally beenawarded by the courts, including$49,000 to a couple who purchasedcase pieces at a J .C. Penny in CherryHill, NJ.

News of these kinds of claimsspread like wildfire via T witter, blogposts and internet review sites.

Here are a few random posts result-ing from a simple internet search.Although some of the complaints mayhave merit, many others are “pay-back” for poor customer service, orwrong perceptions regarding theactual cause of an infestation.

“I bought a store sample mattress from(major bedding retailer) in July 2008. Ihad almost the same experience asJoseph from Wharton NJ ... so I wouldlike to get into touch with all the oneswho have suffered bedbug problemsfrom (major bedding retailer) store sam-ple mattresses. I would like to disgustreaders of our horrible experience withbedbugs but the customer service expe-rience is even worse. I am now in anarbitration proceeding against (majorbedding retailer) and we will see how itgoes. I am shocked to find out I am notthe only one who have suffered this and(major bedding retailer) had knownabout the bedbug infestation problemand refused to address the problemfrom the source such as fumigating theirwarehouse/show room. Instead, theyhave insisted that we got bedbugs fromthe subway , starbucks or just implyingwe are dirty animals so we got bedbugs.

Justice needs to be served.”

"(Major Discount R etailer's) service wasterminable from the beginning . I pur-chased a tv/dresser night stand andhead board.On the delivery of the furni-ture the nightstand had a broken cornerand they said they would order a newtop.I refused and asked to have a newstand delivered. It came in two weeks.To find out when the furniture was deliv-ered it also had a guest BEDBUGS .Thisgets bigger than you would like. Theywere in two bedrooms making us itchlike crazy. I had to remove all articles offthe walls and bag everything in therooms. It took money and time.I had todispose of two mattresses and boxsprings $$$$$$$$$$$$."

"Have to comment on your remarkabout buying cheap bedding from"Major Bedding R etailer) and the 'bigstores' Y ou are BIG and wrong . Justbought a bed from (major beddingretailer) infested with bed bugs. So nottrying to save money and a lazy

“News that your storewill be closed for several days or that you have infested evenone single home is publicity you don’t need or want.”

Warehouse Operations

Subscribe!FURNITURE WORLDMagazineSix powerfulissues.In-depth articlesthat help retailersto boost sales,cuts costs andidentify growth opportunities.

Subscribe at www.furninfo.com.


American. Google bed bugs and (MajorBedding Retailer) and you will see pagesof stories regarding bed bugs..."

"We purchased a brand new mattresssfrom (Major Department Store). Whenwe received it, it had a few darkishbrown black spot at the bottom corner ,which we thought was ink or somethingsplattered. Since last week these spots

spread all around mattress and now seebugs ... it's disgusting I called (MajorDepartment Store) to inform them andseeking replacement. The supervisornamed _____ accused us of lying andnow I'm out $625 and No Bed to sleepin. I've been a customer of (retailername) for 15+ years. I've contactedseveral news stations and am seekingjustice."

Proper written procedures for han-dling, inspection and preventativeextermination, plus careful and com-plete documentation can be helpful indefending against claims made bycustomers who say that their newdelivered furniture caused a homebedbug infestation.

The focus of the rest of this article


Pictured are mattresses pickedup from customers that were notbagged immediately, sitting nextto newly received items. Middlephoto shows mattresses returnedunder a comfort guarantee without being bagged andsealed, potentially infecting new merchandise.

Also, a bed bug sitting on topof grains or rice. Two tiny bedbug eggs appear as smalldots below and to the right ofthe insect.


is to prevent bed bug problems inwarehouse and delivery based on on-site operations reviews. If your facilitybecomes infested, you will need pro-fessional assistance.

Bed bugs are very small parasites.Eggs are about 1/32”. and adults are1/4” to 3/8”. Adults are easily visible.A bed bug can hide in a crack or fab-ric fold as small as the thickness of acredit card. While they are not knownto carry diseases, their bites cause redspots on the skin and may cause aller-gic reactions. Entomologists claimthat bedbugs can live as long as 18-months without ingesting any blood.

The most common way for ware-houses to become infested is by poorhandling of returned bedding orupholstered furniture. If a return isauthorized, each item should be care-fully examined before being picked

up, regardless whether the home ismodest or mansion. If there are anysigns of bed bugs, no pickup shouldbe made. All bedding should bebagged and taped. Once in the truck,the return should be segregated fromnew merchandise.

Bedding pickups generally fall intothese categories: recently purchasedbedding returned on a comfort war-ranty or old bedding for donation ordisposal. Warranty returns are a par-ticular challenge as the vendor reptypically must do an inspection priorto issuing a return authorization.These items should be stored in a des-ignated area away from new goods ofany type. Donation/disposal beddingmust also be separately stored toavoid cross contamination with goodmerchandise going out for delivery.

You can also reduce risk by insisting

on having effective housekeepingthroughout the warehouse and yourdelivery trucks. If you suspect an infes-tation, a professional may do physicalexaminations or bring in a dogtrained to recognize the distinct odorgiven off by bed bugs. The parasitescan be killed with various EP Aapproved chemicals or by heating thearea to a temperature that guaranteesthat the warehouse space and all itscontents are hot enough for a longenough period to kill live bugs andeggs. Where feasible, heat treatmentis the most effective method. TheInternet links provide additional usefulinformation applicable to home orbusiness.

The bottom line is that while youmight prefer not to pick up used bed-ding, it is a competitive fact of life inmost communities. F ollowing thesteps summarized in this article willminimize this very real problem.

Daniel Bolger P .E. provides opera-tions consulting services to clientsthroughout North America. FURNI-TURE WORLD Magazine readers cancontact him at [email protected] phone 740-503-8875. F or moreinformation on transportation, logisticsand furniture warehousing topics, goto FURNITURE WORLD Magazine’swebsite www.furninfo.com to read allof Dan’s articles.

Additional Bed Bug Resources.http://www.epa.gov/bedbugs/ http://on.msnbc.com/pWajax


“Proper written procedures for handling, inspection and extermination, plus careful and complete documentation is helpful in defending against claims.”

Excellent warehousingof mattresses.


Tools you get with the TRAXsales system:• Accurate Front Door Traffic Counter • Internet based real-time reporting • Establish an exact conversion rate.• Measures traffic trends over time • Identifies over and under staffing • Increases advertising efficiency.• Sales & management reports • Simple integrated electronic solution • Tracks store and individual sales goals.

TRAXsales Guarantee: The only people counter company with a 90 day buy-back. 713-466-7177 • www.TRAXsales.com

By the time you finish reading this, you will be on yourway to, reducing sales staff turnover, and adding 20% to your sales volume next year.

by Dave Mink, TRAXsales.com

What problem is costing most furniture retailers 20% of potential sales volume every month, adding up to millions in sales every year? Salesperson turnover.

How do you keep good salespeople and reduce turnover?

Personal reasons aside, salespeople leave for one reason- they are not making enough money. A leading furniture publication states that, on average, it costs$70,000 to replace a salesperson that has an established clientele. Adding in time for training, rookie mistakes, and the closing ratio of a seasoned salesperson versus a new hire, the cost quickly adds up to over $150,000.

To keep your top performers, provide them with the opportunity to build a strong customer following and continually increase their sales performance. Challengesand goals equal excitement, and create loyal employees.

How can you create an atmosphere of top performers?

Work to simplify and streamline the lead-tracking processfor your employees. Dedicate 2 hours per week for 1month working with your team to ensure each employeeunderstands how to track and follow up with importantcustomer leads using some kind of Customer RelationshipManagement System. TRAXsales produces front door people counters and automated UpBoard software for thehome furnishings industry, but shop around there are manytypes.

The typical closing ratio in the furniture business for abelow average salesperson is about 12%. If the customerreturns for the same item, the closing ratio jumps to over80% even with this below average closer.

This is where most fail- 90% of all furniture salespeople donot follow-up properly. Using proper follow-up, you will see a 40% increase in returning customers.

What constitutes proper follow-up?

1. Know when to stop selling and start listening.

2. Train your team to retrieve personal information.

3. Use the automatic follow-up letters.

4. Personalize correspondence.

5. Develop and maintain relationships.

6. Track all contacts.

7. Print daily to-do lists each morning to keep your teamalert and informed on who and how to contact.

To receive a Free White Paper “The 2-HourSales Manager’s Guide”that includes a detailed “to do” list guaranteed to help yoursalespeople follow-up better, reduce turnover and add toyour bottom line (with or without the TRAXsales system)please contact...

Dave Mink at TRAXsales888-646-5462or email [email protected]: 713-466-7177

Track dollar value ofunsold customers

Track staffing compared tocustomer traffic patterns

Time stamp each customer opportunity

Traffic Counter: Famiilies countedas one, invisible when leave

10-11 TRAX 77_trax 9/28/11 11:39 AM Page 77

Sometimes, quick and easy solu-tions turn out to be problems inthe end. T ake, for example,matte finish furniture. Easily fin-

ished, it requires very little skill to cre-ate the topcoat: Shoot it, heat it, putit in a box. That ’s the simplified ver-sion, of course, but consider what ittakes to create a high sheen, at leastin my shop:

• After the color has been complet-ed (staining, toning, glazing, shad-ing, sealing) I apply three coats ofa high-solids gloss lacquer.

• Once the lacquer cures, I wet sandit with 1000-grit paper and paraf-fin oil to even the finish.

• Three additional coats of high-sheen lacquer are applied.

• I wet sand the final coat with1000-grit paper again, hand-sand-ing with a block to make surethere are no unlevel places.

• The finish is machine-compoundedwith a foam pad and a high- speedbuffer, then cleaned with naphtha.

• The final finish is buffed with asheep’s wool pad on a high- speedbuffer, and wiped to remove dust.

Whew! This is how most fine furni-ture was finished (albeit more effi-ciently and quickly in a factory) beforethe “Chinese revolution.” However ,what was a boom to manufacturershas been an absolute nightmare for

retailers.Now, I’ve heard plenty of repair

technicians bemoan gloss finishes,overwhelmingly because of the factthat they don ’t know how to repairthem. This is understandable becausematte finishes proliferated in the early1990s, so many techs were trained torepair nothing but. The problem is,I’ve consulted plenty of retailers in mycareer, and these techs don ’t reallyunderstand how to repair matte finish-es, either!

A few questions for a tech toanswer:

1.Can you use steel wool to rubout a scratched matte finish?

Answer: No. Matte finishes are notrubbed. You can rub them out to elim-inate their depth, per se, but you mustrelacquer the top to eliminate thewool scratches.

2.Can you buff out a scratch in amatte finish, even a light one?

Answer: No. Matte finishes are notbuffed. You must relacquer.

3.Can you spot touch-up a mattefinish using aerosol lacquers?

Answer: Rarely. Most aerosols leave ahalo when applied, revealing therepaired area.

4.Can you relacquer with aerosolcans? Answer: T ypically, not to

the same quality. Place two new tables

next to each other, and relacquer onewith aerosols. Unless they are 100%identical, the repair is not perfect.Period.

5.Can you use compound to rubout a scratch on a matte finish?

Answer: No. Compound increasessheen.

These problems exist not only in thewarehouse, where most problems(hopefully) are caught, but also in thehome, where retailers often send techsto try to correct small scratches. Theseservice calls end in one of three ways:New piece ordered, part ordered, orproblem solved.

The fact is that matte finishes are aproblem for our industry . While theyare quick to apply, they are difficult torepair and often disappoint the cus-tomer. The most glaring example ofthis assertion is the conundrum aretailer faces when presented with ascratched dining table. I have seencase after case where the customertakes final delivery of a dining table inperfect condition, only to call backwith a service request when the finishbecomes scratched, usually by some-thing benign like a placemat or dish.Really? Not all manufacturers useconversion varnish or UV , which isharder but not impervious to damage.

To make matters worse, the onlyway to completely correct these finish-es back to factory -new condition is torelacquer them using a cup gun or


Quick & Easy

FURNITURE REPAIRDo you have a backlog of damaged stock? Are your quick and

easy finish repair solutions turning out to be neither quick nor easy?

Repair by Peter Schlosser


“Best ProfitPer Square Foot InMy Entire Lineup!”

Don Olson, Owner

DeCamp and Stradford Furniture Headquarters

Phone 800-934-6711 Fax 888-477-6796 Email [email protected]

Check these results!• Don’s store has averaged 15 sales per year

for SEVENTEEN years now!

• That’s an inventory turn of 7.5 per year, and those sales are achieved with normal margins.

• The ROI is dramatic!

That’s pretty remarkable! Particularly when you consider that his store is in a town of 7,500, 100 miles north of Seattle.

You don’t have to be a big guy in a big town to winwith Wallbeds, as Don can tell you.

Wallbeds has slowly and carefully developed a network of retail partners. There are still markets open, so, if you are interested in looking at this high performing category, please give us a call. We wouldlike to share a few more success stories with you, andexplore the possibility of your company becoming another one!

Las Vegas...Bldg. A 540

79 furnworld 1011 wallbeds_Layout 1 9/26/11 9:42 AM Page 79

pressure pot, in a spray booth.Woefully, few retailers have invested inthis technology which is like having acar dealership without a garage.

The one -two punch for the retailerwithout a spray booth is…

• Lots of distressed or clearanceinventory.

• Lots of dissatisfied customers hav-ing to wait for replacement stockor parts.

• Lots of service calls.

• Amateur-looking repair attempts bytechs who, with a booth, could bemaking perfect repairs.

I’ve seen retailers fight this issuetooth and nail, but the fact remains, ifyou want to push matte finish furniture(and most retailers do) then you mustbe able to completely relacquer usinga cup gun or pressure pot. The alter-native is to sell higher-end furnishingswith higher sheens, which can berepaired with steel wool, buffing , wetsanding and compound, and are fareasier to repair than their matte finishcousins.

If you insist on using aerosols forrelacquering, try to keep their use at a

minimum, and choose a specific set ofmaterials that are designed to makeinvisible repairs with little effort.Among them:

• Blush eliminator. Essentially a canof lacquer without the solids, thisformulation softens the original fin-ish, allows it to level, then evapo-rates without significantly changingthe sheen, if at all. It is ideal for“angel kiss” scratches or very lightpacking marks.

• Very high-grit (1000-grit) sandpa-per. Use a block and some oil orwater to sand out very fine scratch-es that won’t disappear with blusheliminator. You will still have torelacquer.

• Low solids lacquer with excellentatomization. I use only one: Touch-Up Solutions’ Premium Blend LowSolids Lacquer (0314 series). Ifyou have to make a burn-in, Iwould suggest Touch-Up Solutions’Pre-Catalyzed lacquers with goodflow-out (0328 series).

It is absolutely critical to note thatvery, very few of us can accuratelymeasure sheen reflectivity without ameter. L acquer is sold according to,

among other criteria, its sheen, orreflectivity—how much light it reflects.The higher the number, the higher thereflectivity. T ypically the scale runsfrom a five -sheen (dead flat) to aninety-sheen (gloss). But this factorcan be deceiving when choosing atopcoat for the piece you are repair-ing. The vast majority of matte finishfurniture has a sheen ranging fromtwenty to thirty -five. R emember thatadding lacquer will change the sheenof the piece because you are coveringup the original finish!

If you are at all concerned aboutyour clearance issues or have a back-log of damaged stock because yourtech staff is ill-trained to correct theseproblems, consider contacting yourfinish supplier for help, or use a furni-ture repair consultant who can comeon-site and train your staff one -on-one.

Peter Schlosser is an independentfurniture repair consultant who lives inMorganton, NC. He can be reachedvia email at [email protected] by calling 828-408-3162. He hasseventeen years’ experience in theindustry in both retail and manufactur-ing environments.


QUICK & EASY REPAIR



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In the early eighties, my parentspurchased a furniture store calledCrown F urniture, a decades oldcompany in Tulsa. At the time, my

siblings, Julie, David, Dan and I wereall small. When we weren ’t in schoolor during the summers, we were oftenat work with our parents.

Growing up around the businesswas in itself an education, and with itcame adventure. When we wereyounger, the four of us kids mostlyplayed at the office. But, as the yearswent by, we learned life lessons fromwatching our parents run the store. Mysister and I helped in the office doingpaperwork and sales, and my brotherswere involved with deliveries andrepairs.

Dad and Mom allowed us kids to beinvolved in many aspects of the busi-ness and would often introduce us tocustomers and factory representatives,giving us opportunity to improve ourpeople skills and confidence as welearned how to think like owners.

Fast forward 20 years and Crowntoday is owned and operated by mysiblings and I, who are all now in ourthirties. Since the days our parentsowned Crown, it has undergone manychanges and reinventions. As a com-pany and a family , we have endeav-ored to meet the challenges that con-tinue to arise in a changing industry.

By regularly attending trade showsto find the best value and design, wefocus on keeping our store and prod-uct offerings fresh and innovative.

Also, in line with our marketing strate-gies, we strive to maintain an onlinepresence which includes optimizingour website www .crownfurniture.comand having a highly visited F acebookpage.

Each sibling heads up an area of

the business, and as a team, we meetregularly to discuss decisions, changesand the overall focus of the company .When facing major decisions, the live-ly discussions that sometimes ensueare what bring out some of the pas-sion (and fun) to the job. Though wehave our disagreements, thankfully , itis rare for us to reach an impasse.

Looking back, there are numerousvaluable lessons we learned from ourupbringing. The tools my parents gaveus have helped define and steer us assecond generation business owners.These include:

1.Always treat people well: Myparent’s store provided a friend-

ly, non- competitive atmosphere. Bytaking the time to show interest in ourclients’ lives, we too have gainedfriends and repeat business by letting

TOOLS OF THE TRADERetail strategies a successful second generation

furniture retailer learned from her Mom and Dad.

by Robin Blonsky

“In settings like this,hum drum salespeoplewill produce a boringexperience that lacksinsight and an honestenthusiasm for theproduct.”

Photos compliments of TulsaPeople Magazine

Salesmanship - Tips From Furniture World Readers

Pictured are Brad Stine - retiredformer owner, Tyler Stine - David’sson & 3rd Generation, Dan Stine -Design & Contract Sales Manager,and David Stein - OperationsManager.


89 furnworld mexico 1011_furniture world 9/28/11 3:30 PM Page 89

them know that they are not just anumber. Many of our clients havestayed with us for 15, 20, 25 years –which is one of the great complimentsof our work. Some of those clients arealso 2nd or 3rd generation businessowners.

2.Keep the salesmanship alive: Inmany box stores today, the show-

man side of the sale has been lost. Ifind that it’s usually because the sales-person has no passion or real interest

in what he or she is selling . In settingslike this, hum drum salespeople willproduce a boring experience thatlacks insight and an honest enthusi-asm for the product.

We learned from my Dad how to tella story, the value of knowing our prod-uct, and the importance of connectingwith our client. Whether he was pour-ing hot coffee on a Paoli wood desk toshow the durability of the heat resis-tant finish, or jumping up and downon a Virco children’s size stack chair toshow the superb quality of the steelbrace, Dad was always selling with astyle that often bordered on theatrics.Let me ask you this, when was the lasttime someone really “sold you ” on atruly good product? I’ll bet it was alocally owned store, not a chain.

3.Know when to close the deal.When training us in sales, Dad

would often say , “ When the client isready to buy , stop talking and closethe deal.” I have seen this bear out tobe true over the years. Once the clienthas decided they are ready to buy , ifyou talk too much or ask too manyquestions, they can end up changingtheir mind and the sale will be lost.

4.Stay in Unity: Over the years,the focus on unity was stressed

over and over. Dad and Mom wantedus to get along as siblings but beyondthat, they would strive for us to get

along as a family business by empha-sizing team work. W e learned to takeownership of certain areas while help-ing each other with bids, sales calls,delivery coordinating and problemsolving, things we still do today.

Deferring to each other when one ofus is more suited to the task than theanother is something we often dobecause we ultimately know that at theend of the day we want the best foreach other and our business. Thisknowledge and trust helps provide theplatform from which we work togetheron a daily basis.

5.Steady plodding = Prosperity:When you have been in a busi-

ness for years, it is easy to let the pas-sion for it wain. Mom and Dad mod-eled the importance of putting theirefforts towards a goal and stayingconsistent with it day in and day out.

Nearly 30 years have passed sincethat day my Dad got the keys to ourfirst furniture store location. Since thattime, our industry has changed signif-icantly, especially with the onset ofonline retailing. Independent retailersneed to focus, now more than ever, onbeing a local store that people like todo business with.

Whether it ’s using local landmarksto showcase our product in an adcampaign, or giving away a free ipadon Facebook to increase web traffic,Crown endeavors to stay on the cut-ting edge.

An edge refined by the partnershipof a strong second generation thatvalues the tools proven by the first.

Robin Blonsky is the sales managerand co -owner of Crown OfficeFurnishings in T ulsa, OK . She hasworked in the furniture industry formore than 15 years and wears manyhats in the family owned businessincluding merchandising , space plan-ning and design. She blogs regularlyabout furniture -related topics athttp://www.crownfurniture.com andcan be reached via email at [email protected]


Pictured below is Sue Stine with daughters Julie Moss - GeneralManager, and Robin Blonsky - SalesManager.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

The Bolger GroupWarehouse-Delivery-Transportation Management Consultants

• Increase Productivity - Plan Warehouse Growth •• Fix Service Problems - Tighten Controls •

Call 740-503-8875 3146 Maple Ave., Millersport OH 43046-9740

www.bolgergroup.com • email [email protected]



17, 91 furnworld 1011 Vegas_furniture world 9/22/11 2:12 PM Page 91

3Dream.net 800-449-9984 [email protected] 71ACA 800-882-8588 [email protected] 76Acme 626-964-3456 [email protected] 46Agio 800-416-3511 [email protected] 59Anatomic Global 800-874-7237 [email protected] 53Arc Way Trolleys 800-263-1338 [email protected] 80Ashley Furniture www.ashleyfurniture.com 3,4,5Bermex 819-601-8702 [email protected] 45Beverly Hills Polo Club 212-947-2223 [email protected] C4Bolger Group Consulting 740-503-8875 [email protected] 80Cambridge Mills 303-519-6750 [email protected] 43Cory Home Delivery 201-795-100 [email protected] 61Country View Woodworking 330-674-1390 [email protected] Cover 1, 1Crinar 418-834-4440 [email protected] 39Cruise4Two 866-541-8077 [email protected] 57Cultural Sources International 732-658-0416 [email protected] 42D’oro 682-292-0101 [email protected] 47Diakon 703-530-0677 dgreen@ diakonlogistics.com 65Dinec 819-601-8702 [email protected] 43E.S. Kluft 909-373-4211 51Ergomotion 805-979-9400 [email protected] 55Flex-A-Bed 800-648-1756 [email protected] 49Furniture Team 717-361-7858 [email protected] 28Furniture Training Company 866-755-5996 [email protected] 66Furniture Wizard 619-482-2613 [email protected] 32-33FurnitureCore.com 800-826-8868 [email protected] 23Galt Display Rack 800-461-3892 [email protected] 69Genesis Software 509-536-4739 [email protected] 63Hickory At Home 800-438-5341 [email protected] 9Home Trends & Design 901-355-1411 [email protected] 46Human Touch 562-606-4822 [email protected] 43Huppe 819-758-1529 [email protected] 14-15 IHFC (High Point Show) 336-888-3700 www.ihfc.com 85Imm cologne (Cologne Show) 773—326-9920 [email protected] 25Impact Consulting 800-826-8868 [email protected] 23JS Sanders 845-378-4832 [email protected] 52Karel Expositions 305-792-9990 [email protected] 60Kathy Ireland Home by Omnia 909-393-4400 [email protected] 7Kathy Ireland Home by Vaughan 276-236-611 [email protected] 47Kathy Ireland Office by Bush 800-727-2874 [email protected] 44Leather Bits 818-241-7242 [email protected] 92Loloi Rugs 972-503-5656 [email protected] 31Mega Motion 800-800-8586 [email protected] 42Merchandise Mart www.merchandisemart.com/highpoint 86Mexico International Furn Market +52(33)3343 3400 [email protected] 89MicroD 800-964-3876 [email protected] 41MIFF Furniture Fair 603-9282-2888 [email protected] 67Morry Dickter 1-800-521-9935 [email protected] 71Planned Furniture Promotions 800-472-5242 [email protected] 29PROFITSystems 866-595-9376 [email protected] 35, 37Rizzy Home 706-602-8857 [email protected] 10Service Lamp 800-222-5267 [email protected] 73Shaw 706-275-4754 [email protected] 46Showplace 336-886-4700 www.showplace-highpoint.com 87Storis 888-478-6747 [email protected] 11Surya 706-625-4823 [email protected] 20-21Therapedic [email protected] C3Trax 888-646-5462 [email protected] 77Truck Skin 877-866-7546 [email protected] 75Wallbeds 800-934-6711 [email protected] 79World Market Center 702-599-9621 [email protected] 17, 91

92 FURNITURE WORLD September/ October 2011

ADVERTISER & DESIGN EDITORIALINDEX & CONTACT INFORMATION

COMPANY TELEPHONE EMAIL PAGE#

[email protected]

Increase your display sales with one of our new sofa display solutions!

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP

Avg.#copies prev. 12 mo. No. copies issue 8/11

15a. Total No. Copies (Net Press Run): 26,154 27,58015b.(1) Individual paid /requested: 10,944 10,970 15b.(2) Copies requested by employers: - - 15b.(3) Sales through dealers and carriers, etc. 423 58915b.(4) Requested copies distributed by other: - - 15c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation: 11,367 11,59915d.(1) Nonrequested copies: 8,829 8,53115d.(4) Nonrequested copies distr. outside the mail: 4,234 5,33915e. Total nonrequested distribution: 13,063 13,87015f: Total distribution: 24,430 25,42915g. Copies not distributed: 1,724 2,15115h. Total (sum of 15f & g): 26,154 27,58015i. Percent paid and/or requested 46.5 45.5

1. Publication Title: FURNITURE WORLD2. Publication Number ISSNO738-89OX3. Filing Date 10/31/104. Issue Frequency: Every other month5. No Issues/Yr. - 6 6. Annual Subscription Price - $19 per year7. Mailing Address: 1333A North Ave., #437

New Rochelle, NY 108049. Publisher- Barton I. Bienenstock - Address as above.

Editor/ Mng. Editor: Russell Bienenstock - Address above.

10.Owner: Towse Publishing Company (a NY Corporation)

1333A North Ave., #437, New Rochelle, NY 10804. Principal Stockholder: Russell Bienenstock1353 North Ave., New Rochelle, NY 10804.

11.Bondholders- None.12. Tax status has not changed during proceeding 12 months.13. Publication Title: FURNITURE WORLD14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: July/August 2011

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