Furniture First Event Focused On Winning Ideas
Furniture First Buying Group Brought Together More Than 150 Retail Executives for Annual Symposium in Chicago
August 2008
Furniture First’s annual Symposium this week near Chicago focused on sharing winning ideas—and stressing a store’s strongest unique features—as more than 150 store owners and executives came together for the three-day event.
The buying organization is made up of 168 retail companies with more than $1.5 billion in purchasing power, but the emphasis this week was squarely on successful operating strategies as the organization’s retail members spoke on topics ranging from Internet marketing to merchandising and commission structures. A panel of top-level executives from companies such as Serta, Aspenhome and Universal stressed the importance of establishing a store’s key differentiators and strengthening supplier partnerships on the event’s opening night, Tuesday.
But, much of the focus was on trading successful sales techniques through networking sessions. For example, many participants brought numerous copies of their most successful ads and circulars to trade with fellow retailers. Formal retailer-only networking sessions focused on exchanging strategies for cutting costs and taking a non-traditional approaches to marketing.
Serta, a major sponsor, transported the entire group from the event hotel near O’Hare Airport to its 5-week-old headquarters building in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The mattress maker also sponsored a dinner event at a convention hall, where it had erected a full-scale replica of its newest America’s Mattress store.
At the Supplier Panel Discussion, Aspenhome CEO Bill Colegrove stressed the importance of recognizing a store’s unique competitive advantage. He cited Warren Buffet’s strategy of investing in companies with a unique advantage that will continue to have that trait 10 years into the future.
“If you don’t have a competitive advantage, invent one,” he said. “If you do have a competitive advantage, claim it, promote it and feature it.”
Other panelists urged retailers to try new, non-traditional approaches. For example Serta President Bob Sherman said furniture retailers have partnered with third-party promoters to host in-store bridal fairs that expose soon-to-be-marrieds and their friends and families to furniture at a time when many are likely to purchase it.
Universal President Randy Chrisley said the tough economic environment makes it essential for furniture stores to tighten bonds with key suppliers. Citing recent furniture industry bankruptcies, he said, “There’s fewer of you (retailers) and fewer of us (manufacturers), so if there’s ever been a time to form partnerships, it’s now. We need to provide more of the products you need, and closer partnerships are what we both need to expand in the future.”
The buying organization is made up of 168 retail companies with more than $1.5 billion in purchasing power, but the emphasis this week was squarely on successful operating strategies as the organization’s retail members spoke on topics ranging from Internet marketing to merchandising and commission structures. A panel of top-level executives from companies such as Serta, Aspenhome and Universal stressed the importance of establishing a store’s key differentiators and strengthening supplier partnerships on the event’s opening night, Tuesday.
But, much of the focus was on trading successful sales techniques through networking sessions. For example, many participants brought numerous copies of their most successful ads and circulars to trade with fellow retailers. Formal retailer-only networking sessions focused on exchanging strategies for cutting costs and taking a non-traditional approaches to marketing.
Serta, a major sponsor, transported the entire group from the event hotel near O’Hare Airport to its 5-week-old headquarters building in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The mattress maker also sponsored a dinner event at a convention hall, where it had erected a full-scale replica of its newest America’s Mattress store.
At the Supplier Panel Discussion, Aspenhome CEO Bill Colegrove stressed the importance of recognizing a store’s unique competitive advantage. He cited Warren Buffet’s strategy of investing in companies with a unique advantage that will continue to have that trait 10 years into the future.
“If you don’t have a competitive advantage, invent one,” he said. “If you do have a competitive advantage, claim it, promote it and feature it.”
Other panelists urged retailers to try new, non-traditional approaches. For example Serta President Bob Sherman said furniture retailers have partnered with third-party promoters to host in-store bridal fairs that expose soon-to-be-marrieds and their friends and families to furniture at a time when many are likely to purchase it.
Universal President Randy Chrisley said the tough economic environment makes it essential for furniture stores to tighten bonds with key suppliers. Citing recent furniture industry bankruptcies, he said, “There’s fewer of you (retailers) and fewer of us (manufacturers), so if there’s ever been a time to form partnerships, it’s now. We need to provide more of the products you need, and closer partnerships are what we both need to expand in the future.”
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