The Industry Outlook
December 2008 By Interviews Conducted And Compiled By Senior Editors Jo Fleischer And Powell Slaughter
No doubt 2009 is shaping up much the same as 2008. Here, we’ve compiled forecasts and prognostications from many industry notables on what the new year holds for the furniture industry, and a bit on strategies they are looking to implement to keep business afloat. Here’s hoping the thought sharing helps in planning for what is sure to be another tumultuous year for furniture.
Bill Hartman, president
Furniture First buying group
Harrisburg, Pa.
“My feeling is 2009 will be predominantly like the first three quarters of 2008. ... One thing we’ve been working on is providing training to help our retailers increase closing ratios and improve average tickets. We’ve trained about 70 percent of the membership (of 160 companies with 328 stores) on mattresses. We’ve also had about eight more general sales training programs over the past two years to help sales managers and sales associates. We hold regional training meetings that are set up so everybody can get there with less than a three-hour drive. That has been part of our strategy for some time, because we just knew that the economy was going to get extremely tough, so in late 2006, we planned all this training out.
“It helps our salespeople, it helps our stores and it helps our suppliers. The more difficult strategy is getting people in the front doors, and that becomes a continual effort. Part of it relies on our network of members to share information and ideas when something has worked. We do it through advertising, sharing advertising ideas and using our Web site.
“It’s just incredibly difficult right now, but (Veteran’s Day Weekend) sales provided a little bit of a glimpse of hope. Hopefully, it will continue into the next weekend, too.”
Tom Olinde, president
Olinde’s Furniture
Baton Rouge, La.
Olinde, who is also 2008 president of Furniture Marketing Group, a buying group whose members operate more than 500 stores, said, “I really feel it’s going to be a difficult Christmas and a difficult 2009.
“The retailers who are going to fare better are the stores that don’t have too much debt or are too leveraged. Those stores can kind of dig in and try to improve their operations to operate more efficiently, lower their inventory levels and operate in a (very lean) way. That’s what we’re trying to do with our company (which includes four Olinde’s stores and four Ashley HomeStores).
Bill Hartman, president
Furniture First buying group
Harrisburg, Pa.
“My feeling is 2009 will be predominantly like the first three quarters of 2008. ... One thing we’ve been working on is providing training to help our retailers increase closing ratios and improve average tickets. We’ve trained about 70 percent of the membership (of 160 companies with 328 stores) on mattresses. We’ve also had about eight more general sales training programs over the past two years to help sales managers and sales associates. We hold regional training meetings that are set up so everybody can get there with less than a three-hour drive. That has been part of our strategy for some time, because we just knew that the economy was going to get extremely tough, so in late 2006, we planned all this training out.
“It helps our salespeople, it helps our stores and it helps our suppliers. The more difficult strategy is getting people in the front doors, and that becomes a continual effort. Part of it relies on our network of members to share information and ideas when something has worked. We do it through advertising, sharing advertising ideas and using our Web site.
“It’s just incredibly difficult right now, but (Veteran’s Day Weekend) sales provided a little bit of a glimpse of hope. Hopefully, it will continue into the next weekend, too.”
Tom Olinde, president
Olinde’s Furniture
Baton Rouge, La.
Olinde, who is also 2008 president of Furniture Marketing Group, a buying group whose members operate more than 500 stores, said, “I really feel it’s going to be a difficult Christmas and a difficult 2009.
“The retailers who are going to fare better are the stores that don’t have too much debt or are too leveraged. Those stores can kind of dig in and try to improve their operations to operate more efficiently, lower their inventory levels and operate in a (very lean) way. That’s what we’re trying to do with our company (which includes four Olinde’s stores and four Ashley HomeStores).
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