Furniture World Articles

Advertising Strategies For The Big Box Invasion  - 12/13/2005

Huge retail chains and big box stores have monster budgets and corporate ad departments to work with. Out-advertise them in 2006 by buying right and working on your message. Larry Mullins explains how to create effective messages that will attract customers who are already in the market to buy.

Time To Teach The Sales Success Equation  - 12/13/2005

The things we teach our new salespeople often have nothing to do with what it takes to be successful. Joe Capillo looks at the most basic equation that includes the variables of UPs, average sale and close ratio.

Retail Profile: Royal Oak Home Furnishings  - 12/13/2005

Purchasing from all domestic sources, this retailer focuses on quality, selection, customer service and education to achieve competitive advantage.

Boost Employee Productivity - Part 3  - 12/12/2005

Once you’ve found the factors affecting employee productivity that need improvement, you are ready to make performance improvement a reality. This installment looks at ways to improve individual performance and provide support systems for your employees.

Retailer’s Guide To Managing Hyper Change  - 12/12/2005

Managing organizational change is more important and difficult than most retail managers believe. Ren Baker looks at how focusing on change can help to drive extraordinary performance improvement in retail home furnishings stores.

Boston Inc., Plans For Warehouse Growth  - 12/12/2005

Boston Inc., Plans For Warehouse Growth Case study of a family owned chain of four stores that built a centralized warehouse with expansion capabilities to support a high level of customer service during times of rapid sales growth.

Ride The Sales Tornado: Become The Wizard Of "Awes"  - 12/7/2005

Cathy Finney looks at the skill sets you need to possess to end up in the land of “Awes”. Once there, you can take your company, “Me Inc.” to new heights by embracing change in 2006.

Furniture Team Online Jobs  - 10/6/2005

Latest jobs from furniture industry management recruiter Furniture Team.

Special International Supplement: Singapore  - 10/6/2005

A special supplement that reports on how the Singapore furniture industry has focused on stability, cost containment through outsourcing, and branding cutting edge products for export.

Better Lighting - Lower Cost  - 10/5/2005

Energy costs are rising, but home furnishings retailers can cut overall costs with new lighting technologies. Part 3 of this series by Monte Lee from FURNITURE WORLD's article archives shows you how to conserve without sacrificing the showroom appearance.

How To Shop The Competition -Part 2  - 10/5/2005

Peter Marino looks at the benefits of shopping competitive stores and discusses shopping techniques, ethics and courtesy.

Abuse of Power : Cautionary Retail Tale  - 10/5/2005

How to avoid the pitfalls of abuse of rank and its results; poor customer service and reduced productivity.

Consumer Financing - Part 1  - 10/5/2005

The benefits of consumer finance options are considered along with how to market and manage each to help you to drive sales while increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Great Sales Managers Don't Manage Salespeople!  - 10/5/2005

Sales people need to manage themselves. They should develop and then implement productive sales systems to achieve maximum results.

Supply Chain Management - Part 2  - 10/5/2005

The future of our industry will not belong to any one size company, marketing channel or country of origin. It will belong to manufacturers and retailers that embrace Global Lean Logistics.

Beautiful Truck Contest  - 10/5/2005

FURNITURE WORLD readers who “love their trucks” sent photos and filled out questionnaires. Entries were judged on the graphic approach used as well as special modifications and maintenance procedures.

Major Retailers Use Product Knowledge CD  - 10/5/2005

Federated, Norwalk, AMI/ Furniture Leaders Members, K’s Merchandise and others use electronic course to efficiently educate salespeople.

Improving Employee Performance - Part 2  - 10/5/2005

Once you’ve found the factors affecting employee productivity in your organization that need improvement, you are ready to make performance improvement a reality.

Focus On Malaysian Furniture - Part 2  - 8/12/2005

Malaysian companies are shedding their low-end image as they upgrade processes, brand their products and embrace cutting edge design.

Retailer's Guide To Lean Logistics  - 8/11/2005

Lean supply chain management is a challenge. Being lean means removing waste from operations. For furniture retailers, time really is money in the form of increased costs including those associated with carrying inventory.

Who Dreams Of Earning $50,000 Selling Furniture? -Part 2  - 8/11/2005

Let’s look at salespeople this time. Or, rather, let’s look at what we expect of our salespeople, how we hire them, train them to do what we expect of them, and how much we pay them to do it.

Know How To Shop The Competition  - 8/11/2005

What happens if you don’t know as much about your competitors’ pricing, quality and service, as do your customers? Peter Marino looks at the benefits of shopping competitive stores as well as technique, ethics and courtesy.

Warehouse Expansion Case  - 8/11/2005

Coconis’ lastest round of expansion was preceeded by careful warehouse planning. Steps taken to better manage people and processes boosted efficiency and made the transition to dealing with increased sales volume easier.

Time Tested Furniture Repair Techniques  - 8/11/2005

There are lots of good books that will tell you how to repair solid wood furniture, but what about imported furniture built from particleboard and resin? Repairing these products requires a special way of thinking, and some special techniques.

Benchmark Factors That Affect Employee Performance  - 8/10/2005

Obtaining optimum performance from workers is one of the most urgent issues facing retail furniture stores. This series of articles gives an overview of a technique that allows retail managers to measure and then direct job performance enhancement.

Variable Rate Commissions - Part 2  - 6/8/2005

A variable commission system can increase store margins and increase your sales associates’ income. This article explains how to design a system that will boost profits and be accepted by your sales associates.

Pre-Employment Testing  - 6/8/2005

Pre-employment testing is being used by more retailers these days. There are hundreds of tests on the market and each one addresses a different combination of skills and traits. The right test depends on the position for which you are hiring, the skills you consider most important, and the characteristics that are relevant to the job and your work culture.

Combat Sales Reluctance  - 6/8/2005

Ninety percent of salespeople suffer from some form of sales reluctance. Cathy Finney looks at some of the common problems they face, and provides solutions that can make selling more fun and profitable.

12 Great Ways To Promote Your Brand  - 6/8/2005

Larry Mullins describes 12 great ways to help you and your customers remember what makes your store unique. What does your brand have that all the others don’t?

Deliver It Right!  - 6/8/2005

It doesn’t matter if you run a distribution center and deliver with your own drivers or use an outside company for all or a portion of these functions. You will, in either case, take the heat or the credit for the arrival condition of furniture you place in your customers’ homes.

Who Dreams Of Earning $50,000 Selling Furniture? - Part 1  - 6/8/2005

Adam hoped to earn as much as $50,000, but store traffic and staffing levels would provide him with about 150 customers per month. At the store’s average close ratio of 21%, and average sale of $1,100 he'd likely earn $20,790 - less than he earned at his old job.

Enduring Style & Quality At Coulters  - 6/8/2005

Ontario’s largest furniture store occupies an entire city block with over 80,000 square feet of showroom space.

Golden Rules Of Retail Furniture Store Telephone Communications  - 4/7/2005

A detailed guide by Peter Marino to the art of keeping customers on the line, calm, receptive and ready to listen to what customer service and sales associates have to say.

Retail Profile: Kingsmill’s  - 4/7/2005

A fifth generation furniture business provides innovative home furnishings services in their landmark London building and on their website at www.kingsmills.com.

Every Associate A Leader - Part 3  - 4/7/2005

There is a new paradigm for bringing leaders up through the ranks of our retail rganizations. It is based on the Metavalues® of integrity, excellence and caring and includes an entirely new way of teaching these attributes. Larry Mullins continues to look at how the best furniture stores develop leaders.

Paint A Rembrandt... Or Forget It!  - 4/7/2005

Will Rogers said, “If you are selling something, try and make it so good that you’d rather be the man who bought it than the man who sold it.” Cathy Finney applies this logic to the fine art of working with clients in retail furniture stores.

Guide To Optimal Sales Staffing - Part 3  - 4/7/2005

Getting started as a new salesperson in our business is a slow process. Often stores send newly hired associates out on the floor with very little preparation. Joe Capillo provides FW readers with a detailed orientation and training plan that cuts attrition rates and boosts early productivity.

Use A Tail Waggin' Greeting  - 4/7/2005

A 5-8 second investment in greeting your customers properly will pay back huge dividends. Article by FW subscriber Michael Bowman.

Store Lighting - Part 2 - It’s All About Color!  - 4/6/2005

This long awaited follow-up by Monte Lee shows how lighting with the right CRI and temperature can boost sales, while making the wrong choice might make your store look like the corner grocery.

Big Employee Theft Problem  - 4/6/2005

Warehouse shrinkage, missing deliveries and customer - employee collusion are a reality. Often these problems go unreported because of insufficient oversight.

MFA Member List  - 3/29/2005

Listing of MFA member listings.

Furnish A Future  - 2/24/2005

The The Greater New York Home Furnishings Association and partners are teaming with Furnish a Future to look for furniture manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, home furnishings representatives, designers and retailers who are willing to donate excess inventory to "furnish a future" for New York City families who are moving from homeless shelters into their first new homes.

Trends Display 2005  - 2/8/2005

Pierre & Andre combine pragmatism with retail know-how in the 2005 display.

Every Associate A Leader - Part 2  - 2/8/2005

Test way to develop leaders who can see your company and services the way that they ought to be.

A Retail Awakening: Design Services  - 2/8/2005

Now, there appears to be a new awareness among furniture retailers of the importance of furnishing new rooms vs. just selling new products.

Variable Rate Commissions & Discounting  - 2/8/2005

Here is a way to maximize sales and gross margin without substantially increasing expenses.

Transportation Costs & Delays 2005  - 2/8/2005

You can minimize overall transportation cost increases and may actually improve service in 2005.

Focus On Malaysian Furniture - Part 1  - 2/8/2005

Aggressive furniture export programs, an emphasis on design, product quality and a China connection, spur fast growth.