La-Z-Boy of San Antonio Reports Record-Setting Business as Stores Reopen for Business

Furniture World News Desk on 6/11/2020

Bobby Broadnax Jr. and Bobby Broadnax Sr. (l-r) own five successful Texas-based La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries.

Bobby Broadnax Jr., the owner of five successful La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries in Texas, reported that his stores had done record-setting business reopening his stores in May 2020. "We have been growing steadily for the past five years," Broadnax said. "Sales were up 11 percent in January 2020, and 25 percent in February – over $700,000.

In March, we were well on our way for the first quarter to be above 30 percent store-wide, until the coronavirus hit. We were closed down from mid-March through the end of April. We booked a lot of online orders during that time, and customers set up private appointments via email. Our design team made house calls, observing social distancing, wearing masks, and gloves. But, after opening in May, we were up a whopping 42 percent and on pace to have the biggest sales month in the history of the company."

He credits a focus on the little things, enhanced by using traffic counting technology and an upboard system. "A retailer is only as good as how well it focuses on the little things. On Monday mornings, we send a performance letter to every salesperson in our company. It shows them where they are, their pace, and what their percentage is to the goal. All those metrics that I used to spend hours calculating by hand are now generated automatically. I can honestly say that technology from TraxSales, along with a tweak in advertising, has completely changed our company. It's been absolutely incredible for us.

"We started off with one store in San Antonio," Broadnax recalls. My dad bought the business in 2000, then built a second store in San Antonio.  Now we have three stores in San Antonio, and one in Corpus Christi. Our McAllen, Texas store is located in the Rio Grande Valley on the border of Mexico, a major hub for retail, and we are looking to build a sixth store soon.

"The greatest part about using TraxSales is that we now know with certainty how each salesperson is doing with warranties and how many ups they're really getting. We also know which salespeople are working out – and which are not. The system collects next-item-needed (NIN) information which has been huge for us. After we make a sale, and while a customer is still in the store, our salespeople ask, 'Hey, Ms. Jones, may I ask you what the next item is you might need in your home?' Fifty percent of the time, we close that next item while they're in the store.

"TraxSales works exceptionally well with financing. The salesperson walks the customer over to the item they said they might want to purchase next. That additional purchase may only add 20 or 30 dollars more per month onto the ticket. If the customer doesn't need it right then or doesn't want it then, the salesperson enters the NIN information into the system, noting what the customer needs and when they need it. Then at the proper time, an email gets sent to the store manager letting him or her know that Mrs. Jones wants a new recliner for her husband's birthday. From there, it's just a quick call to get the customer back in.

"We also generate automatic thank you emails for shoppers even if they just stop in to look. Trax keeps a record of items shoppers came in to look for or were mentioned as a next-item-needed. If we are running a clearance or a special sale, salespeople shoot customers a text asking them to come back in and mention that the particular item they are looking for is now on sale. Salespeople also use texts to thank customers for coming in and buying. They always send a handwritten letter and include two business cards that customers can hand out to friends and family.

About TraxSales, Inc.: TraxSales is a privately held corporation specializing in peek traffic counters and other traffic counting applications, automated upboard hardware and software, and consulting services for the retail industry. For more information, visit Www.TraxSales.com or call 713-466-7177.