Discounter vs. local store debate continues
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, April 1, 2002
Furniture/Today reported on her comments and on reactions from some retailers and manufacturers. On this page are a response from Causey, a reply from Retail Editor Clint Engel, and a reader letter on the topic. More letters will be published in future issues.
Author stands by her reporting
After reading both of the articles about my "Today" show appearance (Furniture/Today, March 11) I have found a variety of important omissions, and one serious misquote.
I was pleased to see overall that you did a balanced job of reporting both my criticisms of the furniture industry and the industry's criticisms of me in the print edition of Furniture Today. I am sorry to see that the balanced coverage did not extend to your Web site, which featured only the industry's criticisms of me.…
I was also disappointed to see your omission of the fact that well-respected home and garden editors and reporters at over 100 major daily newspapers across the U.S. have found my books highly accurate and useful to consumers…. My book was also recently excerpted in Reader's Digest, which has a very rigorous fact checking department…. These reporters and editors have been covering the furniture industry in their own cities, in North Carolina, and nationally for many years. They can't all be wrong about the accuracy of my books, and unlike the only sources you did interview about me, they have no ax to grind or financial interests to protect.
The most serious misquote in your article is this: "At 'deep discounters,' she said, consumers can still save 40% to 50% off retail if they order by phone, using item numbers they obtain from a local retailer." I have never, ever, recommended to anyone that they abuse local retailers by using their samples and showrooms to research purchases they plan to make over the phone from a discounter….
I find this practice unethical, and unnecessary. As anyone who has read my books or attended my seminars knows, I have always recommended that consumers who plan to buy furniture by phone bypass retailers entirely and rely on the discounter for their product research, swatches, advice, etc. I have also always recommended that anyone who wants in-home help from an interior designer, but wishes to actually make purchases from a discounter or outlet, hire a designer on an hourly basis for her design advice.
As for Hickory White President Randy Austin, who accused me of misleading consumers, I can only say this: All of the prices on the Hickory White Genesis dining room set were accurately represented on the "Today" show, and the show producers saw both your retail price and the 50% discount given by Furnitureland South with their own eyes. Local retailers confirm that $20,536 is your retail price for that set. And, yes, the identical Hickory White dining room set that I found for $7,345 was in new undamaged condition, as stated.
As for Thomasville President Chris Pfaff, who accused me of "abusing the Thomasville name," I can only say that Thomasville does indeed operate a factory outlet near Hickory, N.C., which was shown briefly on the "Today" show. The Today Show producers, camera crew, and I all spent a significant amount of time there. We all saw a wide variety of Thomasville furniture in new condition being sold at 60%-65% off Thomasville's retail. I find it absolutely ridiculous for you to claim that showing your factory outlet storefront on TV and reporting the discounts you yourselves state on your own outlet tags constitutes "abuse" or "bad journalism"….
It has been my experience that most retailers charge the standard retail for furniture most of the time, with exceptions for occasional sales. It has also been my experience that most manufacturers do not allow drastic discounting of their merchandise outside of their own factory outlets and a few approved deep discounters in North Carolina.
I have received e-mails from numerous retailers (most of which were unsigned) who claim that their prices are as low as the North Carolina discounters. I invite them to prove it.
If any retailer out there believes their prices are as low as the North Carolina discounters, send me your discounted prices on your company letterhead, along with the original manufacturer's retail prices for comparison. Please send a photocopy of the actual manufacturer retail price list for comparison, not simply a listing of the retail price your store sets, which I have often found to be inflated above the actual manufacturer's retail price.
If I am able to verify that your discounts are indeed comparable to the North Carolina deep discounters, I will be happy to add your store to the next edition of The Furniture Factory Outlet Guide. Please send all letters to: Home Decor Press, 11770 Haynes Bridge Rd., PMB 205-312, Alpharetta, GA 30004.
Kimberly Causey, Author
The Furniture Factory Outlet Guide 2002 Edition and The Insider's Guide To Buying Home Furnishings.
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Causey's book tells consumers to get info from local retailers
Retail Editor Clint Engel responds:
In e-mails to Furniture/Today and in the "Today" show interview, Kimberly Causey did not say consumers could use item numbers obtained from a local retailer to facilitate purchases from deep discounters. Our story attributed the information to her and we regret the error.
What Causey did say regarding deep discounters was that consumers could save 40% to 50% off retail, stay home and order over the phone from an item number and have a full pick of everything the manufacturer makes.
Still, Causey's claim that she has "never, ever" recommended the practice of shopping locally for item numbers is misleading. In her 1996 book, "The Insider's Guide to Buying Home Furnishings," Causey not only recommends consumers shop locally for needed item information, she knocks retailers who try to hide it, calling the practice "unethical and even illegal in some cases."
In a section of the book covering telephone ordering services, which lists Top 100 companies Furnitureland South and Rose Furniture among them, Causey says that when shopping local design centers and stores, or when looking through design magazines, consumers should record manufacturer's name, identification number, type of wood, finish and other information. She says much of the information is usually on labels, although some businesses remove or alter them.
If the alterations are obvious, "shop somewhere else," she says, then goes on to note that consumers can call manufacturers for catalogs. If they don't want to pay a catalog fee or if a catalog isn't available, she adds, the manufacturer should be able to direct consumers to a number of retailers in the area.
"Chances are, at least one will not have altered the product information on its samples," she says.
Later in the book, Causey notes the practice of hiding or altering the information from manufacturers as one of five common retailer scams.
"Some consumers feel that looking at samples from retail sources and then ordering their furnishings over the phone is unethical," she says in a section called "The Retailer vs. Discounter Controversy."
"If they had ever seen the other side of this controversy, the side the public generally doesn't see, they would not feel this way."
Causey complains that Furniture/Today omitted comments by home and garden editors and reporters praising her books. We also omitted much more criticism of her "Today" show interview and books.
On her sources of expert industry opinion and book reviews: While they may "have no ax to grind," these media outlets, for the most part, are too far removed from the industry to be considered sources of insight. They may offer industry-related news — just as Causey's "Today" show interview did — but would not be sought out by Furniture/Today for their opinions.
However, they might want to seek ours now and then.
Retailers to blame for using MSRP lists
I read the comments from industry executives on the latest N.C. discounter flap ("TV show's discount shopping tips rile industry," March 11, page 1). In my opinion, only Jim Gabbert had it right. The retailers built their own Frankenstein with large-margin suggested retail price lists, and made this industry practice an easy target for Kimberly Causey and the NBC "Today" show.
More than likely, there are still seasoned members of the furniture industry who recall the days when manufacturers provided only net price lists to their accounts. The dealers made up their own retails. Most added freight to the cost of an item and doubled that to obtain the selling price. They used the term "keystone" to denote that procedure.
However, there were numerous retailers, primarily promotional in nature, who tripled costs in order to be able to show a big discount from retail. This marketing technique had to be abandoned as the consumer became more aware with the issuance of suggested retail price lists. Those price lists reflected the prevalent practice of doubling the cost.
If memory serves me correctly, it was in the early 1960s that the department stores requested and received less-50%, less-10% retail price lists. In 1967, a factory I worked for capitulated to the entreaties of its accounts and published a 50/10 retail list. Apparently it wasn't enough, resulting in the current fictitious suggested retail prices.
Who do we think we are kidding? As Jim Gabbert said, "Shame on us!"
My feeling is that it is time to turn back the clock and issue only dealer cost price lists. When comparatives are more realistic, the opportunistic critics will not have a basis to take pot shots at our industry.
This was not the first TV segment or newspaper article we have seen on the subject of discounting, and it won't be the last. However, if we eliminate the deceptive pricing from the presentation, we can probably mitigate these self-serving "exposes" which rile our industry, as well as revive the trust of the buying public.
What goes around comes around.
Aaron Weissbrot
Manufacturer's Representative
