COROLLA, N.C. — When Buck Thornton decided to turn one of his Buck Island development homes into a Tommy Bahama model home, he knew it would be well-received.
But the huge response was even more than he expected. On the first day after putting out a simple sign in front of his northern Outer Banks development here promoting the Tommy Bahama home, more than 500 people came through the five-bedroom duplex unit, decked out in the collection from Lexington Home Brands.
This was during the off-season and the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Hundreds more visitors followed in weeks that followed. Thornton had a contract on the duplex within 30 days and the buyers requested that the other half of the property be furnished in Tommy Bahama, too.
"The Tommy Bahama name is the most fantastic draw I've ever seen," said Thornton, former executive vice president of Rhodes, who returned to the beach and his upscale development in late 1998. (He has kept his feet dipped in the home furnishings waters through his many contacts and some consulting work.)
For Thornton, the Tommy Bahama collection plus a lot of special attention to detail that helped pull off the look meant a quick sale. But Thornton said there's something in it for the industry, too.
"It's a marketing idea for manufacturers and retailers," he said. Both should consider getting more involved with local homebuilders and furnish model homes with the same "no skimping" flair.
While it's not a brand new idea, Thornton said the Bahama collection is different — appealing to a wider audience with its comfortable, tropical styling and brand recognition.
But it wasn't simply a matter of sticking the furniture line into the rooms. Thornton, with the help of Joan's — his wife Joan Thornton's interior design firm and showroom — put the 2,900-square-foot unit into Bahama overdrive, with incredible attention to detail from careful selection of paints and wallpapers to music to tropical and other accents that added fun without overdoing it.
Among the features:
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A large dining room with a mural of the sky painted on the ceiling.
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A kitchen, facing West and painted several shades of peach, creating the feeling of an Outer Banks sunset right in the room.
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In the hallways and landings Joan's added atmosphere with hand-painted banana leaves.
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Songs by Jimmy Buffet and The Drifters played in the background, and mannequins dressed in Tommy Bahama and other beach apparel surprised guests in certain rooms of the home (including a bathroom).
It's this kind of detail that helped create the excitement and business, Thornton said, noting that the exposure from the in-model signage to Joan's shop was tremendous and that Joan's Christmas sales were up 200% from the year before.
"I just think there is such a wonderful opportunity for furniture manufacturers, retailers and designers to make a presentation in model homes that goes well beyond a dresser, nightstand and bed," he said.
"We took an ordinary house and transformed it into a 'wow' kind of home. Branding and wow are two of the things our industry needs as much as anything. And the reason we got so many wows was because of the way the whole thing was tied together."
Thornton was able to furnish the home with the help of Lexington, which provided the furnishings at wholesale cost, said Alan Cole, president and chief executive officer of LifeStyle Furnishings International — Lexington's parent. LifeStyle is in the process of selling Lexington to a group of its senior management.
"He's an idea person," Cole said of Thornton, "He always seems to have an innovative approach to connecting with the consumer."
The home Thornton and Joan created was similar to what Lexington tries to do in High Point, Cole added. That is, show the full breadth of product in a home environment.
"It's awfully hard to recreate that in traditional retail stores. The cost of really defining that true home ambience in a store is enormous for a typical retailer. It's hard to create that intimacy," he said.
Thornton's model home, in effect, took a High Point-like display of Tommy Bahama direct to consumer. "It really does resonate with the consumer when they see it in that context," Cole said.
| Occasional tables from Lexington Home Brands Tommy Bahama collection and Lee upholstery in a neutral linen with tropical and leather decorative pillows help set the tone of relaxed refinement at Buck Island's Tommy Bahama model Home in Corolla, N.C. |
| A painted sky over this Tommy Bahama dining room helps bring the outside in at the Outer Banks model. |
| The Tommy Bahama king canopy metal bed, with bamboo accents and palm fronds at the four corners, gets prime placement in the master bedroom. |
| A large transitional sectional from Lee and a Tommy Bahama woven trunk table make a statement in the main recreation room. The mannequin is dressed in island apparel, including a Tommy Bahama shirt. |
| The 2,900-square-foot, five-bedroom Tommy Bahama model home — on the left side off this $750,000 duplex — drew a quick sale and more than 500 people on its first publicized viewing day. |
