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What makes City so good?

By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, March 3, 2002

City Furniture became one of the top furniture retailers in the country because of the unique partnership between Kevin and Keith Koenig. While Kevin concentrated on building an outstanding infrastructure, Keith focused on creating effective advertising, marketing and merchandising programs that are perfectly geared to consumers in south Florida. The Koenigs' philosophy has always been a "top-down" commitment to excellence that stresses the importance of both people and systems.

The first time I met Keith Koenig, he gave me a tour of the City Furniture warehouse, and it was one of the most efficient, state-of-the art operations I had ever seen. However, what I remember most was that Keith knew all the employees who worked there. As we walked along, he greeted people by their first names and asked them about their families.

Over the years, the Koenigs always treated and trained their people well. As a result, the workers at City Furniture want to give 110% to their jobs. They have a spirit of enthusiasm that is communicated to customers in many ways.

City Furniture stores are fun for shoppers. The stores are big, airy, contemporary and well organized. For instance, one of their stores features local landscapes of West Palm Beach and the intracoastal waterway.

From a consumer's standpoint, City Furniture is a great place to shop. The stores have an aggressive merchandising strategy that stresses extreme value in any category that the company profiles, including bedding.

Mark Chase vice president of sales, Serta West Palm Beach, Fla.

Chase

The story of City Furniture's success should be laid out as a model for the entire furniture industry to study. What started out as Waterbed City has evolved to one of the most recognizable furniture retailers in South Florida because they have always focused on one important tenet of the business: Their "reason for being" is based on the relationship they create with the consumers in their market.

Every employee at City Furniture asks themselves the same question every day: "What does the consumer think?" City is in touch with the heartbeat of South Florida. From the familiar South Florida scenes like the Hurricane Roller Coaster and the Streets of South Beach painted on the store walls to the appropriateness of the product on the floor for the South Florida lifestyle, everything City Furniture does shows that it is in touch with its consumer market. It reflects the lifestyle that South Florida represents to the people who live there.

That philosophy extends to its relationships with furniture manufacturers as well. The successful lines at City Furniture are those who have demonstrated an understanding of City Furniture's consumer base and the store's relationship with those consumers.

Understanding its customer base also extends to the basics of next day delivery, extended financing and customer service at City Furniture. It has set the standard for furniture retailers in their market. In this day and age of furniture retailers struggling to differentiate themselves, City Furniture has broken the code. Simmons is proud to be associated with this great retailer.

Charlie Eitel chairman Simmons

Eitel

I think I would start off with its great vision. And the thing that always impressed me is that it has always shared that vision. Coming from the wholesale side, I would go into Keith and Kevin's office, and they would lay out all their plans. If they were going to put in a new store in this area, as they went from Waterbed City to City Furniture, they would share the plans.

Also, they are always open to new ideas, and the excitement that permeates the entire building is so uplifting. Any time we came in with new ideas, they were always very, very open to them. And it was always interesting that anything that we presented would always go to a roundtable. They would get everybody in from the different departments, present new ideas, get all of their ideas, and then come back to us.

So they have great vision and enthusiasm. And when they executed the programs, their commitment to excellence was unbelievable.

Roxanne Stevens district sales manager Sealy Mattress Co. Orlando, Fla.

Stevens

It's no wonder that City Furniture has attained such a prominent position as one of America's leading retailers. It has done an incredible job in serving consumers in the South Florida market. It assesses the consumers' needs and desires and then works with us at King Koil to develop products that exceed those expectations.

The sales associates are professional, highly trained and focused on the health and comfort aspects of the products. City's concern is making its customers comfortable in the buying experience.

As a partner, its integrity and loyalty to its suppliers has been exemplary. It is not only a pleasure but a privilege to do business with the Koenig group.

Larry McKay president King Koil

McKay

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