Slumberland to expand to three more states
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, November 18, 2001
LITTLE CANADA, Minn. — LITTLE CANADA, Minn. — Top 100 retailer Slumberland Furniture is looking to extend its reach into three new states — Wyoming, Montana and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Slumberland now has 72 stores, of which 42 are franchised, in seven Midwestern states.
"As we fill in stores in our existing markets, we intend to grow into neighboring markets," said Mike Larson, director of franchise development. "We're not going to leapfrog small markets to get to larger markets. Instead, we want to be in every community of 10,000 people and up."
Wyoming makes sense, Larson said, because Slumberland already has a store in Rapid City, S.D., near the Wyoming border, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula borders northern Wisconsin, where the retailer has a strong presence.
The first stores in the new states will probably be franchises, he said.
The company, which has stores in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Wisconsin, typically anchors a market with a corporate store in a city and then places franchises in the surrounding towns. Using this method, Slumberland management feels it has the Minnesota market covered.
The company provides franchisees — about half of whom convert independent furniture stores to the Slumberland brand — with access to its in-house advertising and a merchandise lineup supported by corporate inventory and warehousing.
The company started in 1967 as a bedding specialist and has successfully expanded into other casual lifestyle categories. Slumberland stores sell office and entertainment furniture, upholstery and motion furniture and bedroom furniture. Top vendors include GuildCraft, King Koil, La-Z-Boy, Natuzzi, Palliser, Sealy, Simmons, Thornwood and Universal.
Last year, Slumberland had an estimated $270 million in sales.
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