NFM boosting size of Kansas City facility
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, December 16, 2001
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Nebraska Furniture Mart has broken ground on its mammoth showroom and warehouse complex here, but not before upping the size of the facility.
The originally proposed 580,000-square-foot complex will now be 712,000 square feet as NFM boosts the size of its distribution center, said Bob Batt, executive vice president of the company, part of Berkshire Hathaway's furniture division.
The retailer still plans a two-level, 450,000-square-foot showroom — the same size as its Omaha, Neb., showroom complex — but the overall investment has jumped from an estimated $60 million to over $100 million.
The store will feature more than 160,000 items as the Mart plays up its strengths and reputation as a low-price retail leader with a wide selection of in-stock merchandise ready for immediate pickup or delivery. The retailer expects the store to open around Labor Day 2003.
Batt said he believes the store, anchoring a large retailing and tourism development near Interstates 70 and 435, will be the only home furnishings store in the area where consumers will be able to shop four key categories — furniture, appliances, electronics and flooring — under one roof.
This is the first time Nebraska Furniture Mart is building a full-line home furnishings store from the ground up. Last year, the retailer grew by acquiring the two-store Homemakers in Des Moines, Iowa, and all previous incarnations started with an existing building.
"This is a big milestone in our company's history," Batt said. "It's like painting with a clean canvas. That's what's so exciting about this. We can use all of our experience to build it the way we want to."
That means designing it for the way the consumer wants to shop, he said, noting NFM is entering Kansas City backed by extensive consumer research conducted by Britt Beemer's America's Research Group.
While the Mart will carry over key display elements from its main Omaha complex — large category displays in good, better, best assortments — it also will incorporate new elements. Among other things, the company will build "dream rooms" — fully furnished bedrooms, kitchens and other rooms — giving consumers design ideas and a chance to visualize what products would look like in the home.
The store also will introduce an innovative high-end display, still under development, which will cater to the design business and affluent consumers looking to furnish entire homes, Batt said.
He said consumers will "be instantly wowed" by the elaborately designed exterior, featuring glass and steel, a large fountain and the Mart's familiar green exterior color.
The store, near the new Kansas Speedway, is in western Kansas City in an up-and-coming retail destination hot spot. Nearby, Cabela's is building one of its popular sporting goods superstores, opening next summer.
"We're getting a bunch of major (non-competing) players together who know how to draw from the area," Batt said. "That's a good recipe for success."
He wouldn't provide sales estimates for the new store, saying the company is still working on projections, but "it's going to be huge. We hope some day it will equal what we do in Omaha."
As part of Berkshire Hathaway's furniture division, No. 4 on Furniture/Today's Top 100 list, Nebraska Furniture Mart doesn't report its own sales.
NFM already is attracting consumers from metro Kansas City to Omaha, about 190 miles away. Earlier this year, the retailer stepped up its Kansas City advertising, and sales from the market are up about 50%, Batt said.
Jeff Lind, an 18-year NFM veteran, has been named store director in charge of both the buildout and continuing Kansas City operations. He most recently was appliances division manager and is on the Mart's executive management team.
In furniture, NFM is entering a market dominated by Benchmark Home Furnishings of Olathe, Kan., a Top 100 company.
Like the Mart, Benchmark offers a wide variety of merchandise across a broad price spectrum. Despite some vendor overlap, Batt doesn't expect distribution issues. "All of our suppliers are on board with us," he said.
Key suppliers expected to be represented in the new store include La-Z-Boy, Century, Henredon, Broyhill, Berkline, Bernhardt, GuildCraft of California, Pennsylvania House, Action Lane, and Sealy, Simmons and Omaha bedding.
In addition to the Kansas City distribution operation, the new store will be supported by a 500,000-square-foot distribution center in Omaha that will open in two phases, April 2002 and 2003.
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