Canada's Dufresne on expansion track
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, December 16, 2001
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Dufresne Furniture & Appliances here has opened the first of a planned five stores in Calgary, Alberta, part of several strategic moves, including its first franchised store in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and a new alliance with The North West Company to sell in Canada's far north.
The growth-minded, family-owned and run full-line retailer, known as a sharp backshop operator, has a DF&A store in Kenora, Ontario, and eight others throughout Manitoba.
Dufresne also owns the La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries franchise for Winnipeg, where it operates a single La-Z-Boy store, and recently opened a Palliser Rooms and EQ3 store in its home city.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Dufresne said Calgary has been targeted for expansion for some time. "We had an opportunity to take over the William Bros. furniture store operation, so we acquired the location, some of the fixed assets and a few of the staff," he said.
At 36,000 square feet, the new Calgary store is slightly smaller than the typical DF&A store, but Dufresne said the company's business model and product lineup fits the size quite well.
Dufresne Furniture & Appliances has built a reputation for operational excellence in recent years, and replicating that eventually will require construction of a distribution center to service the Calgary market.
"It's really a question of whether we'll open one or two (more) stores in Calgary in 2002," Dufresne said. "But we definitely plan to be in Calgary with a Palliser Rooms store in 2002."
The company intends to have all five Calgary stores up and running over the next five years.
Dufresne said the company is enthusiastic about the potential of Palliser Rooms and wants to expand the dealer-owned dedicated store banner beyond Winnipeg and Calgary.
The company doesn't plan to add La-Z-Boy stores because the only franchises available are in areas DF&A doesn't believe it can service effectively.
"We get our efficiencies from having a common back end," Dufresne said.
A first in Thunder Bay
Dufresne's first franchised store, in Thunder Bay, is a former Leon's Furniture store.
Robert Coffey, an eight-year veteran of the furniture industry, owns the 30,000-square-foot, full-line store.
"Developing a franchise has been in our business plan for three years now," Dufresne said. "Our business model works well with the franchise setup."
Although the first franchise is up and running, Dufresne said the venture still is very much a work in progress. "But there will be a point in time where we will be aggressively marketing this franchise system to retailers," he said.
The Thunder Bay store is being serviced from the Winnipeg distribution center. "They've hooked up to our systems via a data line and they sell right off our inventory," Dufresne said, adding that even at seven-hours distance by truck, it's not at the end of their logistical string.
Northward ho!
With its new strategic alliance with The North West Company, DF&A could be on its way to becoming the dominant furniture retailer in the Canadian north.
NWC operates 145 stores in the north, from Quebec in the east through Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia as well as in The Yukon, The North West Territories and Nunavut. Formerly part of what is now The Bay, NWC is a general merchant that literally carries everything from soup to nuts, and it has alliances with such companies as Radio Shack and Giant Tiger, a Canadian junior department store.
"They've sold furniture for years, but in recent years they've been leaning towards third-party alliances," Dufresne said.
Under the agreement, the entire DF&A inventory will be sold via catalog in every NWC store, with Dufresne setting up displays in about 30 of the largest NWC units.
Dufresne said NWC chose DF&A as its furniture, bedding and appliance partner because both companies have distribution centers in Winnipeg.
Jim Mitchell, NWC vice president of general merchandise marketing, said his company already buys from many of DF&A's resources, and the two companies cover similar price points.
"This allows us to work with one supplier — Dufresne," he said. "By combining our volumes, that lowers the cost all around."
DF&A began supplying furniture and appliances to NWC on Dec. 1 and the system should be fully implemented by Feb. 2002.
Dufresne said his company intends to continue the growth begun when it acquired what was then C.A. DeFehr & Sons from Palliser in 1996.
"We want to grow organically. We want to do it with the same determination as in the past," he said. "It won't be fast but it will be steady."
For the second year in a row, Dufresne Furniture & Appliances has been named one of the 50 Best Managed Small Companies in Canada by The National Post. Mark Dufresne was recently named Manitoba's Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young.
The retailer is believed to be the largest member of Cantrex, this country's leading furniture, appliances, electronics and floor coverings buying and marketing group.
| Dufresne's 36,000-square-foot Calgary, Alberta, store is the first of five planned for the market. |
| This 30,000-square-foot store in Thunder Bay, Ontario, is Dufresne's first franchise. It previously was a Leon's franchise. |
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Canada's Dufresne on expansion track
Dec 9, 2001
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