Wolf takes new approach
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, April 14, 2002
York, Pa. — Thousands of consumers showed up for the opening of Wolf Furniture's newest store here, which features a newly refined lifestyle-oriented approach to display.
The 60,000-square-foot store is the eighth unit for the Bellwood, Pa.-based retailer, which has stores in Pennsylvania and Maryland. It has the same key suppliers, including Broyhill, Sealy, Kingsdown, Klaussner and LeatherTrend. But outside of a 5,000-square-foot Pennsylvania House gallery, the retailer has shied away from the manufacturers' galleries prominent in some of its other stores.
"We're taking a different approach," said Gene Stoltz, vice president of merchandising. "This showroom is a wide open, modern facility displayed by style categories such as casual, contemporary, country and traditional."
The store also features Wolf's first attached 5,000-square-foot clearance outlet.
In what has become a Wolf tradition, the floor at the entrance features large aerial photographs of local points of interest and surrounding communities. Consumers try to locate their homes or businesses, Stoltz said.
Other things that are not changing for the family-owned retailer — celebrating its 100th anniversary this year — include a sales team that doesn't work on commission, an emphasis on service and "the little things like free child care" to make the shopping process comfortable, said John Wolf, chairman.
The store is off to a fast start, said President Doug Wolf.
"For our opening day, with very little advertising, traffic exceeded all expectations," he said. The company served thousands of hot dogs that day.
Wolf had furniture, bedding and accessories sales of about $41.5 million last year and total revenue of $43.8 million. With the new store and other expansion plans, Doug Wolf said he expects total annual revenue to approach $50 million.
| Howard Ward, left, Pennsylvania House; Gene Stoltz, Wolf Furniture, Bellwood, Pa.; and Ron Fuhrman, Pennsylvania House. |
| Wolf's recliner gallery features goods from La-Z-Boy and Broyhill — as well as a 40-by-8-foot mural of Baltimore Orioles baseball great Cal Ripken's last at-bat in Camden Yards. |
| Charlie Coker, left, and Howard Blakely, La-Z-Boy; Gene Stoltz and Ed Basore, Wolf Furniture, Bellwood, Pa.; and John Lucas and Ken Salm, La-Z-Boy. |
| John Wolf, left, Wolf Furniture, Bellwood, Pa., and Lee Hinshaw, Kingsdown. |
| A rustic Alpa Pine bedroom is displayed in one of four feature areas in the store, set off by a dropped ceiling and different floor color along the main path. |
| A colorful gingerbread house façade attracts consumers to the 3,500-square-foot youth furniture display, which has goods from Vaughan, Lea and Palliser among others. |
| Wolf's Home Theatre area features entertainment centers and wall units from such suppliers as Hooker, Broyhill and Pennsylvania House, as well as imports. |
| Pennsylvania House's Notting Hill Collection — part of a 5,000-square-foot Pennsylvania House gallery — brings a South Pacific feel to the new Wolf store. |
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