Retailers see glimmer of light
Ray Allegrezza, Editor in Chief -- Furniture Today, March 30, 2009
Like some of you, I spent the early part of last week in High Point working premarket.
My take was that when all was said and done, the event met the needs of the retailers who attended.
Our senior retail editor, Clint Engel, and I had a long discussion with an executive from one Top 100 chain who told us that the venue allowed him to have "two incredibly productive days."
Specifically, he said he was able to visit one of his distribution centers on the way to High Point, spend two days evaluating what he described as "lots of fresh new lines," and was planning to visit another of his distribution centers on the way home.
Premarket also was incredibly productive for guys like me, who got to spend quality time with retailers such as Art Van, Big Sandy Superstore, Carls, City Furniture, Havertys, Star Furniture, Raymour & Flanigan and Knoxville Wholesale Furniture.
Based on our conversations, I believe that most of those retailers are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. And no, they don't think it's an approaching train. Most of them told me that while they realize it's really tough out there, they nonetheless are seeing slight upticks in business.
Another thing that they seem to agree on is that while there are fewer shoppers in their stores, they are selling the vast majority who do come in.
Even better was that a number of the retailers we spoke to said they are in the process of expanding their respective operations.
Tim Harris, owner of Knoxville Wholesale Furniture, is one good example. He recently opened a new store in a section of his west Tennessee city that he believes had been underserved, and told us that business is very strong.
In fact, we did a number of video interviews while at premarket and they've been up on our Web site for your review. Check them out at www.furnituretoday.com/video/
As always, I am anxious to hear from you!
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