Show products to the customers who ARE at market
Lissa Wyman, Rug editor -- Furniture Today, April 13, 2009
How can we get more retailers to come to market? That's a question that bothers a lot of rug vendors.
“We've invested millions of dollars in showrooms and product development. Then we take our salespeople off the road so they can stand around and wait for retailers who don't show up,” said one major vendor. “How can we recoup our investment?”
In the past year or so, rug industry participation at High Point has been decimated. It's not just the small and medium-size guys. Big vendors like Nourison, Oriental Weavers, Couristan and Momeni have pulled out.
For many, many years, the rug folks have dominated a couple of corridors on the third floor of the IHFC Design Center. No more. This April, rug showrooms will be in the minority, and multi-product home accent showrooms will be in the majority.
In fact, last October, those multi-product accessory places were rockin' with traffic while the rug guys, for the most part, stood by and watched.
Loloi Rugs, a six-year-old importer, was part of the Design Center's third floor action. But Loloi didn't take the traditional route and move into some old rug showroom. They took a big area within the multi-product Straaton & Associates space.
Hmmmm. Maybe Loloi is on to something. I have a feeling that many of the visitors to that showroom were not the usual rug and furniture retailers. I think there were a lot of designer showrooms, gift stores and independent decorative accessories buyers in there. They sure looked like they were having a good time. I must confess that I spent an inordinate amount of time in that showroom because it was fun, stimulating and…..different. (By the way, Loloi also maintains a large showroom on Kivett St. targeted to rug specialists.)
Surya is another vendor reaching out to a new category of retailers. Surya has diversified way beyond rugs and now imports home textiles, pillows, wall art and lamps. The Surya showroom is one of the most hopping spots in Showplace, and it has now expanded to 6,000 square feet. When I go there, most of the retailers are new to me, and it looks like they're having a lot more fun than regular rug retailers who are the “natural” customers for rug vendors.
I don't know how to get retailers to market. I'm not even sure how many “serious” rug retailers are left out there. Instead of lamenting the fact that rug retailers aren't coming to market, maybe rug vendors should change their thinking about who their target customers are.
Don't cry about the customers who aren't coming to market. Find ways to get your products in front of the customers who are there.
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