La Différence educates consumers at open house
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, March 14, 2004
Richmond, Va. — Richmond, Va.— Andy Thornton realized that if he was having trouble understanding his home theater system perhaps his customers were, too.
So Thornton, owner of La Différence, a contemporary furniture store here, organized what he calls a show-and-tell session on home theater. The January wine-and-cheese event drew more than 150 consumers to his store and led to a large feature article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
"We advertise entertainment occasionally, but you can't buy the kind of advertising you get from an article like that," Thornton said.
The idea for this event, which was presented as informational rather than as a selling opportunity, grew from Thornton's personal frustration with electronics.
"I have four remote controls, and I can't figure how they work," he said, adding that his three-year-old daughter seems to understand how to make everything work better than he does.
"People are confused about what to do," Thornton said. "I don't know the answer. There's a whole new world of entertainment out there. It's creating a new market for furniture, but people need to know how to use (the electronics) first."
Toward that end, Thornton invited a local home theater consultant to the store along with furniture sales representatives and executives from several of his key sources. Making 15-minute presentations in different sections of the store, these experts talked about home theater, entertainment stands and cabinets and seating.
Steve Elton of American Leather demonstrated a sofa that can incorporate from two to 10 interlocking seats. An Ekornes rep demonstrated the features and benefits of the Stressless line of recliners. Bill Becker, president of BDI, which specializes in stands for leading-edge electronics, and Dave Adams, a BDI sales rep, talked about optimum viewing heights for monitors and related issues.
"We had an interesting evening," Thornton said. "It was definitely worthwhile. We wanted to educate people about what's hype and what's not in home theater. They'll be more confident about making the right purchase in both electronics and furniture."
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