New Bassett store format pays off
By Larry Thomas -- Furniture Today, April 20, 2009
BASSETT, Va. — As the store development team at Bassett Furniture Inds. began analyzing data from several redesigned Bassett Furniture Direct stores, they saw one number that demanded immediate attention.
Sales per square foot at the redesigned locations were running 70% ahead of stores with the earlier design.
That's a number that would please even the most cost-conscious bean counter. But it's also a number that equally excites the sales and marketing side of the business. Naturally, that group wants to replicate at other BFD stores whatever is driving the increase at the revamped units.
As a result, Bassett now has 10 of the re-designed stores in its 115-store system, and the results have been equally impressive — even as the furniture industry endures its worst sales slump in decades.
“The new store design creates a more intimate, residential shopping experience,” said Jason Camp, senior vice president-retail. “It is thoughtfully organized into nine rooms …and dedicates about 30% of the selling floor to three custom workshops.”
In addition, the three “workshops” — which actually are rooms where consumers choose special-order dining, upholstery and storage products with the assistance of a BFD associate – the re-designed stores include furniture from four “lifestyles,” as well as an area dedicated to home entertainment products and another for bedding.
So far, so good. But why stop there?
“We believe our capabilities in custom furniture have become unmatched in recent years,” said Camp, a former Restoration Hardware executive who joined Bassett in 2006. “We needed to take more advantage of that.”
So, Bassett's development team took the first of its big ideas — a series of lifestyle galleries and custom-order rooms for BFD stores — and transformed it into a concept that would fit into a multi-line traditional furniture store.
Thus was born the second big idea — the Bassett Design Center.
Jay Moore, Bassett's director of marketing analy-tics and circulation, said the company's success with the new BFD store design allowed store developers to leverage those strengths and come up with a gallery program that could be successful outside a dedicated store environment.
“It's designed for multi-line furniture stores that understand the importance of the gallery concept,” Moore said. “We've found that Bassett Design Centers thrive in furniture stores with other lifestyle galleries and selling space arranged by vendor concept.”
He said virtually all retailers who have installed a Design Center — 80 are now in place — have experienced an uptick in sales per square foot and an increase in special-order business. And both of those items increase margins, always an important financial measure.
“The program's philosophy focuses on 'giving the customer what she wants' by offering customization in both wood and upholstered products, without waiting 12 weeks for delivery,” Moore said.
In upholstery, the consumer chooses from several back, arm and base options, and then selects a cover from more than 700 fabrics and 50 leathers.
In dining room, a table top, table leg and chair style are chosen, followed by one of 20 finishes. And if the consumer also wants a dining cabinet, she can pick one of several sizes and styles there, too.
In storage, modular is the key word, as a multitude of options in both home entertainment and home office are available.
“Our experience (with BFD stores) builds strong cross-functional support for our galleries,” said Moore, noting that Bassett's store development staff helps furniture stores with floor plans and merchandising schemes.
In addition, the company provides detailed sales training, financial planning and will even train sales associates to do house calls — a key sales tool for BFD stores.
According to Bassett's research, the BFD stores and design centers' target audience is dual-income households with children and at least one SUV. The average age of the adults in the house is 43 and the average household income is $85,000.
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