Huge NFM to blast off in Kansas City
By Brian Carroll -- Furniture Today, August 11, 2003
Kansas City, Kan. — Sales staff are trained. The 450,000-square-foot megastore is stocked. Fresh scones and hot coffee await in the in-store Courtyard Café.
Nebraska Furniture Mart is ready for a series of grand opening celebrations that begins Thursday night, Aug. 14, with a "Best of Kansas City" charity gala to benefit breast cancer treatment at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Live entertainment, food, a charity auction and store tours led by Warren Buffett are planned for the gala, on the eve of the store's official grand opening to the public. A soft opening is planned for Aug. 12.
Buffett is chairman of NFM-owner Berkshire Hathaway. Among dignitaries expected at the gala is Carol Marinovich, mayor of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., who was instrumental in attracting NFM to the city.
The store, along with a 262,000-square-foot warehouse and distribution facility, puts 16 acres under one roof. It's part of a retail complex in Village West off I-29 that includes Cabela's outdoor outfitters, the Kansas Speedway, and a handful of hotels and restaurants.
Also attending the gala will be Carol Fabian, a breast cancer researcher at KU's Medical Center. She will receive the first Rose Blumkin Award for Excellence, according to Bob Batt, Blumkin's grandson and executive vice president of the Nebraska Furniture Mart.
Blumkin, widely known as Mrs. B, helped found NFM in Omaha in 1937 and worked there until her death in 1998 at age 104.
"She's here," Batt said. "Her philosophy is very much a part of this new venture," he said, pointing to signage on the new store's front wall quoting Blumkin: "Sell cheap and tell the truth."
The new store is the retailer's first designed from the ground up. NFM's only other location, in Omaha, is a sprawling complex composed of five separate buildings.
"This is our vision of what a furniture store should be," Batt said.
The megastore has three entrances — a large main entrance with a fountain and two side entryways designed to make it convenient for customers to park according to product category. One side entrance leads into the electronics displays, including DVDs and videogames. The opposite-side entryway provides easy access to the store's appliances.
Furniture, flooring, electronics and appliances are the major categories, with healthy doses of accessories throughout.
Outdoor retailer Cabela's customers are about 75% male. NFM's clientele is 75% female, giving families additional reasons to make NFM a destination location. Cabela's drew more than 2 million shoppers in its first five months, according to a report in The Business Journal of Kansas City.
Batt said NFM has high hopes for the metro Kansas City store, noting the market has more potential customers than the entire state of Nebraska.
