Accessories can ring up profits, says planner
By Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, March 31, 2003
Kamuela, Hawaii — Accessories can be a pain, but a pain that turns to pleasure — at the cash register.
That was the message of Carmine Caruso of Bryant-Forney & Associates, a store-planning firm based in San Francisco. Caruso was a speaker at the ninth annual Myriad Software users conference here.
Decorative accessories are small, often delivered to the store in large quantities, and sometimes have to be assembled. And then, where do you put them?
"To most people, when you talk about accessories, there is a stigma," said Caruso.
Nonetheless, accessories often trigger an "emotional embrace" in consumers, especially displayed in the proper atmosphere, he said. When he displayed accessories with an old bridal gown and veil he bought at an antique store, customers stopped to recall pleasant associations. Some even wanted to buy the props, he said.
Lamps may be the most profitable accessory, and definitely the most functional.
"They're something that does something," Caruso said, and, paired with a sofa, can create a whole new look. And he advised his audience of retailers not to forget the subcategories within lamps — tabletop, floor, wall, hanging and even those spidery arc lights that retailers love to place behind sectionals.
"But keep the price points the same," he added. "Don't put a $395 lamp with a $799 sofa. A lot of times that's hard because the sofa manufacturers have become a lot more sophisticated (in production techniques) where lamp manufacturers haven't. So it's harder."
He said tabletop accessories are the next big moneymaker and should be displayed in various sizes and in large numbers, not in dinky ones and twos.
"Buy groups for an impressive statement," Caruso said. "Odd things aren't going to make a difference." And make sure they're priced, he added.
The least amount of money to be made is in wall décor, he said. Mirrors, however, provide a good choice because of their versatility. He advised stores to consider their demographics in choosing merchandise; for instance, selecting ethnic products if the store clientele is essentially ethnic.
"Again, keep in mind that you're embracing emotion," he said.
For floor items like trees, pedestals, rugs and green baskets, furniture retailers must distinguish themselves from competitors, especially big box discounters. "If he's (competitor) doing ficus," Caruso said, "then you should be doing architectural."
Caruso likes to use props to accessorize settings, things like an old baseball glove and ball for a kids' room, books, board games, old hats and other items that can be picked up cheaply at places like Goodwill. But clearly label them to say they're not for sale, he said. And forget place settings for dining room and casual dining tables — they're just too high-maintenance.
How much to spend to accessorize the retail floor? Caruso said that a general rule is $1.50 to $2.50 per square foot of selling space for a beginning price store; $3.50 to $4.50 for a medium price store; and $5.50 to $15 for the high end. Fifty to 60% should be devoted to lamps, 30% to tabletop and the rest to other accessories.
"Buy things that aren't going to sell," he said, "things that everyone is seeing in the shelter magazines and other places. A lot of times these faddish things don't sell ... but you need some of these things."
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