Liquidating tired identity paying off
Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, March 9, 2003
Pittsburgh — Four years ago, the retail concept was stale and sales were stagnant for the R.H. Kuhn Co., which was operating here as Freight Liquidators.
"We were flat in sales for about three years, which is what triggered the consumer research with Britt Beemer," said Jack McGowan, chief executive officer. "We pretty much had no identity, and we had the philosophy that if you don't grow you go. We weren't ready to go."
Research by Beemer's America's Research Group "told us that if a strong competitor came into the market we were in big trouble," McGowan said.
In March 2000, the company changed course, converting all its stores to the Roomful Express format built around room packages rather than one-and-done item sales. It renovated façades and upgraded interiors at its 11 stores in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio.
Two new stores in metro Pittsburgh, opening last fall in Beaver County and last month in Pittsburgh, represent the new Roomful Express identity. Others will be converted or relocated.
The new approach is paying off. Sales are up 85% since 1999 to $52 million last year, and the average sale has about doubled, McGowan said. "We've been grading up our pricing and our merchandise mix," he said.
The new approach to retailing was not without pain, he added. It required some management changes where people couldn't get rid of the old turn-and-burn methods.
Beemer said the new identity was absolutely necessary: "When you have a name like Freight Liquidators, it tells the consumer that you may have great prices, but you may also have questionable quality. The name Roomful Express is all about great value."
He applauded the Roomful Express management team for adhering to its low-to-medium price points, avoiding a good-better-best approach to merchandising. "There is a very deep selection in these $499 and $699 sofas because that's where there are big chunks of customers," Beemer said.
Key vendors include Ashley, Berkline, Klaussner, Natuzzi, Rowe, Schweiger, Simmons Upholstery, Standard and Vaughan-Bassett.
A dramatic change like Roomful Express has made is rarely accomplished so successfully, Beemer said.
"That's what I like most about this company," he said. "We're not talking about stepping out of the box. We're talking about stepping into a whole new world."
-
Ashley Furniture opens first China store in Shanghai
May 18, 2012 -
Durham line finds balance
Apr 18, 2012
Featured Company
-
Wright Labels
Bill and Tom Wright founded Wright of Thomasville in 1961 on the idea that printing was a creative medium and the belief that "a promise made is a promise kept." The Wright brothers focused their attention on providing exceptional printing for the... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
