Retailers Assn. of Massachusetts honors Alperts Furniture
By Clint Engel and Fran Marshall -- Furniture Today, March 2, 2003
Boston — The Retailers Assn. of Massachusetts has honored Alperts Furniture of Seekonk, Mass., as its Retailer of the Year.
"We are delighted and honored to be chosen for this prestigious award," said Hershel Alpert, chief executive officer of Alperts. "Our store has seen many changes over the past 30 years."
The Retailers Assn. of Massachusetts represents about 2,000 companies with 10,000 retail outlets. Retailers make nominations for the Awards of Excellence, and nominees go through an interview and selection process.
"The quality of this year's recipients was outstanding," said Rick Segel of Rick Segel & Associates, co-chair of the awards committee.
Alperts, established in 1972, has managed to buck a tough business climate in the past few years. In its fiscal year ended Jan. 30, the retailer, which has a single 90,000-square-foot store, posted a 15% sales increase over the prior year — which had been the company's best, Alpert said.
The company doesn't disclose sales but is believed to be a contender for Furniture/Today's Top 100 with estimated sales in excess of $40 million
"We're aggressive in terms of our promoting and we certainly take advantage of the better price points on merchandise from overseas," said Alpert. "We're very focused on what we have to do."
Business was off to another strong start this year, but Alperts, like many retailers in the Northeast, was hammered by the blizzard that kept shoppers home during the Presidents' Day weekend.
More bad news struck a few days later, when a Rhode Island nightclub fire killed 97 people and left others critically injured. Alpert said his store is about five miles away from the site of the tragedy and that roughly 70% of its business comes from Rhode Island. The state is so small that nearly everyone knew or was related to someone killed or injured in the fire, and that is taking a toll on business, he said.
"It's a terrible thing," Alpert said of the fire. "The next week there are going to be 100 funerals. People don't feel much like buying during a period like that."
Still, the retailer has budgeted for another sales increase this year, he said, and "it's our intention to make that figure."
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