First Broyhill store to open in May
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, February 3, 2003
Lenoir, N.C. — Broyhill Furniture Inds. is launching a dedicated store program, aiming to unveil 10 dealer-owned stores this year. The first Broyhill Home Collections Store is expected to open in the Northwest in May.
Broyhill President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Burgette would not name the dealer or location, but said the stores would be owned and operated by independent dealers, both those looking to increase their Broyhill business and new accounts.
The dedicated-store realm has become more important for Broyhill parent Furniture Brands International, which is growing its Thomasville store network and stepping up expansion plans for Drexel Heritage stores. Also, FBI recently opened its first Henredon gallery store in Houston, and plans at least three Lane Home Furnishings Stores in Canada and two in the United States this year.
Burgette said Home Collections was developed as a fourth level in the company's gallery program, which began in 1981 with the Broyhill Showcase Gallery, now a network of more than 280 7,500-square-foot, in-store displays that accounts for over 36% of the producer's volume.
Five years later, the company launched a smaller Broyhill Furniture Center program with 2,500-square-foot in-store displays, then Broyhill Furniture Showplace galleries in October 2001, with in-store displays of 12,500 square feet featuring 75 room vignettes.
The Home Collections stores, at 20,000 square feet, will have some 100 room settings, about half dedicated to stationary upholstery and the rest to bedroom and dining room and such specialty categories as sofa-sleepers, motion upholstery, leather upholstery, home office and youth furniture, said David Jetton, Broyhill's vice president of retail concepts.
In prototype store plans, some of Broyhill's best-selling collections are displayed near the entrance in whole-home environments, Jetton said. The center of the store is devoted to a stepup "Indulgence" line of case goods and upholstery. The back area would include specialty departments and, off to the sides, Broyhill would feature a mix of its other midpriced furniture.
Stores will include a design center and bedding department, but Jetton noted layouts will vary and be "custom designed based on the building and the situation." The assortment will be strictly Broyhill except for bedding and accessories, he said.
"We feel we can support a free-standing store, and with the strength of our brand name and the breadth of our product line, the timing is right for us to enter (the dedicated store) business," Jetton said.
He noted the program was well received by dealers during the October market, with two firm commitments.
Broyhill wouldn't provide sales projections, but Jetton said the company expects average sales per square foot in the stores to exceed the industry average of $169 in 2001, and even surpass $200.
He said the stores will not be franchises. Dealers will be authorized to use the Broyhill name on the stores and in their marketing, and will get the best credit terms, co-op advertising, grand-opening funds and promotion opportunities.
Burgette said it's not the incentives that will sell the program. "The reason for doing freestanding stores or galleries is very simply because the product sells and the dealer is profitable on the product," he said.
He doesn't anticipate the store program leading to serious distribution conflicts.
Burgette wouldn't estimate how many Home Collections stores Broyhill could have a few years from now. He said the store program is just one part of an effort to increase retail space dedicated to Broyhill, including the in-store-gallery programs and strategic alliances with retailers such as Atlanta-based Havertys.
Julius Feinblum, owner of Julius Feinblum Real Estate, which is acting as a consultant to both the Broyhill and Lane store programs, predicted success. "Broyhill should be able to execute its (store program) because of the experience Furniture Brands has had with Thomasville and the brand recognition Broyhill has," he said.
Separately, Burgette said Broyhill will be opening a new 40,000-square-foot outlet store in a retail center under construction in Lenoir, where Broyhill is based. The store will replace a 30,000-square-foot outlet store and will sell only discontinued furniture and market samples, he said.
