Century rolling out new retail displays
By Carole Sloan -- Furniture Today, July 19, 2004
Hickory, N.C. — Aiming to improve on the typical retail furniture gallery, high-end manufacturer Century has designed a lifestyle retail display that taps into aspirational feelings and addresses how women shop for furniture and want to see it presented.
Working with Callison of Seattle, the producer has developed a program that embraces merchandise, presentation, signage and point-of-sale information.
The first display was launched this month in the Toms-Price store in Old Orchard Park, in suburban Chicago.
"It's working very well," said Joan Franken, merchandise manager and buyer for Toms-Price. Shoppers have noticed the change, she said.
The Old Orchard Park layout is 3,000 square feet, although future layouts in larger stores are expected to range from 5,000 to 7,000 square feet.
"We set out to offer not themed galleries of furniture, but an environment that shows furniture the way women look at it," said Bob Maricich, Century president and CEO.
One key is the ability to mix the various looks among Century collections. Furniture is shown in lifestyle groups such as European attic or English library rather than in suites of a particular style.
Key to the program is the Dream Room, a 1,000-square-foot area that sets the tone of the other displays. The Dream Room will be changed at least twice a year, Maricich said, adding, "The upper-end customer is in the market more often than we thought."
New signage also is important, said Alex Shuford III, Century's director of strategic projects. Four-sided vertical signs called pylons, lit from inside, identify merchandise and give romantic descriptions.
Responding to consumer research, Century eliminated overhead banners that talked about manufacturing details. New banners show fabric from a featured sofa cover, for instance, with pin-on comments.
"It's a change of mindset for us to look this way at the square footage allocated to us," Shuford said. "It includes POP signage, kiosks, catalog, interactive TV for options and details."
Catalogs no longer are relegated to binders in the back of the store but, with their high-priced photography and expensive paper, are mounted on specially designed stands at appropriate spots.
Toms-Price is accelerating the pace of the rollout to its Wheaton and Lincolnshire, Ill., stores.
Century also has launches set for summer and early fall at Foremost Furniture in New York, Israel's in Grand Rapids, Mich., and Cabot's in Providence, R.I. A total of six are expected to be completed by year's end, Maricich said.
