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Why your store needs a few jaw-dropping items

Tom Edmonds, Contributing editor -- Furniture Today, July 11, 2004

Borrowing from Coca-Cola, we'll call it "the pause that refreshes." For retailers, it's actually the unexpected distraction that grabs a shopper's attention and makes them stop and think. What do you have in your store that causes shoppers to do a double-take?

Some furniture stores are so big, with room scene after room scene, that something needs to jump out and grab the customer's attention, shake them awake and force them to take note of your merchandise. Too few furniture stores display those wonderful items that get browsers to stop, smile or pull out their wallets on an impulse.

Consumers enjoy discovering new ideas, creative items, bold strokes or even outrageous statements. They may not always buy these items, but if they stop to comment or touch, it's a sure sign they are dropping their defenses and starting to enjoy your store rather than just giving it a critical once-over.

There are many creative merchants who thrive on the unique. Let's start with Target, whose eye-catching use of style, texture, shape and color in everything from apparel to camping gear appears to be driving some changes in the aisles at Wal-Mart.

Many furniture merchants understand the use of surprise, whimsy, style, emotion, patriotism or anything else that redirects the shopper from his or her immediate mission. That's important because furniture is such a destination category that many people arrive in a sober and focused state of mind, at least as wary about making a mistake as they are excited about buying something special.

The 10-year-old boulevard concept developed by pioneers like El Dorado in Miami and Jordan's in metro Boston and adapted by others has proven to be an effective icebreaker. But it tends to chew up money and valuable floor space, so it's not practical for all stores. There are many less-costly options that can inject some eye-catching fun or style into a store.

The swarm of home accent resources found at major markets represents a huge opportunity for all furniture stores, not just design shops and high-end specialists. With accents, retailers can do so much more than just dress up vignettes. Creatively selected and displayed, home accents will cause the shopper to pause and refresh the imagination.

Over the years, retailers have told us why accessories are minimized rather than exploited, such as theft and poor turn rates and the pain of keeping track of a million tchotchkes in a warehouse geared for sofas and case goods. These are legitimate business issues that need to be solved, but not by throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

The big issue, we suspect, is having the artful eye that recognizes special items that will entertain shoppers and enhance displays. Some people are blessed with the talent to make those choices.

It's a smart retailer who makes sure his buying staff includes a specialist responsible for the pause that refreshes.

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