Buhler dealer ignites hot idea
Ray Allegrezza, Editor in Chief -- Furniture Today, January 23, 2005
Calling all manufacturers: Looking for that next hot idea? Why not check in with your retail customers? Canada's Buhler Furniture did, and came up with a new idea that was the talk of the Toronto winter market.
According to Robert Dueck, Buhler's vice president of sales and marketing, one of the company's North Dakota dealers, Zimmerman's, asked the producer if it could modify a corner entertainment unit by taking the doors off the bottom half of the case.
The company said it could, but was curious why. The guys at Zimmerman's explained that with the doors removed, they could install a firebox, such as those made by Dimplex or Vermont Castings.
Buhler made the dealer happy by sending him the specified case. The dealer ultimately made Buhler and the firebox people happy by quickly selling more than 100 such units.
As a result of this out-of-the-box thinking, Buhler added the firebox-ready configuration to a number of its entertainment walls, and business (pardon the groaner) has been smoking. Everybody involved — Zimmerman's, Buhler, Dimplex, other Buhler and Dimplex dealers—couldn't be happier.
While I didn't get a chance to peek at Buhler's order pads at the Toronto show, I can tell you the showroom was packed, and literally every dealer I saw exhibited that moth-to-flame attraction to those fireplace/entertainment combos.
Hats off to Zimmerman's for its vision and initiative. Ditto to Buhler for taking a chance, thinking out of the box — a firebox in this case — and heating up its business in the process.
Stories such as this one deserve mention. Got one you want to share with us? As always, I'm eager to hear from you.
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