Memorial Day sales mixed

RTG's Seaman: ‘OK is the new amazing'

Clint Engel , Heath Combs -- Furniture Today, June 1, 2009

HIGH POINT — Retailers were mixed in their characterizations of Memorial Day weekend results, reporting everything from sales increases over last year to "awful" business.

Even in cases where the weekend seemed to offer a break from an unprecedented weak business climate, few see this as the beginning of a trend.

"It was OK - not great, not bad," said Jeff Seaman, CEO of 118-store Seffner, Fla.-based Rooms To Go. "But OK is the new amazing."

On television and in newspapers, the Top 100 company promoted heavily and offered $1,850 in savings coupons, including $1,000 off purchases of $10,000 or more.

"May was a really (lousy) month and Memorial Day was by far the best part of the month," Seaman said. Asked if he takes this as a sign the industry may have turned a corner, he said, "I take it as a sign that people were waiting for Memorial Day."

Sandie Gaines, owner of Gaines Furniture Outlet in Kansas City, Mo., declined to provide year-over-year comparisons - as did Seaman - but she did provide some color about holiday business.

"We had an awful weekend," she said. "We should have just stayed closed. It doesn't even compare to previous years' (Memorial Day) weekends."

However, Gaines said customers who did come in during the holiday weekend were buying.

Troy Furniture & Carpet, in Troy, Mo., ran newspaper and radio ads for about a week before Memorial Day and business was up about 5% over last year, said Kathie Klaus, a store manager. The retailer was closed on Sunday but was open Saturday and Monday, promoting "everything in both stores on sale."

Klaus said Troy sold a little of everything, from curios to tables to chairs, and that special-order upholstery was the strongest category.

"People are tending to purchase higher-quality furniture that lasts longer than the inexpensive furniture," she said. "They don't mind buying more quality."

She added that she was surprised that nearly all customers put their purchases on credit cards. Usually, the retailer gets a lot of checks, she said.

At Dayton, N.J.-based Crest Furniture, "We were very aggressive and things worked reasonably well under the circumstances," said Simon Kaplan, CEO of the 11-store retailer operating Value City Furniture and Ashley Furniture HomeStores in New Jersey.

During a five-day sale at both store banners, the retailer offered free financing for 48 months with no down payment and with free delivery. Still, sales were down 8% from 2008, when the holiday weekend business was exceptional, Kaplan said.

This year's fair results are "absolutely no indication of anything," he said. "It's a day-to-day deal and you've got to be aggressive."

Mulberry, Fla.-based Badcock Home Furniture & more kicked off its Memorial Day promotion the Friday before the holiday and saw "a nice spike in traffic," said Cathy Allen, vice president of merchandising for accessories.

"I don't have the final numbers yet, but we were happy with the event," she said.

Among other sale items, Badcock is featuring $198 recliners, which it will run until Father's Day. It also promoted bedding and did well in the category, said Allen.

"I managed to get out to a number of our stores and was happy to see that the parking lots were busy," she said. The company was still waiting on final tallies, but Allen said foot traffic seemed about equal to last year.

"We are like the rest of the industry, hoping the economy is on the road to recovery, and are cautiously optimistic about the coming year," she said. "Being in the South, we have a longer road to travel to get back to where we were last year. That being said, there are some leading indicators in our business that things are improving slowly."

Steve Maloney, owner of Woody's Finished and Unfinished Furniture in St. Louis Park, Minn., said he too is a bit optimistic despite a Memorial Day weekend that was "very, very, very, very slow" with business off about 25%.

Maloney's store doesn't promote the holiday and is closed Memorial Day, but it has been running a Mission furniture sale. He estimated business probably will be down 15% for the year compared to 2008.

"Things aren't going down as fast," he added. "I'm seeing a little consumer confidence and we're getting those bigger ticket sales again."

Tommy Miskelly, partner in Jackson, Miss.-based Miskelly Furniture, was in the positive camp, describing the retailer's holiday event as "monster," and saying he hasn't seen employees so excited since sales started flowing after Hurricane Katrina.

He estimated same-store sales will be up 5% to 7% and total sales will be up more, with the addition of its sleep shop and Ashley Furniture HomeStore last year.

"I think there's some pent-up demand," he said. Consumers were looking for deals and found some at Miskelly, whose promotions included no payments for a year, plenty of doorbusters and a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree.

"We don't know if this was the precursor to a good summer or just a good sales event," he said. "You used to be able to tell, but now you don't know what it means."

Editor-in-chief Ray Allegrezza contributed to this story.