Pulaski eyes growth
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, June 20, 2005
Pulaski, Va. — Pulaski Furniture is celebrating its 50th anniversary with new strategies for products and retail programs.
The case goods and occasional manufacturer and importer's sales peaked at $242 million in 2000, the year it went private. Its business dropped during the 2001 recession and continued to shrink over the next three years. Pulaski had ranked as the 18th largest U.S. manufacturer and importer based on 2001 sales, according to Furniture/Today research, but three years later it had slipped off the Top 25.
In 2004, however, Furniture/Today estimated that the company's sales grew again, improving nearly 5% to an estimated $178 million.
Initially a domestic manufacturer, Pulaski began importing significantly in 1992 and 1993, said Jim Kelly, executive vice president of product development and marketing. Now, more than half its business comes from Asian imports.
Rather than close plants, Pulaski has looked to sell facilities as domestic capacity decreased. The company sold a Pulaski plant in Dublin, Va. A factory in Martinsville, Va., was closed, but later sold, recalled Kelly. And last November, Pulaski sold its Ridgeway Clocks plant and product line to Howard Miller.
In addition to clocks, the Ridgeway plant made curios. Pulaski moved the curio production to Plant 1 in Pulaski to maximize operations there. The company said the sale of Ridgeway would help it focus on its other products.
President and CEO Larry Webb, who joined the company five years ago after 25 years at manufacturers Stanley and Lehigh, has used his expertise in finances and operations to help Pulaski improve delivery, quality and service systems while lowering operational expenses. Webb has led the company since May 2003, when John Wampler resigned as president and CEO.
More recently, in a move to serve its consumers better, Pulaski reviewed survey cards sent in by more than 80,000 shoppers. The company contacted some of them to learn more about their opinions, purchase satisfaction and future purchase plans.
"When we asked our customers about their ... Pulaski curios and accent furniture, 96% of respondents said they were satisfied," said Webb. "Forty-two percent said they had plans to purchase another piece, and a majority had one suggestion to make: Enhance the interior lighting in curios."
The result is the new, patent-pending Insight Lighting System, with light bars built into the shelves. This innovation comes as Pulaski is relaunching its Keepsakes brand of curios (the company sold 2.5 million pieces of Keepsakes furniture in the 1970s). The company introduced 42 new models in April, boosting the revived line to 200.
Also coming back this spring was a line of stand-alone occasional goods, Accentrics. The company has been making occasional for a long time, said Bill Sibbick, senior vice president of sales, but this helps to create a brand. Goods range from $249 for an occasional table to $899 for a home entertainment armoire.
Pulaski has seen the power of branding with licensed groups such as The Antiques Roadshow and Casa Cristina. The former is licensed with the PBS television show of the same name, and the latter with popular Spanish-language talk show host Cristina Saralegui.
In the past year and a half, the company has teamed with retailers to hold more than 100 Antiques Roadshow events. The average event, complete with an appraiser from the TV show, drew 150 to 200 consumers, many of whom had never been to the store or hadn't been there in recent months.
Pulaski also makes sure its own name is on all pamphlets, point-of-purchase materials and hangtags to reinforce its own brand, said Kelly.
At the retail launch of the Casa Cristina collection at Florida retailer El Dorado's store in Miami, the company gave away $100 gift cards toward future purchases of Pulaski furniture.
If those who received the cards haven't bought anything within 30 days, Pulaski will send information to the consumers, enticing them to buy.
The company also has retail partnership programs that provide benefits, such as POP materials, catalogs, promotional sales periods and advertising help based on the level of commitment to Pulaski goods.
