R.C. Willey off to fast start in Reno
By Gary James -- Furniture Today, January 29, 2006
Reno, Nev. — R.C. Willey marked the formal opening of its new store here this month with a party attended by legendary investor Warren Buffett, the chairman of R.C. Willey owner Berkshire Hathaway.
The 170,000-square-foot store, which includes 40,000 square feet of warehousing, is in the newly developed Damonte Ranch area of residential, commercial and business space off U.S. 395 south of downtown Reno.
The store is one of two anchors for the Damonte Ranch Town Center, along with Home Depot. An Office Depot also is going up on the site.
Salt Lake City-based R.C. Willey opened for business in Reno in November. This was the first time the company had opened a store at that time of year, said President Jeff Child, and business has been good right from the start.
"We typically open our stores in the summer, when it's relatively quiet," he said. "But with this November opening, we immediately attracted a crowd of holiday shoppers, particularly folks shopping for big-screen televisions. The first day's sales here surpassed those of our two Las Vegas stores. It's been a challenge, since we've had to train our new associates and get everything up to speed while meeting customer needs."
The retailer built awareness of its new location with newspaper ads, TV spots and billboards. In its newspaper ads, and in the store itself, R.C. Willey promotes a variety of weekly prize drawings, including free furniture and the grand prize of a $25,000 gift card.
Known for its charitable ventures, the company participated in the city's 13th annual Share Your Holiday Drive-By Food Drive in December by volunteering its new store as one of the drop-off spots for donations — a project that also raised awareness and generated traffic for the new store.
Based on the same model as R.C. Willey's 12 other stores in Utah, Las Vegas and Boise, Idaho, the Reno unit carries a wide assortment of furniture and bedding, consumer electronics, appliances and flooring.
Key furniture vendors include La-Z-Boy, Broyhill, Cochrane, Lane, Universal, Pulaski, GuildCraft and Schnadig for case goods and fabric upholstery; Natuzzi, LeatherTrend and Viewpoint for leather; and Simmons, Serta and Spring Air for bedding.
New twists in Reno
However, there are a few new twists in Reno, said Rick Smith, vice president of visual presentation. They include the New Directions area, which features a contemporary-flavored furniture assortment for younger consumers, the Sierra Mountain Retreat presentation of rustic and Western furnishings, and a Marquee area of store-branded product.
"We are continually tweaking our presentation based on the feedback we get from consumers and our sales associates," said Smith. "The new stores are more flexible, since they have a more open format that allows for change."
The Reno store also features a large consumer electronics department with a number of "experience zones" that present furniture and big-screen TVs together in a home-like setting.
"With about 100 SKUs, we have one of the largest selections of flat-screen TVs in the country," said Smith. "It's a big draw, which has a nice impact on our furniture sales too."
The layout of the Reno store is quite similar to the Las Vegas units, he said, with an attractive entryway rotunda that leads to a 180-degree panorama of furniture displays.
"The sight lines and overall flow are very open," Smith said, adding that the store has about 75 bedrooms, 80 dining rooms and 150 sofas on display. The bedroom and dining room sets are floating, he added, rather than lined up against the wall, creating more visual interest.
"There are lots of good furniture and electronics stores in all of our markets," said Child, "but the fact that we have it all in one place sets us apart."
California store coming
In addition to its nine stores in Utah, R.C. Willey operates the two stores in Las Vegas, one in Boise, Idaho, and the new store here.
It plans to open a 165,000-square-foot store in Rocklin, Calif., a suburb of Sacramento, in June. The company plans to have at least two and possibly three stores in metro Sacramento.
"We're looking at property for a second site right now," said Child, joking that "after all, the advertising is free for the second store." The retailer plans to "get these two stores up and running and then see if it makes sense to do one more," he added.
He said R.C. Willey also is continuing to assess the possibility of a third store in Las Vegas and may make a decision "in the next few months."
In addition to opening new stores in Sacramento, in March the retailer will open a 495,000-square-foot warehouse in Roseville, Calif., that will service the Sacramento market as well as Reno. Until March, the Reno store will be supported by R.C. Willey's distribution center in Salt Lake City.
While Reno represents a rather small market compared with most of its locations, the demographics and size are similar to Boise, where the retailer has been successful.
"Reno is growing rapidly," said Hymas. "We feel very good about the dynamics of this market and our location in it. They're building a lot of homes here and that's always good for furniture. We feel that Reno will continue to grow at a brisk pace for some time to come."
He said the Reno store should draw consumers from within a 100-mile radius.
R.C. Willey's competition in Reno includes manufacturer-branded stores such as Ashley HomeStores, Bassett Furniture Direct and Ethan Allen, as well as independents such as Ennis, Cavanaugh's and McMahan's.
In addition, a new Design District retail center is planned for the Damonte Ranch area. When completed in 2007, it is slated to have more than 250,000 square feet of high-end furniture, home accent and home improvement stores.
Business good in 2005
According to Child, R.C. Willey had its best year ever in 2005, ringing up more than $650 million in sales of furniture, electronics, appliances and flooring. About 55% to 60% was furniture.
He projected the Reno store would do about $60 million in annual sales once it is established in the market.
Berkshire Hathaway's furniture division also includes Nebraska Furniture Mart, Boston-based Jordan's and Star Furniture in Houston.
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R.C. Willey off to fast start in Reno
Feb 3, 2006
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