RoomStore owner is on a Really fast track
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, April 16, 2006
Long Beach, Calif. — Dan Selznick, who runs a furniture store in his quiet moments, spent an unusually hectic hour in his Champ Car here earlier this month.
Selznick, owner of The RoomStore in Phoenix, drives his RoomStore-sponsored racecar in various events around the country.
He was in the field here for the first Atlantic Series race of the year, taking his place in a star-studded lineup that included famous racing names like Rahal and Unser. And then, driving the No. 49 car, he managed to avoid the crashes that knocked several drivers out of the race.
"I think that was the most yellow flags I've seen in a race," said Selznick, 55, after the race, in which he finished 17th. Among the drivers he beat was Al Unser III, the grandson of the racing icon.
Does he worry about getting hurt in a crash?
"I don't worry about hurting myself," Selznick said. "It is a bummer for expenses."
He said races on oval tracks are more dangerous than races on road courses like the one in Long Beach, but noted that the Champ Car drivers are "well cocooned" inside their carbon-fiber seating compartments.
Once, he recalled, he grazed the inside wall during a race at 145 miles per hour and damaged his car. "That was an experience," he said. "But I had no bumps and bruises."
Selznick is in his eighth season of Atlantic Series racing, which he describes as "a hobby." It's a hobby that promotes his furniture business: His trailer is emblazoned with The RoomStore logos, as is his car and his crew's uniforms. It adds up to a lot of visibility for the nine-store Phoenix-based furniture retailer.
Selznick enjoys the fast pace that he sets on the track. But he modestly downplays his racing skills.
"I have to do my very best imitation of a racecar driver," he said. He adds that his goal is "to continuously improve on my personal bests."
The RoomStore, meanwhile, is more than holding its own in the ultra-competitive Phoenix market, but Selznick jokes about his furniture skills. "I'm a furniture retailer and we're not very smart," he said. "My favorite saying is, 'I know nothing and I can prove it'."
He does know a thing or two about how to "drive" sales with his Sealy-only mattress lineup.
"The first thing you have to do is give (consumers) value," he said. "But value doesn't mean anything without a brand name like Sealy. That helps pay for all of this."
He hopes to compete in at least half of the races on the Atlantic Series calendar this year — and sell some furniture and mattresses in his quieter moments.
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