Finger sees sales doubling
Plans 12 Ashley stores, three larger units
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 17, 2006
HOUSTON -- Finger Furniture will open up to a dozen Ashley Furniture HomeStores and three large Finger stores in a multimillion-dollar expansion bid expected to more than double the retailer's volume in two years.
"It's the most aggressive growth plan in our company's history," said Robert Finger, president and CEO of the family-owned retailer, which will mark its 80th year next year.He wouldn't confirm sales figures, but said business should double by the end of 2008 from 2005. Unlike sales for many retailers across the country, Finger's business has remained robust this year, he said.The six-store, Top 100 company will start its expansion with three 50,000-square-foot Ashley stores in the Houston suburbs of Conroe, Pasadena and Katy, slated to open simultaneously in June 2007.Three 100,000-square-foot Finger stores also are planned to open within three years, most likely starting with one near Houston's Willowbrook Mall next September. Two of the three will replace smaller Finger stores. This January, Finger will move into a 179,000-square-foot headquarters and distribution center under construction in Sugar Land. A second phase will open in May, pushing the distribution center to about 500,000 square feet.Finger currently has offices in its flagship store and operates two distribution facilities totaling 300,000 square feet.Furniture/Today estimated Finger's sales at $258 million in 2005, ranking it No. 34 on the list of Top 100 U.S. furniture stores. The retailer says it has sold goods to more than half the households in Houston, and Robert Finger estimated its market share in Houston is 30% or better. The company plans to operate the Ashley stores autonomously, under separate management. The HomeStores will be led by Finger's current case goods buyer, Rodney Tippett."We're after more market share, and we think this is a good way for us to gain it," Finger said, adding the retailer expects to attract a younger consumer with the HomeStores. Finger will avoid linking the Ashley and Finger brands in the consumer's mind, he said.The HomeStores will give Finger — which always has promoted a vast selection of furniture from a wide variety of midpriced suppliers — a fresh marketing, merchandising and display approach. Through the HomeStores, Finger will sell top-of-the-bed goods for the first time, and expects to sell more accessories.Consumers "will be looking at a bright new concept for Houston," Finger said, "with well-designed stores and immediate delivery."About a year ago, Robert Finger's family, through the Sammy Finger Trust, bought out the remaining interest in the business held by his cousin Alan Finger and his family's Aaron Finger Trust. That gave Robert Finger the control he needed to press forward with growth plans.The elder Finger also credits his son, Rodney Finger, executive vice president and chief operating officer, for the bold move. Rodney is "wonderful and interested in his future at Finger Furniture," Robert Finger said.
Finger said he doesn't yet know what the total investment in the expansion will be, noting among other things that all the stores will be leased, and only a few leases have been signed. He said the distribution center/corporate offices is a more than $30 million project. Ashley will go from being one of Finger's major suppliers to its largest by far, he said, with the multi-line Finger stores continuing to sell Ashley furniture."We've been doing business with Finger Furniture for over 30 years," said Ashley Chairman Ron Wanek, adding he considers the late Sammy Finger, Robert Finger's father, one of his mentors."Robert and Rodney, like Sammy, are great retailers," Wanek said. "We are excited about their building a relationship with the Ashley HomeStore concept."The HomeStores, the nation's fastest-growing furniture chain and operated primarily by independent retailers, should grow to 300 units by the end of this year, Wanek said. That could make it the nation's largest furniture store chain, topping Rooms To Go for the first time. Ashley is the largest U.S. furniture supplier.The HomeStores network finished last year with 219 stores and an estimated $1.581 billion in sales.Asked if Ashley expected any distribution problems as a result of Finger's commitment, Wanek said he doesn't expect much impact. "Our line is very broad," he said, and there's "a lot of opportunity" for Ashley and its broad base of dealers to do business through its Signature Design line, a separate but comparable line designed for non-HomeStore retailers.Finger is the latest in a growing number of Top 100 companies to operate HomesStores. Both City Furniture in South Florida and Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Furniture Outlets USA have been rolling out HomeStores, and earlier this year Sam Levitz Furniture opened its first HomeStore in Tucson, Ariz. After opening the initial three HomeStores, Finger's rough plan, barring construction and other delays, is to open about one Ashley store each quarter until it reaches about a dozen units. Finger, which earlier had planned to roll out separate bedding stores, has put that effort on hold.In addition to the 100,000-square-foot Finger store planned near Willowbrook Mall at U.S. Highways 6 and 249, the retailer is planning Finger stores of the same size in The Woodlands planned community north of Houston, and another Southeast of Houston near Baybrook Mall in Friendswood, off Interstate 45.Finger's distribution center will be a state-of-the-art operation that can provide same-day and next-day delivery, Finger said. With 50 bay doors, it will be the first in the market using Red Prairie's warehouse management system to track inventory from the moment it's received to delivery to the customer."We can stock more inventory, move merchandise faster, and deliver a better product to our customers in less time," Finger said.
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Finger sees sales doubling
Oct 29, 2006
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