LaDifférence sees bright future in Richmond
Downtown revitalization benefits contemporary store
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, July 2, 2007
Richmond, Va. — Contemporary furniture retailer LaDifférence, located in the heart of this historic city, sees a bright future as downtown revitalization continues.
Launched by Andy Thornton in 1980, the single-store retailer has about 45,000 square feet of showroom space in a 110,000-square-foot building in downtown Richmond, with room to expand. Warehousing both onsite and offsite totals about 38,000 square feet.
Hitting medium and medium-high price points, the store does nearly half its volume in custom orders, and has a strong, growing business with tourists and on its Web site, said Sarah Paxton, who joined the business in 1991 as a partner. She and Thornton married in December 1995 — "masochistic retailers who get married in the middle of the holiday season," Paxton quipped.
Plenty of action
Thornton said they both are community oriented and involved in local economic development. There's been plenty of action lately in this city of about 1 million along the James River, which boasts a wealth of 19th century architecture and a strong tourist trade.
Virginia Commonwealth University has expanded its campuses downtown, and recently Hilton opened a 230-room Doubletree Hotel just over a mile from LaDiff, as the retailer often is called. The Doubletree boasts rooms with an updated, contemporary look in warm earth tones and textures, and ergonomic desk chairs, closely in synch with the contemporary flair of the furniture store.
While the hotel could help bring traffic to the store, the couple is much more excited about housing projects in the area. The Vistas on the James condominiums are almost finished, and they're right across the street from LaDiff. The 18-story complex has 168 units that will open later this summer. Meanwhile, the Riverside on the James project, with 122 condos, was completed in the past two years and, a few miles away, Rockett's Landing is adding 234 condos, all of which are available or will become available later this year.
LaDiff sees this as 500 chances to help new owners furnish their dwellings.
Thoroughly modern
Paxton said the store almost exclusively features contemporary and European and American modern designs. In 2005, LaDiff joined the Contemporary Design Group, a buying group made up of like-minded retailers from across the country. Recently, the store hosted a conference of sales managers and store managers for the group.
"Modern allows you to experiment with new materials, new shapes and new technology, which you do not often see with traditional lines," said Paxton.
She said two stores opened downtown last year that play off what LaDifférence offers. One has furniture in ethnic flavors like Indonesian and Chinese, using materials like teak. The other is a contemporary store that's smaller than LaDiff but has similar goods.
Rather than worry about competition, Thornton and Paxton believe the other stores draw more local and out-of-town consumers downtown to shop for furniture, benefiting all concerned.
With 35 people on staff, Thornton said he doesn't have to spend much time on the sales floor these days, and his passion for the business has shifted to planning and strategy.
The couple's hearts lie in furniture retailing, said Paxton, pointing out their customers will wake up every morning on a LaDiff bed, and have family dinners around a LaDiff table. "What they have in their homes affects their moods," she said. "The dwelling becomes an extension of their psyche," said her husband.
Thornton said he and Paxton work to instill and develop a similar passion in their staff.
The store handles its own deliveries, and has an in-house service manager, interior designers and a graphics department that does the store's printed materials.
"We are ready to have our annual Fourth of July cookout for our customers, to coincide with a storewide sale," said Paxton.
In January, the store held its fourth annual home entertainment event the week before the Super Bowl, with deals on TVs and entertainment centers. In March, it opened a youth gallery, LaDiff Kid, accompanied by contests, raffles and free T-shirts.
