Tepperman's Furniture opens with new look, receives building design award
By Michael J. Knell -- Furniture Today, April 5, 2010
LONDON, Ontario —
In addition to setting a new tone for this 85-year old retailer, the Tepperman's Furniture store here is one of the first recipients of the Don Smith Commercial Building Awards.
The program, backed by a real estate group, recognizes environmental sensitivity, design and innovation in construction and the extent to which new local buildings meet a community's needs.
The Tepperman's store here, at 1150 Wharncliffe Rd. S., opened in October 2008 and replaced a former location in this affluent university city in southwestern Ontario.
Andrew Tepperman, third-generation president of the family-owned and -operated regional chain, said the original London store was leased. With 60,000 square feet of selling space on two floors and a non-attached warehouse, the location was no longer meeting the company's needs.
“There were days that we couldn't accommodate all the traffic in our parking lot,” Tepperman said. “The line-ups would be 50 people deep during promotions. Some customers would get lost on the second floor.”
The new store is on one level and has 85,000 square feet of selling and office space, supported by a 100,000-square-foot distribution center with 42 feet of clearance.
Tepperman said the former DC “was inconvenient for our customers to pick up and inefficient to merchandise the floor. We also knew we needed more racking space. With our Next Day delivery option, product availability is critical.”
He said the new DC, with total storage volume of about 4 million cubic feet, can carry almost twice as much product as the old one.
London is the largest of Tepperman's four stores in Ontario. The flagship store in Windsor is 50,000 square feet, and those in Chatham and Sarnia are 35,000 square feet.
The London store has some features not found in the others, including about 3,000 square feet of office space, with a counter that can serve as many as 14 customers at once. “Since we are one of the last retailers to do our own financing, part of the office is dedicated to the lending side of the business,” Tepperman said.
“Unlike some stores that have a defined pathway for customers to walk in the store, we have a completely open concept that allows us to display more products and enables us to be more creative in our merchandising,” he added.
He said customers praise the store's “incredible selection” and find it easy to maneuver through the displays.
“We purposely did not erect anything to block our customers' vision,” he said. “Wherever you stand in the store, you can see every furniture category, every department and the front cashier counter.”
One unusual feature of the store is its electronic advertising kiosk, which Tepperman believes is one of the first to be used by a home furnishings retailer in Canada.
“The kiosk links into our head office where we keep it updated with the current ads,” he explains. “A customer only needs to touch the screen to see what's being promoted. We used to have boards with ads pinned up, which looked messy after the first day. This sends a message that Tepperman's is cutting edge and that we are different.”
In many ways, London is the next generation of Tepperman's, he said.
“We've expanded our product selection in every category, added lifestyle posters, improved the lighting, experimented with new floor treatments and have introduced the most high-tech and professional audio-video and appliance departments in the region,” he said.
In fact, customers can actually use the washing machines and dishwashers to get a sense of their noise level and true capacity.
Tepperman's London also has a 15,000-square-foot Bargain Annex store-within-the-store. It offers a way to manage “scratch and dents” and excess inventory while attracting a different demographic. It also carries some suppliers not in the Tepperman's stores.
“We treat this as a completely separate company,” Tepperman said. “Different salespeople, different uniforms, different credit options and different product selection.”
The company operates two other Bargain Annex locations.
With the award-winning London store running smoothly, Tepperman said the company is looking for opportunities to grow.
“We know we can do more,” he said. “We run a very controlled and disciplined business. When the time is right, keep your eyes on Tepperman's.”
-
Icon Honors winners named
Jul 15, 2011 -
Weekends Only off to brisk start in new store
Apr 4, 2011 -
RTA getting second looks with stylish new designs
Mar 21, 2012
Merinos Home Furnishings opening display room, Boyles addition
HOM Furniture adds flooring to six Twin Cities stores
‘Mega vessels' likely to boost capacity, stabilize freight rates
Ernest Warsaw, founder of Sheffield Corp., dies at 91
21 companies from Turkey, Taiwan and China to exhibit at Showtime
Featured Company
-
Wright Labels
Bill and Tom Wright founded Wright of Thomasville in 1961 on the idea that printing was a creative medium and the belief that "a promise made is a promise kept." The Wright brothers focused their attention on providing exceptional printing for the... more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
