Linder's opens second superstore
By Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, April 5, 2010
CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. —
Linder's Furniture has soft opened its second superstore format here in a former Rooms Express store that has been expanded.
The 55,000-square-foot showroom will grand-open April 9 with the broad home furnishings offering that Linder's introduced when it opened its first superstore earlier this year in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.
And the Cathedral City store also has something totally new — Sealy's Embody by Sealy line of latex and memory foam mattresses, making its retail debut here.
The 10-store Garden Grove, Calif.-based Top 100 company has said the superstore format — roughly double the 25,000-square-foot average size of its other stores — enables Linder's to show a wider merchandise selection that customers have been asking for, including more custom options.
“We're investing in the future,” said Linder's President Eric Foucrier. Business conditions remain tough but “we hope to gain market share,” he said, adding that the new format enables it to more efficiently compete with big box furniture retailers in Southern California, such as Living Spaces and Mathis Bros.
Foucrier wouldn't disclose Linder's investment here, saying only that it's “substantial.” He did say the retailer is looking for each of its new-format stores to do $10 million to $15 million in annual sales and show better than average sales per square foot.
In Cathedral City, near Palm Springs, the midpriced Linder's took a former Rooms Express store and nearly doubled the selling space, converting part of a distribution center to a showroom area.
Among the store's features is a bedding gallery of more than 10,000 square feet devoted primarily to Sealy, including the Embody line introduced at the Las Vegas Market in February. The line will retail from $1,999 to $3,299 and combines Sealy's latex and memory offerings under one banner.
Other key suppliers with expanded offerings are Universal, including large presentations of its Paula Deen and Better Homes and Gardens collections; Legacy Classic; Wynwood, Robert Michael Upholstery; Jonathan Louis International, and Stratford. Mitsubishi HDTV systems are integrated into vignettes throughout the store.
In February, Linder's opened the first of its superstores in a former Wickes Furniture location in Rancho Cucamonga. The lease was a “no-brainer,” Foucrier said, as the store was Wickes' top location and shares a parking lot with wholesale club Costco. He said the unit already is one of Linder's best performing stores.
During that grand opening, Linder's received national media attention as the first retailer in the country to roll out Mitsubishi 3-D HDTVs, now offered in all of its stores.
Linder's is aiming for similar attention in Cathedral City. Among the prize giveaways planned at the grand opening is a 3-D TV system including a 65-inch Mitsubishi HDTV and a 3-D Blu-ray disc player, as well as an Embody by Sealy mattress set.
Even with the store only soft-opened while construction and set-up work is wrapping up, Foucrier said he has been “blown away” by the early customer response.
Tom Campbell, a Linder's board member, said the company is excited about being chosen for the Embody launch, saying the line “will bring renewed energy and excitement to the category.”
Sealy Chief Marketing Officer Jodi Allen said the Linder's grand opening offers “a great venue in which to give consumers a sneak peek at the new Embody by Sealy line.”
Linder's will take preorders from consumers on the Embody line, which doesn't ship to retailers until April 26.
“What (founder) Phil Linder and Eric have done here is they've brought back that excitement and the fun of furniture retailing,” Campbell said. “I think the industry needs to focus more on making the shopping experience one of excitement and fun and being energized, and I think they've accomplished that.”
Still, the economy remains fragile and business is challenging, Foucrier said. Sales last year were down by single digits from 2008, when Furniture/Today estimated Linder's did about $69 million in furniture, bedding and accessories sales.
“We haven't seen a turnaround, but more of a flattening and we're hoping we're seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “We're doing the best we can and are looking at how we can position the company for the future, gain market share and operate with lower overhead.”
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Linder's Furniture soft-opens second superstore
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