Time to sing a new tune
By Ray Allegrezza, Editor in chief -- Furniture Today, September 15, 2008
While I'll be the first to admit that it's tough out there, I'm not ready to cast my vote with those who want to make Barry McGuire the official poster child for the furniture industry.
In case that name doesn't ring a bell, McGuire was the guy who in 1965 sang “Eve of Destruction.”
Well, we're still here some 40 years later, but many of us are still singing that same old song. Even so, I'm happy to report that not every song coming from the industry choir is a funeral dirge.
Last week, for example, I received an e-mail from Ryan Casabella. He and his family run Casabella Furniture, a small store in Corinth, Miss.
While his store's showroom may only be 24,000 square feet, and the town he serves only has a population of about 12,000, Ryan's approach to the business is anything but small town.
Ryan, who grew up in the business, told me that he realized that virtually all furniture stores, regardless of size, act alike. “They all do the same sales at the same times and everything becomes very predictable.”
He says he's cashing in on lessons he has learned as a married man to romance his customers. “I've come to realize that the things I did to impress my wife seven years ago won't impress her now,” he said. “So, why should it be any different for my customers?”
Last year, he invested $60,000 and developed a Rest Easy Resort, a Jamison-only mattress gallery, complete with waterfalls, as a place where consumers could test mattresses in a serene environment. “Many retailers line their mattresses up like soldiers in the front of the store and women, in particular, don't like to test mattresses out in the open,” he explained.
That insight has allowed him to increase his mattress business by 20%.
Recently, Casabella took another observation — that the husband is usually the one to resist buying furniture — and turned that to his advantage. His latest promotion is a living room package at $1,999. “The icing on the cake is that she gets the furniture she wants and we give him a free $800 32-inch Toshiba TV as part of the deal,” Casabella said.
In a matter of two weeks, he has sold 55 of those packages. “She's happy, he's happy, and so am I,” Casabella said.
Now that, my friend, is music to my ears!
