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New concept more interactive, collaborative

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 14, 2011

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - La-ZBoy's new-format stores here make extensive use of new modern graphics and movable wall fixtures that the company's Doug Collier says are a large part of the new experience.
     Each store has about seven dedicated vignette walls that provide a backdrop to accessorized sofa displays and bring "attention to the product in a way we haven't had before and really romances the product," said Collier, chief marketing officer and president of La-Z-Boy International.
     These elements could be incorporated easily into the existing La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries design in cases in which a store may not be ready for a full remodel, he added.
     The customer service area also has been reworked. In older stores, it's a fairly traditional counter, but the new concept has a more open format that's "more collaborative and customer friendly," Collier said. The counter has been replaced by tables and chairs where customers and sales associates can sit.
     La-Z-Boy also introduced more technology to the design, adding flat panel televisions that sales associates and customers can use together to view 3-D room renderings, said Mark Bacon, senior vice president and president of La-Z-Boy Branded Group. The screens also can be used to run loops of current commercials and other information on how product is made or how La-Z-Boy designers execute their services.
     "It helps ... make the store more exciting and more interactive," Bacon said.
     If people had a misperception of La-Z-Boy, it was that the company was "overly recliner focused, only for older people and (offered) no customization," said La-Z-Boy President, Chairman and CEO Kurt Darrow.
     "You don't get that feeling when you walk into this store," he said. "You don't get that feeling in our current stores (either), but that perception is something we want to overcome."

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