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American opening draws crowd

Clint Engel -- Furniture Today, November 16, 2011

A traditional Ashley living room group (the sofa’s $599) sits across from the recliner gallery in American Furniture Warehouse’s new Grand Junction, Colo., store, which has an open format with few interior walls.GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - American Furniture Warehouse took a cue from Ikea, giving away furniture and other gifts during the grand opening of its newest store here.
     The strategy was effective as the Englewood, Colo.-based Top 100 company drew a huge crowd and a lot of media attention.
      AFW officially opened the 100,000-square-foot showroom with attached 50,000-square-foot warehouse Nov. 3, but some customers started lining up in freezing temperatures two days before, said President and CEO Jake Jabs. By Friday, the day before the opening, the line had grown to 300 people and was snaking around the building.
     "I've opened a lot of stores in my lifetime, and this was unbelievable," said Jabs, adding that residents of Grand Junction in west Colorado aren't used to such a large retailer opening in the community. Jabs said several competing furniture stores closed there earlier this year.
     The new store features all of AFW's key vendor, including Ashley, Lane, Affordable Furniture, American Furniture and Simmons, Serta and Sealy in bedding.
     But the interior has been tweaked significantly from the retailer's usual footprint. Jabs said it's much more open than his other stores, with fewer interior walls.
     "So when you walk in the front door you see 100,000 square feet of furniture, and that's pretty cool," he said.
     The new AFW did about $378,000 in sales on opening day, meeting Jabs' goal, and he said he expects it will help the now 12-store chain reach about $328 million in furniture, bedding and accessories sales this year - up more The 150,000-square-foot American Furniture Warehouse showroom and warehouse in Grand Junction is the retailer’s 12th Colorado store.than 9% from last year. Next year, with a full 12 months of sales from the Grand Junction store, Jabs estimates AFW's total sales could reach $350 million, but he added that's "just a guess."
     Next year is a big election year and he's expecting a "ferocious media blitz" from politicians, which makes it difficult for businesses to get their own commercial messages out.
     "I think we'll see a slowdown before the election," he said.
     This year, however, the company has been tracking close to a 10% sales increase, Jabs said, and the opening here - celebrated at all 12 of AFW's stores - has fueled that momentum.
     The giveaways definitely helped get the ball rolling in Grand Junction, making a lot of customers happy and also drawing all-important media attention. A free news story is worth 20 ads, Jabs said.
     "We were on every newscast," he said. "There are eight TV stations and we did interviews on all of them, some two or three times. The free publicity we got was over the top."
     Jabs said several vendors gave AFW free items to promote that the retailer promptly passed on to consumers. Some 300 people lined up for the opening of American Furniture Warehouse’s store in Grand Junction, Colo., some camping out in freezing temperatures for special buys and the chance to walk away with free furniture and other gifts.Ashley gave the company 12 bedroom groups, and LG gave it a dozen 42-inch HDTVs, one for each store. Ashley also supplied 12 sofas, Lane provided a dozen recliners and Sealy, Serta and Simmons all provided free mattresses, he said.
     This was on top of other smaller items AFW gave away to the early birds, including puzzles, memory foam pillows and copy of Jabs' new book, "Thriving in Tough Times: Lessons from a Veteran of 7 Recessions."
     Jabs, who has been a critic of Ikea, which moved into his Denver-area home market earlier this year, is not above picking up a few tricks from the competitor, such as the freebies to celebrate an opening. He said the Swedish home furnishings giant actually has boosted his business and contends he beats Ikea at the low-price game.
     Among other things, Jabs said he offers his own version of Ikea's popular Poang chair for $49 compared with Ikea's $99 ticket. He was calling AFW's chair "Poang" for a while, until got a letter from Ikea's attorneys.
     Now it's called "The Relax Chair" at AFW.

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