Clint's Notes
Hello! I’m Clint Engel senior retail editor at Furniture/Today, where I cover all things retail. I’ll use this blog to offer my thoughts on both the furniture retail scene and general retail, but more importantly, as a vehicle to bring in and link to other ideas and sources of information that could prove useful to you. I hope you’ll use this space to share your thoughts, too. Also feel free to contact me directly at clinte@reedbusiness.com or 336-605-1129.
A clean takeaway
The Home Furnishings Industry Conference this month in San Antonio was a treasure trove of information and ideas on everything from social media to how to identify and target diverse consumer bases.But I kept coming back to one great takeaway in particular: I can't wait to try this new laundry detergent I discovered there.Phoenix A.M.D., a home furnishings protection and service supplier and one o... Read More
Comments (3)Consumers continue in frugal mode
There were two very interesting segments on Yahoo's "Tech Ticker" business show this week, both featuring Vera Gibbons, columnist for consumer finance site WalletPop. She was discussing the tough times for retailers and suggesting that nomajor changes are likely to be in store until consumer confidence comes back. That means don't expect much until we see some sustainable jobs growth.In... Read More
Comments (1)Retailers are back in expansion mode
This week’s issue of Furniture/Today has something I haven’t seen in a long time. I’m sure there are plenty of things to insert right here (like “my byline”) but what I’m really talking about is: lots of retail expansion news. On the first few pages, there are five stories talking about hundreds of stores planned. Granted, most of it comes courtesy of Ashley and its plans for hundreds of smaller d... Read More
Comments (6)Art pays for Louis Shanks
Furniture/Today has launched a new monthly feature called “Outside the Retail Box,” aiming to highlight retail success stories in areas outside of what we may consider the key traditional furniture-store categories. The first installment in this week’s paper (Jan. 18) features Louis Shanks of Texas and the art gallery it created a few years ago in its largest Houston store. The 3,500-square-foot s... Read More
Comments (2)Gallery to keep customer/buyers focused on product and fun
Last week, we reported the exciting news about Houston-based Gallery Furniture’s plan to bring a group of consumer/buyers to High Point this week to seek out new product for its floors.One question we had: What if these consumers experience reverse sticker shock when they get here? Will they blog about it? Will they ever want to pay retail again? In an e-mail, Gallery’s Gil Velasquez offered a tho... Read More
Comments (4)Three things retailers should do yesterday
Let’s jump right into it, and I should note that all three things cost little more than your time. Get online if you’re not already. Industry forces have now quashed all excuses not to have a Web site. For starters, there’s FurnitureDealer.net, which earlier this year started offering furniture retailers free Web sites through its new furnoodle service. At about the same time, the National Home Fu... Read More
Comments (2)Only one change at Hudson's in Florida
I’m not absolutely sure this is true (or legal) but here’s something for our readers to chew on: Hudson’s of Sanford, Fla., has named Sampson Hudson chief financial officer. That would be owner and President Fred Hudson’s dog, and I’m getting this from the horse’s mouth. Rumors about the financial health of the Top 100 company have been circulating on and off for months, and when I asked Fred Huds... Read More
Comments (0)Can we learn anything from Kroger?
Is there a lesson for the furniture industry in the recent gains grocery store chains are enjoying, thanks to their back-to-basics strategy? The Wall Street Journal reports that Kroger, Publix and other grocery stores are seeing added profits in the so-called center aisles — where they sell things like canned vegetables, cereal, pasta and flour — gaining back ground they previously ceded to compan... Read More
Comments (2)A winning Paula Deen
Paula Deen’s furniture collection with Universal got a fun and funny plug on NPR’s “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me” quiz show this past Saturday. Deen was the guest contestant for a segment called “Not My Job,” in which celebrities typically are asked questions about something they’re not likely to have great interest in (Deen was asked about tofu). Throughout the segment, which you can find and listen... Read More
Comments (7)Costco bows out of furniture store business
In a press release about the planned closings this summer of the two Costco Home stores in Kirkland, Wash., and Tempe, Ariz., Costco CEO Jim Sinegal said the Home stores were a “valuable experiment” and that the company “learned a great deal about home furnishings in the process.” Apparently one of those lessons was that this furniture store business is a lot harder than it looks. And it’s not as... Read More
Comments (9)What Ikea does right
It’s difficult to visit an Ikea store and not leave as a fan. It’s also difficult to leave without at least a little something in your hand (a cutting board for me and candy for, er … my daughter). Now that I’ve wiped away any attempt at objectivity, here’s my take on some of the things that make Ikea a success. I recently visited the new Charlotte, N.C., store on grand-opening day. Ikea works at... Read More
Comments (4)Jake's take on employment
Last week during at the Las Vegas Market, we ran into American Furniture Warehouse CEO Jake Jabs (cornered him might be a better way of describing the meeting.) We asked him to elaborate a bit on a strategy he’s put in place to downsize in this terrible economy by cutting back hours vs. cutting too many jobs. Our quick video interview is up on our Web site along with other video reports from Las V... Read More
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