The New Normal

There is a new buzz word in town: “The New Normal”. Ray Allegrezza addressed it in the March 8 issue of Furniture/Today. Retailers have taken to uttering it in their description of the state of the current downturn as it relates to their businesses. The implication, of course, is that the business climate, as well as the operating habits of companies, have both been changed dramatically because of the recession, and there is now an altered common standard.Maybe. I do wonder though, if furniture industry CEO’s and managers have also re-examined some of their own long-standing beliefs in light of the “New Normal”. Clearly, if there is a “New Normal”, another inference might be that things have changed at least in the long term, if not permanently. That so, might there not exist plenty of cause to review some of the strategies and tactics and underlying thinking about why we do what we do. If our retail reality has changed, some of our paradigms may need to change as well.

On December 2, 2008, I wrote in this blog about managing the recession we were in. I called it, “Coping with the ‘R’ Word’. It included a few ideas that, though not terribly original, suggested that some retailers might want to be somewhat more proactive in operating their businesses. Instead, of running one or two ads a week and waiting for customers to come to the store to shop, perhaps it would be wise to go out and get some sales that may be out there and might be found using a little more aggressive strategies. In the same piece, I pointed out that an intense examination of every dollar spent in the operation of the business might also be in order. The “New Normal” might include closer scrutiny of outflow as well as inflow.

The “New Normal” might also involve an honest evaluation of long held prejudices. For instance, for decades some retailers resisted and refused to pick-up and dispose of customers’ old bedding. Today, it is a common policy. Why? Because an old “New Normal” required it. In my blog of May 14, 2009 I wrote about furniture trade-ins. Many retailers would decry as blasphemy of the highest order the idea of taking trade-ins and selling them. Imagine…selling used furniture. But, as I wrote, the concept might well facilitate both sales of new furniture as well as bottom line profitability. Different circumstances may require different strategies.

Simply stated, it might be wise to address this “New Normal” with some new strategies and tactics because the old ones might no longer be appropriate or effective. After, all…all of the “Old Normals” were once “New Normals”.