Pants on Fire

This article is a home run, pure and smpile!

Furarelz? That's marvelously good to know.

Hi Mr. Green, I like your article on the Business..you are right. People in retail do that and customers have to deal with such fine words but if the retailer know their product they should sell with confidence rather using any kind of gimmicks and people who do they are not confident to be in the business at all...they are just trying to grab money from where ever that comes...good or bad means are used. We are in business since long time now and have always focused on the quality of the product. Even today we get our customers good responses of using the outdoor furniture. They say we love to have furniture from www.mcgillteak.com and would love to tell others to have it.
Business can be done only with fair deals otherwise you are to remain in business only for few years...!

JIm,
As a high end furniture store with a design staff we do everything possible to remove the the "discount off msrp" mentality. We are "low/fair price everyday". But it is a incredibly tough battle. We walk a lot of customers who come in with the attitude that we should 40% to 50% at minimum. We have decided that it is not our model to compete on price but offer complete design services. But when times are tough we often ask if this is the right road. Sure -if you direct importing or private labeling than your pricing strategy to be at a "true" price everyday can be less challenging. But is is incredibly frustrating to do the work of helping select fabrics/ trims etc for a upholstery frame only to have the customer buy it from some "discounter" who did no work but take the order. Trying selling lines like Drexel, Lexington, Hickory Chair etc without some else promoting 50% off list. Our vendors/ industry have created this mess with MSRP price lists etc... Don't get me started on warranty issues...why is it that in every other industry it is the manufacturer's responsibility to deal with the end consumer's issues with warranties (appliances, tv's, computers...) It is nice to be able to tout these warranties and then to deny the claims with retailers who have to deal with irate consumers who have a unrealistic expectation.... I love what I do, I love what I do, I love what I do... really!

Dear Stephen Midwest:

No argument here. As always, excellemt response.

Interesting post, Jim. It is, however applicable to the demise and endless false rhetoric that has become 'new age advertising' in general...we do not hold advertisors to anywhere near the same level of accountability we once did...examples...'has not been tested by the FDA'...but the inference is the witch potion can cure...diabetes...ensures weight loss...treats baldness for SURE (insert snort o' laughter)...lets see...we finance anyone...the list of misleading ads that pervade MAINSTREAM media is so long and varied that I believe the watchdogs and competition is...overwhelmed and has taken the notion that 'we could play that way too'...I guess what I am eluding to is...there is so much adcrap out there...that the shovelers have decided to drop their tools...and it just keeps getting deeper...smile...

Ken Starr needs to be in a rest home somewhere

Dear Huh?:

You make a very cogent argument and I can see your point. 'Get the TV' is very close to the line although it doesn't claim to give the TV for free if you buy the living room at the regular price. Please understand, I am not writing this Blog to promote or defend any furniture dealer; sometimes I name one or two to make a point. I would hope that the reader of this blog recognizes that I write about my personal points of view, right or wrong. I hope they will not lose sight of the point I'm trying to make and instead focus on the examples. In this case, I am simply saying that I think the industry has gone past the point of deceiving it's customers to sell product. I think retailers should be skilled enough to sell merchandise through excellence in merchandising and marketing. 'Including a TV' is great marketing...why is it necessary to claim its free rather than included? Just asking for a little forthright honesty.

Rooms to Go has had TV spots as recent as this fall saying "Buy the room. Get the TV." That's not much better than saying Free TV, IMO.

Dear High Horse:

I have nothing against marketing ploys, as long as the whole truth is revealed and it is honest. If the customer knows there will be consequences if they participate in the gimmick, so be it. If he/she is aware going in that if they don't meet the terms of credit deal or if they will have to pay a surcharge to send the bedding back then as far as I'm concerned the retailer's obligation is met. My problem lies in retailers not disclosing the facts clearly in their marketing or in lying to the customer. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

Thanks for writing.

Different bait for different fish, I guess....

appreciate the seniment but you may want to dig deeper for better examples. Current Rooms to Go ad "No interest till 2015", small print- pay late your interest is at 29.99%. City Mattress routinely advertises 60 to 90 day comfort trial. One hundered dollar handling fees for said trial along with delivery charge. Is the $100 used to reimburse some of the cost to the manufactures who are forced to eat the product or is it used to clean a possibly bed bug infested used matt that is resold by City. I can read the response already, there is a deal between the manufacturer and City to donate the beds to the less fortunate, yeah right.....

Say what you want, the bottom line price is all that matters. The customer doesn't care how much it's marked down (unless it's a clearance price) just what the final price is. Advertising has become a monthly smoke and mirror campaign to reach that same bottom line price every month. What's ridiculous are these every changing MSRP's that retailers are inflating to show 50% discounts with never-ending financing and free tv's or bj's if you pay cash. This type of retail practice will be the death of respectable, honest retailers. As for the "Lifetime Warranty" statements- you're preaching to the choir. These warranties are only written to protect the manufacturers, not the retailer or even the customer. Retailers are the one's who look bad in the end and have their name dragged through the mud on some pissed-off housewife's daily blog. Remind me again why we do this? I know i'ts not for the money.

Dear Ken:

1. You must be thinking about someone else. You may be thinking of another Jim Green that was in the furniture business. As a retailer in the 1970's and 80's I did indeed use fictituous comparative prices as it was the company's policy at the time. Iknew it was wrong then as I know its wrong now.

2. Since that time as a furniture representative I can't think of anything I was responsible (or were the companies I represented responsible) for which perpetrated any hoaxes on retailers or consumers

2. As to lifetime warranties I couldn't agree more.

Well talk about the pot calling the kettle black.....pal you opened up one dangerous can of worms laced with a hearty helping of whoop-ass when you donned your clerical garb and started acting as the pope of furniture...lets really get to the root of deceptive practices starting with manufacturing....."Lifetime Warranty"....what a pile of crap....lifetime of the fabric you say in very fine print....and the retailer is stuck taking care of problems while you guys stand back and chuckle....perhaps the attorney general could work on that deception....and for other lying, lets talk about the "buy one get one free" program which was stared and pushed by manufacturers....sell two for a short mark-up and assume the liability of 2 recliners that are again touting that ever famous lie called a "Lifetime Warranty".....before you start talking down to the retail sector you best clean up your own closet as it is full of some rather near-felonous skeletons....I could go on but you know the other stunts you have pulled over the years....try giving us a good example to follow rather than another scheme to deal with....Good Selling To You.....

Is the TV really "free" ?

Dear real world:

You are wrong on both counts. I have been on a retail floor and have had to meet payroll as an owner. As I stated, I question not only the ethics but the wisdom in making up "regular prices" that are just so blatantly false in this day and age. How do some companies not even advertise "regular" prices and still do big business? I wonder if it isn't some retailers that have been conditioned to believe that the only way to sell merchandise is to falsly promote fictitous pricing.

I do agree with you, however, regarding your comment that things will change when Internet marketing matures and becomes a greater factor. Thanks for your comments.

This article is just an observation obviously from someone who hasn't been on a retail floor in years or forced to meet a payroll/overhead as an owner. You can value/one low price all day long but as most salespeople will tell you, the number one question asked is "how much is it marked down?" The customer has been conditioned for years to shop this way and it won't change overnight. The internet will change the way upcoming customers shop and the phony markdowns will become meaningless for most customers.

Irrelevant.

Amen brother ! See what is fed by liars to us to make us believe their care is superior but - it's legal in Virginia and Tennessee for Wellmont, Holston Valley Medical Center to deem, defend and support this www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=62 which is nothing at all like their television commercials, infomercials, and billboard ads.