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Leslie Carothers

Hear what Randy Gronigam has to say

Hear what Randy Gronigam has to say (he's the saavy retailer behind the great Chicago Bears promo)…

No doubt many of you heard or read about Randy Gronigam's (owner of World Furniture Mall in Plano, Illinois) brilliant promotional strategy that paid off in around- the- world media coverage for his store last week. CNN and the BBC along with countless others interviewed him.

Randy gave away $300,000 worth of furniture-free-to his customers because the Chicago Bears did not allow long-time rivals The Green Bay Packers to score. The odds were against them, but the Bears did win and Randy's customers were the  thrilled recipients of Randy's largesse -as you can imagine. Clint Engel of FT wrote a full article about Randy's promo and you can read all of the details by clicking here.

I decided to call Randy because I thought that any retailer that can strategize a promo this creative was someone that would have other great ideas that I needed to know about and share with my readers..

I was right. Randy was more than generous in sharing his thoughts with me…

First, an update on Randy's next move.

Randy has turned his $300,000 rebate give-away into a huge party for his customers and is leveraging the media coverage he received in a myriad of ways. Interestingly, two of his key vendors contacted HIM to see what they could do to tie in and support his giveaway party. Randy wanted Ashley and Coaster to get the nod for being pro-active in this regard and understanding intuitively that it would be a win for them as well.

So, Randy is hosting the World's Greatest Tailgate Party! For 2-3 hours on the day of the event he will be giving away a piece of furniture every 5 minutes or so-courtesy of the above-named vendors and others (this is in addition to the 100,000 worth of rebates that will be handed out).  In addition, local food vendors are giving away food and Randy is also turning this into a fund-raiser for Operation Helmet. Randy has thought through every aspect of his big give-away to maximize the marketing possibilities and has made sure that everyone involved is participating in a win-win-win scenario.

Naturally, the media can't wait to cover these events as they are the culmination of Randy's super successful promo-all based on direct mail, by the way.

Now, what many of you may not know is that Randy's store-as he describes it- is in the middle of the cornfields in a suburb of Chicago. He has a beautiful showroom there, but, as you might imagine, it could be hard for the consumer to find him. Not anymore!!

In addition, Randy has a unique business philosophy. His store is open only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays so he can "work on the business, not just in the business." So far, so good.

So, what are some of Randy's other ideas…

1. Manufacturers need to raise their prices so they have enough margin in order for them to be able to partner with their retailers in joint marketing initiatives-outside of the normal advertising coop dollars that are available.

2. He wants manufacturers to do more real market research before bringing so much product that is similar into the marketplace.

3. He wants to see IPOD technology and remote control technology integrated into furniture.

4. He wants to find organizations within the furniture industry that are truly full of innovative, creative thinkers WHO TAKE ACTION.

And, finally, I asked Randy what he does personally-within his business-to make it successful.

1. He reads widely outside the industry. His favorites include books by: Tom Peters, Seth Godin, Jeffrey Gitomer, and Michael Gerber.

2. He hires,on a regular basis, a cadre of industry consultants to help him run his business using best practices and the latest technology.

3. He translates what he hears, reads and learns into actionable ideas for his business and then implements them.

4. He maximizes his website for customer interaction.

As he says, and I paraphrase,  "I am not afraid to make a mistake. I am extremely open to new, creative ideas that will make the shopping experience more compelling and exciting for our customers."

Randy, thank you for making yourself available and sharing so much with me that might also help other retailers.