by Agility, not scale, is the biggest advantage for independent retailers
Second of two parts
WILMINGTON, N.C. In my last column, “Is Independent Retail Doomed?” I discussed why the “retailpocalypse” is overblown when it comes to independent retailers. That’s not to say there aren’t closures or reductions in scale. But I also believe that independent retailers can do more than survive — they can thrive. Because independents have a huge advantage over big-box stores, that is also their biggest opportunity.
“Independent retailers have a level of agility that much larger retailers do not,” said Peter Theran, president of the Home Furnishings Association. Theran recently visited a single-store operator in Northern California. He said they can have a morning meeting, review feedback from their customers, and immediately pivot in a way a 20- to 30-store nationwide chain cannot.
When I asked Randi Schacter, fourth-generation family member and chief marketing officer at Biltrite Furniture in Greenfield, Wisconsin, what she credits for their ongoing success, her answer was immediate: “We know how to turn on a dime.” Biltrite has been in the family since 1928. Last year, Biltrite did $23 million in sales, and they have just one location. (More on that later.)
RandiLynn Talsma, owner of Blended Furniture Market in North Shores, Michigan, agreed. She said that independent retailers have an opportunity to be nimble and change direction based on how the landscape is changing. “I think that is a huge opportunity to thrive and grow and change into what will best suit consumers now.”
And that takes us to what I’ve identified as the second most crucial element to success today: adaptability. Without a willingness to change, it’s easier to be left behind.
Jared Simon is a fifth-generation member of the Simon family, which founded Simon’s Furniture in Franklin, Massachusetts, in 1911. Today, the retailer has a 5,000-square-foot showroom and an 18,000-square-foot distribution center.
“We’ve had to reinvent ourselves many times,” Simon said. “We used to sell wood-burning stoves and deliver them in a horse and buggy.”
Today, it’s easy to look back and know that the wood-burning stove business wouldn’t be lucrative forever. But that’s exactly the point. Just because something worked once doesn’t mean it always will. Here, wood-burning stoves are a metaphor for any retail trend or consumer taste that once dominated. But consumers change, and so must businesses.
“You always evolve, and you always find new product categories to sell,” Simon added. “Certain ones may go away over time, but just keep figuring out ways to be entrepreneurial, and you’ll be successful.”
It’s also easy to see headlines about independents closing, and worry about what that means for the greater landscape. But closer looks often reveal another side to the story. Perhaps there was no one to inherit the business, or someone who did, but perhaps isn’t as passionate about it as their predecessors. And that’s something Simon says he thinks is one of the biggest challenges impacting independent retailers.
“A lot of it is just not having someone to come into the business that wants to run it,” Simon said. “It can be a lot of time, and you’ve got to be committed to being there. If you’re an absentee owner, you might go out of business.” He said he thinks furniture stores aren’t necessarily unprofitable, but are more so affected by specific circumstances.
Schacter agreed: “You’ve got to give it your all. If you don’t give it your all, it’s not going to work.”
Change is scary, but that doesn’t make it wrong. So, how does one adapt? Education is key.
The Home Furnishings Association provides a slate of programming, including seminars and roundtables at Las Vegas and High Point Markets, and twice-monthly webinars.
“The smallest retailers who have fewer resources and fewer subject matter experts within their organization just get enormous value from the educational initiatives,” Theran said.
Talsma credits being a member of the Home Furnishings Association as key to their business, and describes it as having “somebody in your corner looking out for you.”
“If you stay in what you’ve done for three generations and don’t have the forward-facing or forward momentum, I think it’s very easy to get lost and be noncompetitive at all,” Talsma added.
At Blended Furniture Market, they like to keep things light. Among its colorful merchandise, Talsma tries to create a jolly atmosphere. They host floral arrangement-making nights and champagne and cookies on Saturdays. For Valentine’s Day, they ran a promotion asking people to find their favorite chair in the store, take a picture with it and post it. Then one lucky winner won a chair.
“We want you to have a fun time at our store,” she said.
Adaptability isn’t just about products and events; it’s also about how to retain employees. High staff turnover, particularly in sales, is an issue I’ve heard about from multiple retailers.
But it’s something that Talsma and Schacter have found solutions for. When Blended Furniture Market opened, they decided to pay a good living wage, rather than operate with a commission-based sales team.
Recently, Biltrite decided to close an additional day per week. The move is resonating with its employees, as well as consumers, who like the family-focused message.
That’s another advantage of independents: they can be deeply connected to their communities.
So, today, when consumers can buy almost anything they can think of online from the comfort of their home, why are independent retailers still important?
“As the world gets more vanilla and mass-produced, we’re even more important than ever,” Schacter said. She credits their hometown service, expertise, the homey feel of their store, and some of their niche inventory for their success. They have small-scale furniture for apartments, small homes and senior living facilities. Biltrite has heavy-duty furniture that’s built to last, along with exclusive Wisconsin-based brands.
Biltrite also has no interest in expanding to additional locations. “We only have one location, which makes us extremely successful because we have everyone under one roof,” said Schacter. “We are not spread thin with multiple locations, and our location is easily accessible off the freeway and easy to get to. We have a 98-year reputation — word of mouth, competitive pricing and strong marketing that is authentic about our culture and type of store.”
And interestingly, Biltrite doesn’t engage in e-commerce. Instead, their website is designed to drive customers to their showroom.
“By focusing on brick and mortar, we’ve built a one-location destination for Wisconsin and Northern Illinois,” Schacter added. “Our customers come in to see it, touch it and feel it. We offer thousands of custom options that would make it difficult to sell online.” However, their website does allow customers to, as she puts it, “get a great research experience before they come in.”
It’s this kind of hybrid approach to furnishings sales, I believe, that will create successful businesses.
One encouraging trend I’ve personally seen is online-only retailers opening their first physical stores. Recent examples include Article and Cozey. I also recently interviewed Ian Yang, the CEO of Gantri. The digital lighting manufacturer started online but opened its first showroom in San Francisco in January. When I asked him why the move from e-commerce to brick and mortar, particularly in today’s retail landscape, he said something that stuck with me. “The narrative that retail is dying is outdated; it’s the mediocre retail experience that is struggling.”
I believe he’s right. Saturated marketplaces and increased online competition are real. But when customers do take the time and effort to visit a physical store, it needs to be a great experience in return.
So, instead of the term “retailpocalypse,” I’d like to coin a new term: the “retailaissance.” Independent retail is undergoing a major shift, and what worked before won’t work forever. To thrive, not just survive, independents should focus on agility, reinvention and continuing education.
