ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 20, 1997 TAG: 9704180023
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: FURNITURE
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
Why not make decorating a home as easy as baking cookies?
Today's cooks can make a batch of slice-and-bake cookies in no time, said Jerry Epperson, an analyst who follows the furniture industry. They can pay bills on their computers. They can shop by phone. "There are shortcuts in everything we do," he said, "except home decorating."
And changing the look of a home - even buying just a new sofa or chair - is a very personal, often very pricey, and, for design-impaired consumers, sometimes a rather traumatic experience, said Epperson, speaking recently to a group of furniture retailers and manufacturers at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, N.C.
An idea that makes sense
When his sister bought a new couch not long ago, she came home with a near-twin of her old sofa, Epperson said. Why? Because, she told him, she dreaded the thought of trying to match a new pattern to her existing decor.
Epperson, with Mann, Armistead & Epperson in Richmond, has been advocating alliances between companies that make and sell furniture and others in the home design industry. Under his plan, every piece of furniture could be accompanied by a hang tag featuring samples of coordinating patterns and colors.
Part of the problem, said one retailer, is that too many dealers think presenting pretty furniture in an attractive store setting is enough to prod shoppers' imaginations.
But retailers today must be able to tell the consumer what choices she has, how to incorporate the pieces into her home and how long it'll take for delivery, said Judy George, who owns Domain, a Boston-based furniture chain. She, too, spoke at the High Point market.
"She's tired, she's harried, she's stressed out," George said of the typical furniture shopper. "Her definition of service is, 'Make my life easy.'
A new way of doing business
For Domain, that has meant offering decorating seminars and open houses. For other retailers, it means getting out of the store and into the home.
"Going to a store to buy furniture is a little odd," Epperson said. "It's like getting a barber to give you a haircut without letting him see your head."
Ken Kweller, who, with his wife, Sherry, owns Ethan Allen Home Interiors in Roanoke, agreed. His store offers free home visits by staff members trained to help consumers make design decisions.
Even if consumers don't need that much help, he said, his salespeople are trained to ask lots of questions about their home: Who uses the room that's being refurnished? What is it used for? How often? What's in surrounding rooms?
But the burden isn't all on the retailer, he said. Consumers have to be willing to let salespeople help them. It's hard to trust strangers to help you make pricey purchases, he acknowledged. But while always claiming you're "just browsing" may keep pushy salesmen off your back, it also will keep at bay the helpful ones.
Think about buying a car, he said. If the salesman knows how much his customer can spend, but doesn't know that she has three kids and a home greenhouse, he may steer her toward a two-door compact car with little room for either tykes or bedding plants.
Furniture manufacturers also have been urging their dealers to become more customer-friendly. Stanley Furniture Co. a year or two ago introduced in-store resource centers, complete with tip sheets and sample floor plans, to help parents make decisions about buying kids' furniture.
Rowe Furniture Corp., which manufactures upholstered furniture in Salem, has turned to computers to make shopping easier. More than 200 Rowe dealers now offer in-store computers that allow customers, with the click of a mouse, to see what any of the company's fabrics would look like on any sofa or chair frame.
The software company soon will launch a mass-market program to let consumers - and the retailers selling to them - design entire rooms on-screen.
Investing in computers and software and additional sales staff isn't cheap. But the benefit to retailers and manufacturers is clear, Epperson said: Give customers the help they need and they'll reward you with loyalty.
The benefits to consumers are equally compelling.
"It costs the same to have a good quality ugly room as to have a good quality beautiful room," Kweller said. "It's too expensive in this industry to make mistakes."
LENGTH: Medium: 86 linesby CNB