Table of Contents:
Furniture Industry business models
In this section, Im offering my reviews of various furniture business models. I have been involved in the furniture trade for over 5 years, and this is a small collection of information that I find useful. I placed it online so that I will always know where to go to find my notes. If anyone else benefits from my thoughts, then please be my guest. If you think I am missing something, please feel free to contribute to the collection of information.
industry Ratios: furniture industry ratios_RATIOS.xls
all furniture stores http://www.bizstats.com/furn.allcorps.htm
all profitable stores http://www.bizstats.com/furn.netcorps.htm
Furniture strategy (my thoughts)
see link: Furniture company strategy
Environmental impact
furniture industry and the environment
A venture capitalist firm has invested in Coconut Creek, Fla.-based Carls Patio Stores giving the outdoor living retailer the opportunity to expand its presence throughout the Sunbelt and California. Cleveland-based Weinberg & Bell Group has made a "significant investment" in the company, said Jeff Baker, president of Carls Furniture. Carls Patio currently operates 12 stores in Florida and three in California. Baker said Carls Furniture and the management team are retaining about half of the ownership.
The deal has been in the works for about six months, Baker said, adding that a broker approached the retailer about partnering with Weinberg & Bell.
Weinberg & Bell focuses on middle-market companies for its investments. Carls Patio is not Weinberg & Bell's first step into the furniture business. The company lists Advance Sleep Concepts—The Spears Mattress Co. of Rome, Ga., which manufactures Englander bedding, as part of its portfolio. Gary Ecoff will remain president and a partner with Carls Patio.
"Because we sold the half, we ended up with a significant amount of capital," Baker said. "Now, we're very solid to weather the downturn." Baker said Carls has now paid off all of its bank loans and extended its leases on Carls Furniture stores in North Palm Beach, Fla., and Stuart, Fla.
Furniture Library
This Furniture Library is a collection of information about the furniture industry. It is one document that anyone can update and change with information that might be useful for the furniture profession, whether they are working in the factory, in the store, or in interior design studios. We are collecting a database of free information that might be helpful for you to understand the industry. Any and every furniture topic will be covered in this site. We are going to discuss the various types of woods, as well as the various options for selecting an interior designer. We will look at the differences in the business models between your typical retail store, and the high end design showroom. We will look at the various channels of distribution and some of the more common logistics issues that arise from shipping furniture around the world. We will look at the process of importing furniture and will give tips about some of the things you should watch out for if you are also considering importing furniture yourself. There are many different Furniture Business Models out there, so, in this site, we will hope to outline the basics, and describe the various actors in the furniture industry, and outline the basic models of how they make their money. If you are thinking about getting into the furniture industry, you might want to consider one of the Furniture Tradeshows, or if you have damaged furniture, you might want to review our fixing damaged furniture section.
In the end, I am hopeful that this site will be a helpful resource for you, and that you might be able to use this knowledge to help you in your jobs, and also in your decisions in the furniture industry. To help you find information, you can either FindPage by keyword, or look through our directory of AllPages. It you have any questions, please contact: briandbutler_1999@yahoo.com
Reviews of furniture sellers
In this section, you are welcome to add any company / sales person that you like. If you know of a great furniture store in Idaho, then by all means, please write about them here. My dream is that we will eventually have a comprehensive wikipedia-syle resource with every little furniture store and furniture salesperson reviewed and in our database. Its going to take some time, but please feel free to add yourself or your business partners here:
retail store
design showroom
interior design
See also
Furniture Industry Summary
Retail sales
Williams-Sonoma (& Pottery Barn) 2/2/03
-- Sales per ft = $410
-- avg ft per store = 7,793
-- sales per store = $3,172,643
-- number of stores = 478
-- total sales (000) = $1,416,585
Kirkland's 2/1/03
-- Sales per ft = $313 (gross)
-- avg ft per store = 4,526
-- sales per store = $1,417,000
-- number of stores = 249
-- total sales (000) = $341,504
Bombay Company 2/1/03
-- Sales per ft = $296 (gross)
-- avg ft per store = 3,710
-- sales per store = $1,098,000
-- number of stores = 422
-- total sales (000) = $494,000
Pier 1 Imports 3/1/03
-- Sales per ft = $182 (gross)
-- avg ft per store = 9,400
-- sales per store = $1,713,770
-- number of stores = 1,074
-- total sales (000) = $1,754,900
Here are some of my reviews of online furniture sellers:
Furniture-Com
FurnitureFan-Com
FurnitureFind-Com
HomePortfolio-Com
Retail sales & Design centers
"Brick-and-mortar" stores with physical locations in you r neighborhood
Designs of the Interior - DOTI - expansion with franchises
Importing Furniture into the USA
In this link, I have briefly outlined my take on the overall business model of importing furniture into the USA. Yes, it is over simplified, and too generalized, but if you keep these rough % numbers in your mind, you will be fairly close to estimating the cost of bringing furniture into the USA.
What happens:
Furniture is made overseas, and imported into the USA
Keys to success:
Need to fill sea containers
Summary of expenses:
Container cost + packaging + importing fees + warehouseing + tradeshow + catalogs, etc...
Typical mark-ups:
Factory price + 30% for logistics + 35% for wholesaler markup (cover tradeshow, catalogs, salespeople, overhead + profit of 5-6%) = wholesale price
Wholesale price x 250% = retail price (that people normally pay at the store)
Example:
Factory price = $100 + 30% logistics = $130 to arrive in USA + 35% wholsale markup = $175 wholesale price x 2.5 = $450 (what you pay in the store)
So, if you see a table at the store that costs $450...then you know that the factory actually is making only $100. All the rest is going to store + wholesaler + logistics.
Sourcing furniture from overseas
I have added my notes to the Worldwide Outsourcing Directory for all to see.
Furniture Tradeshows
SIC code:
Retail:
5700 Retail-Home Furniture, Furnishings & Equipment Stores
5712 Retail-Furniture Stores
A/D office: 2
Wholesale:
5020 Wholesale-Furniture & Home Furnishings
A/D office: 2
Manufacture:
2510 Household Furniture
2511 Wood Household Furniture, (No Upholstered)
2520 Office Furniture
2522 Office Furniture (No Wood)
2590 Miscellaneous Furniture & Fixtures
A/D office: 6
Associated NAICS Codes
442110 Furniture Stores
Why sales per foot is important: http://www.bizstats.com/whyspf.htm
Books for sale
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.