Home Fashion Forecast - Winter 2008 - (Page 16) retail lessons: all the right moves HOM Furniture is doing a lot of things well in order to grow at a time when others are falling by the wayside. What are the secrets to this Minnesota chain’s success? Read on. At a time when many furniture stores are seriously faltering or going out of business, HOM Furniture will open three new stores in 2008, bringing its total to 14. A new 45,000-squarefoot store opens this month in St. Cloud, MN, followed by a 72,000-square-foot facility in Rochester, MN, and a 100,000-square-foot store in Little Canada, MN, later this year. Ironically, the Little Canada store is located in a building that was once occupied by the nowbankrupt Levitz brand. What is HOM doing right at a time when so many other retail brands are faltering? Home Fashion Forecast asked HOM President Rod Johansen, who, along with his brother, Wayne, and partner, Carl Nyberg, has taken his business from a small gift shop in 1973 to its current incarnation as a Top 50 furniture chain with sales of $180 million. Johansen’s explanation of why HOM is working encompasses everything from good real estate decisions to open-mindedness and a strong customer focus. In brief, here are the key factors that most heavily figure into HOM’s continued growth and expansion: have forced themselves into the St. Cloud, MN, market, for instance. We didn’t do that. We open a store only when the time is right, when the real estate opportunity is right.” Furniture is a Fashion Business The previous retail brand that occupied what is now HOM’s Little Canada location “was a very tired-looking piece of real estate,” Johansen HOM’s Passages Fine Furniture brand appeals to a high-end traditional customer, while Uptown Urban Furnishings targets the urban dweller. The latter enables HOM to compete with other retailers in the urban design niche, including Room & Board, Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel. Location & Timing “Most of our (new store) decisions are based on being able to secure the right real estate,” Johansen said. “Most regional retailers would 16 HOME fashion forecast
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