HIGH POINT — The kickoff to the holiday sales season was filled with plenty of cheer for several home furnishings retailers.
While traffic might not have always measured up to previous years’ levels (although some of that might be related to longer sales periods), sales were brisk, and promotions resonated during the sales weekend after Thanksgiving, which included Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
According to the National Retail Federation, some 202.9 million shoppers were in the market from Thanksgiving Day to Cyber Monday. Forbes reported that U.S. shoppers spent $11.8 billion on Black Friday, itself.
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Top 100 retailer 1915 South, which owns and operates Ashley stores across the Southeast, saw company records, with sales up 21% year-over-year on Black Friday and strong showings throughout the holiday weekend. It’s the second record-setting tentpole of the year, following an exceptional Labor Day run.
“To set two one-day company records was pretty great,” said President Justin Woods, who noted that the Thomasville, Ga.-based retailer did well across all five major sales holidays and maintained much of the momentum in the periods between. He said those successes are based on a few key areas.
“The first is we’ve found a solid, sophisticated marketing partner that is driving qualified traffic. We’ve added 100 RSA positions since the beginning of the year, so we are staffed as appropriately as we can be to greet the guests and to do the consultative selling,” Woods said. “We say it’s always a great time to buy our stores, and our people know how to sell value. When you practice it and the people want to buy, the model works. That’s been the formula this year, on top of great training to make sure your people are ready.”
For the eight-day holiday sale, Woods said most categories performed well, with bedding as a particular strong spot. He also touted a strong financing offer that helped seal the deal for some customers.
“We saw a lot of 12-month financing over shorter terms. Customers are paying attention to their budgets and looking for value, and we’re delivering on that,” Woods said.
Also setting records was Top 100 retailer Morris Furniture in Ohio and Kentucky. Chairman and CEO Larry Klaben said the four-day weekend was second-to-none for the Dayton, Ohio-based retailer, and online sales were particularly sharp throughout.
Klaben noted that while it was down year-over-year, Morris’ closing rate and average ticket were both higher than last year.
“The customers who came in were serious,” Klaben said. “They know Black Friday is great, and though many of us run weeks of extended Black Friday sales, a lot of people wait until that day.”
Klaben said Morris got lots of traction with its motion upholstery offerings. Sofas and sectionals performed well, and customers were in-tune with features such as immersive sound. He said Morris took great care to make sure it had resounding promotions and a strong stock position.
“We started planning specials and doorbusters very early. We had high penetration on our doorbusters,” Klaben said. “We worked very hard with our vendors and had a lot of freight ahead of time.”
And while a retailer can prepare for a sale, Klaben said one never knows how it’s going to do until the doors open. That said, he said there were plenty of smiles to go around.
“I equate a tentpole like Black Friday as if you are in theater production,” he said. “You’ve got your script and set and can have rehearsals, but until audience is there, you don’t know if you’re going to have a success.”
For Top 100 retailer Miskelly Furniture, November represented the second-best month it had in the past three years. However, the best month on record was last November.
“For us, it was good, not great. Comparing with last November, after the Trump bump last November, sales went way up,” CEO Oscar Miskelly said.
A Black Friday college football game between Ole Miss and Mississippi State kept some would-be shoppers at home, so Miskelly said the Pearl, Miss.-based retailer did what it could ahead of time to capture business.
“We did a lot of work trying to get as much as we could before Black Friday,” he said. “We started our mailer the second week in November, and that was effective. It had our doorbusters in there, and we did up to $1,500 off on a tiered offer. It was the first time we’ve done that, and it was effective.”
He said, by and large, there was momentum to be had, and the stores capitalized. “Consumers were in a good mood. We had good online sales,” Miskelly said.
For Frisco, Colo.-based IFurnish, sales don’t exactly flow like they do elsewhere, largely because the three-store retailer operates in markets dominated by visitors.
“We’re touristy, so it’s a little different for us than in bigger cities. Our sales are driven by short-term rentals and getting ready for the holiday season,” owner Tony Pestello said.
Pestello said IFurnish was up year-over-year on last year’s holiday season, as many of its customers were buying what they needed for their rental spaces. That meant there were many key categories that showed and sold well.
“Stationary upholstery and sleeper sofas were great for us, and bedroom was strong as well,” Pestello said. “That always seems to be it. People need a place to sleep and a place to be able to relax.”
