Retail Profile: Color in mind
Matteo & Co. succeeds through love of design and intution
Story by Lisa Casinger -- Home Accents Today, 3/1/2005
Like most entrepreneurs, Tamera Matteo didn't start out life with the intention of owning a retail store. She was an advertising director for Ralph Lauren Home Collection living in New York when she and her husband decided they wanted to move outside the city. They visited Princeton, N.J., liked it and decided to stay.
"I was doing home furnishings advertising and knew a lot of store owners because of sourcing for photo shoots or working with people who used to have stores in New York and I caught the bug," Matteo said. "We decided to move to Princeton and I realized there wasn't much there. Waverly Home wasn't in yet; there certainly weren't that many home stores that were fashion forward."
She opened Matteo & Co. in 1996 and since has relocated twice, doubling her store each time. She said the best business decision she made was moving the store out of a beautiful downtown area with a great facade to the Princeton Shopping Center, which has a lot more foot traffic.
Matteo & Co. started out selling mostly antiques, but Matteo realized it was a slow process to research and restock. Her merchandise mix evolved into a blend of high-end furniture, gifts and accessories, a perfect combination for the small college town in the heart of New Jersey.
According to 2000 census information, Princeton's median household income is above the state average at $67,346 and the median house value is significantly above the state average at $343,500. Those houses need home furnishings and interior decorating, a niche Matteo & Co. aptly fills. Matteo typically does about two or three major design projects a year as well as some smaller jobs, but said design work is an everyday thing.
"It's difficult to say how much of the business is design-related because on some level every day we're designing, whether it's picking out fabrics or what not," Matteo said. "In reality I guess I'd say about 80% of the business is design; we're design retail. The people I hire have to really know how to design, put fabrics together, etc., and at the same time they have to know how to ring the cash register up for gifts."
The 4,700-sq.-ft. store leans toward traditional styling, but with a colorful twist.
"We're not so far out that people don't understand what we're doing, but we're not so ordinary so you feel like you see it everywhere," Matteo said. "We play on color a little more than most people though our frames are pretty standard."
Matteo has an eye for color, though she admits she's not certain if it's an innate ability or merely picking up subliminal messages.
"When you're out there shopping it all the time, you wonder if it's the color first or if you're just subjected to it so much," she said. "I used to hate blue and then all of a sudden I really love it. And then I'm looking at Elle Décor or something and they have blue mentioned as the color of the season."
Teal, robin's-egg blues and greens mixed with chocolate are popular in Matteo & Co. right now, but Matteo also bought early and heavily into orange when it was big recently.
Her love of fabric and color overflows into the store and is evident not only in the private label upholstery line she carries, but also in the merchandise mix itself. Though furniture is the bread and butter, home accents and gifts play a major role in this store's identity.
"When I opened the store I thought I'd do more linens, accessories and antiques," she said. "I love fabric and I would find furniture I thought had great feel or color and I wasn't really concerned that it wasn't your typical green or brown. Customers responded to it and wanted more and I kept expanding the store to make room for more furniture."
Gifts and accessories at Matteo & Co. range from baby and hostess gifts to bedding, bath and home accents. These different segments are displayed on the periphery of the store, with home furnishings shown in room settings in the center.
"When the store was evolving, I kept the gifts and accessories because I think a lot of furniture stores edge those out," Matteo said. "They're a furniture store and they are about sofas and chairs and maybe some lamps, but at my store you can pick up a baby gift, a hostess gift and a sofa. We service from a $3 price point to thousands of dollars. It's an uncommon mix. Even in New York you see few furniture stores that have a little bit of everything, except for ABC Home."
While furniture obviously has a higher margin, Matteo estimates her sales between furniture and home accents are pretty equal because she's turning the home accents so quickly. Customers can find a plethora of choices here, including lamps, tabletop, decorative accessories, jeweled boxes, wall decor, candles, topiaries, bedding, decorative pillows, linens, duvets and more.
The store targets 35- to 50-year-olds in the area and has seemingly several different customers. There's the shopper who knows the store for its gifts and accessories, products Matteo also sells on her Web site and then there's the shopper who comes in for the handpicked furniture and design. First-time homeowners who still may be searching for their own style can take a step up from the Pottery Barn look to Matteo's selection of Lee Industries furniture.
"Lee is a step up from the Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware look, but still at a good price point. It's slip-covered and just a great product," she said. "Then there's our private label line for people who've usually decorated once before and maybe this is for their living room or more dressy family room. Maybe they're in that upper echelon and know more about what they like in terms of style and color. We have something for both customers."
Matteo shops all the major U.S. markets, rarely meets with sales reps in the store (she doesn't have time) and feels like it's part of her job to buy "out of the box."
"Right now I have a teal sofa on the floor," she said. "Not necessarily everyone will love a teal sofa, but it's a great color for the season and someone will buy it."
Some may cringe at the possibility of not being able to sell that teal sofa, but Matteo remembers words of advice she received from a second-generation clothing retailer, "if you don't have enough merchandise to put on sale, you aren't taking enough risks."
"As a store owner you hate to put things on sale, you say 'what was I thinking when I bought that?' But when she said that it put it in a totally different light," Matteo said. "When you stop having product that may have not been the best idea you're trying to be average and it won't keep you out there in the thick of it. I think it's great to occasionally get caught up in the excitement of buying something you really think is going to work; at least you still had that commitment level."
Spreading the WordOne would think that coming from a background in home furnishings advertising, Matteo & Co. would be splashed all over the place and advertising would play a major role in the company, but it's much like the story of the cobbler with no shoes.
"Though my background is advertising, it really is the last thing I do simply because I don't have the time," Matteo said. "We advertise a lot in local papers and do direct mail a few times a year, plus we're involved in several charity events."
Matteo does two furniture promotions a year where customers can order anything at 30% off and has a White sale in May. Furniture isn't marked down until after the promotions. The displays are changed every couple of weeks and the total look is changed about four times a year. Home accents and gifts are marked down after 60 days.
The store has developed a reputation for keeping prices below those of catalogs, local and New York stores.
"Some of the items we bring in are higher price points than what's typical for us, but it's a great look and we want to keep it accessible, so we don't mark it up nearly what we probably should," Matteo said. "On everyday items that you'd find in catalogs or elsewhere, we do a straight keystone and our prices are still a bit lower. There are things I could charge more on, but I'm getting what I need out of it. Either the shipping's not that high on it or it's easy to reorder; plus it ends up being a good trust factor with customers."
The Daily GrindThe most enjoyable part of her job, Matteo said, is the people she works with and the customers. She buys mostly from smaller companies and deals directly with the owners, which has made for great vendor relationships. Her only complaint is that she'd like more detailed packing slips in her boxes.
"To be honest, if I have issues with a vendor I just don't buy from them," she said.
Her biggest daily challenge is one all entrepreneurs can relate to — the never-ending paperwork.
"Trying to get through my desk is my biggest day-to-day challenge. Bills and paperwork take a very large amount of a business owner's time and that's not what I was great at, that's not why I started this business."
Though Matteo & Co. is doing well with more than $1 million in annual sales, and Matteo confidently spots color trends and selects just the right mix of merchandise for the store, she's human and has her misgivings. She said her worst decisions usually center around more "nitpicky" problems like signing a new contract for a music satellite or deciding whether to get a postage meter.
"I never feel like I have enough time to research these things and make the best decision and I'm always second-guessing myself on those things," she said. "You never know what's best and the next day you're talking to another retailer and they got something better for half the price. Those are my regrettable things."
Matteo doesn't have plans to open another store in the near future, but she does see the viability of Matteo & Co. stores working in other cities with similar demographics.
"We're unique," she said. "Customers can buy a gift, lamps and a sofa in the same place; we always have fresh product and we carry a lot of fashion forward styles."
Tamera Matteo isn't afraid of color, as evidenced in this teal sofa beneath a blue and green chandelier.
Below: Design work makes up about 80% of Matteo's business, whether it's in-store or in-home.
Furniture — the bread and butter of the business, takes center stage with accents throughout and different departments on the periphery.
Tamera Matteo left the advertising business to start her own company.
Matteo's first love is textiles, which is apparent in her upholstery. Though the frames are traditional, her color and fabric selections give a twist.
Departments like baby and hostess gifts, as well as bedding and bath line the perimeter of the store and account for a good share of business.
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