Habersham moving into retail with boutiques, galleries, showrooms
First gallery to open Nov. 22 in Boston
Susan Dickenson, Retail Editor -- Home Accents Today, 10/28/2008 7:04:00 AM
Habersham announced plans to open several independently-owned Habersham Home retail boutiques, galleries and to-the-trade showrooms during the next two quarters. Tom Skipper, vice president of sales for Habersham, 
said the move into retail and to-the-trade partnerships is a natural evolution for the 36-year-old company, which earlier this year added upholstery to the Habersham Home lifestyle concept it launched in 2005.
“Habersham started as a modest New England-style pine product line, gradually converted to hardwoods, added custom kitchens and baths a few years ago,” Skipper said. “In working with our customers for case goods and custom cabinetry, they naturally asked about upholstery. To fulfill that need we added upholstery six months ago. The original Habersham customer has continued to evolve with our product line and hopefully we’ve added some new ones along the way.”
The first in-store Habersham Home gallery opens November 22nd in Bosto
n. Named Susan Thomas Home, a large majority of the new store will be Habersham product, including kitchen elements and upholstery. Skipper said a similar Habersham Home gallery is in the works for a location in Salt Lake City.
On a larger scale, the first Habersham Home Store, also independently owned, will open in Scottsdale, Ariz. in January, 2009 (see photos). “The official grand opening is January 22nd and Architectural Digest is working with us to kick it off with a fabulous event.” Skipper said the company also just signed off on plans for a Habersham Home Store to open early next year in Atlanta.
In each case, Habersham works with the retailers or to-the-trade company principals on space design and merchandising, with variations in layout and products determined according to the specific space size, real estate and local market. “It could be a 10,000
- or a 15,000-sq.-ft. store with many lifestyles or a small 2,500-sq.-ft. display that shows a particular lifestyle and is more boutique in fashion. Obviously we’ve got numerous designs we’ll recommend, but we may lead with Country French in Atlanta or Tuscan in Scottsdale.”
Making Habersham’s whole home concept more accessible to the consumer is definitely a driving factor behind the process, according to Skipper. “The presentation tells our story better than we ever can through the catalog. These are retailers and trade showrooms that have seen what we do as a lifestyle presentation and they believe there's a place in their markets for that approach.”
Making the concept accessible for designers is also key. “There's no question the growth in our business has been through the designer, whether freelance or a major design firm or a designer working at retail,” he said. “We’ve found working with the interior designers to be seamless because they understand our lines, our finishes... when you offer fabric designs as well, we can be a complete resource for them.”
Habersham is also “talking with two other prospects” about opening to-trade-only showrooms, similar to the one already operating in Dallas. “We are gearing up to handle this,” Skipper said. “We continue to do more and more custom work and that's what we want -- to be a great resource for interior designers and kitchen designers as well. We’re always open to new ways to enhance the designer-friendly attributes of our line.”
When asked about further expansion, Skipper said Habersham does not want to be over distributed. ”It’s a very special product and needs to be shown in a proper environment. Obviously Habersham deals with the high-end market and the key is to find partners who want to trade in the high end and have a passion for Habersham projects.”
Several recent moves by the company to protect its products and brand identity may prove especially timely as Habersham moves into more visible retail channels. The company federally registered its copyrighted ornamental designs for furniture to enable court enforcement and removal of unauthorized copies of its products from eBay listings.
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