Link This | Email this | Blog This | Comments (0)

Santa Is Bringing Us A Flatscreen!
November 14, 2007

The news from Wal-Mart caught my eye. Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) announced stronger-than-expected earnings and hinted that the upcoming holiday shopping season will be strong.

The Wall Street Journal asked, “How is Christmas shaping up? Eduardo Castro-Wright, president of Wal-Mart’s U.S. stores, said in a prerecorded call that sales of flat-panel TVs and laptop computers are surging — up 110% and 80% respectively from a year earlier.” (My emphasis added)

Two couples we have as friends, have each purchased 42-inch LCD flat panel TVs recently.  We are behind.  To make it worse, one couple has purchased a 26-inch flat screen for their bedroom.  We are down “two” to this couple, although we lead them in the number of TVs in our home (kitchen, den and my office).  It is very painful for me, not for Bev.  The Oregon Ducks are ranked #2 in the BCS, the Oregon State Beavers are bowl eligible and now the  Portland Trail Blazers are playing.  Viewing would be so much better on a flat screen.  

Since, we made a major move this year to a new location, finances have been a little tight.  We anticipated business would be equal to or greater than at the old location.  Not only was the move more expensive than anticipated, but the move was not seamless.  It took time for our interior designer customers to find us and we pushed the limits on the retail side.  We are out of the mainstream for the retail client.  They will come, as this area builds from an old industrial area to upscale living.   We had a great month followed by a month that was reminiscent of those early ”beginning” days.  Once August was over the fall season came on strong and now, we are very pleased we made the move.  It is so much more convenient to drivers from all parts of Portland than the original location.

What are we doing to increase the buzz?  We added a number of new vendors since the move, because we have twice as much floor space.  One of the new vendors is Precedent.  So we invited designers in the Portland Metropolitan area to Precedent 101.  We invited the rep for Precedent to talk about the features and benefits.  Then we co-sponsored Color Pulse 2009 in which 375 designers came to hear about color trends for 2009 Color Director Doty Horn of Benjamin Moore.  And tonight we have Stanley 101 with Ted Mischkot.  We provide the wine, food units, and fun.  And don’t forget, we blog daily if possible and run color ads in selected local magazines.  Explore the Pearl is the latest.



Back to the subject of this post: flatscreens.  I am sure that Santa will bring us a 42-inch LCD.  Guess what else he will need to bring?  A new TV cabinet!  The cabinet we have has seen its day.  It sags here and there and it’s built for a square TV of up to 27 inches.  We added Stanley to our list of vendors and decided that they have, not TV cabinets, but “ entertainment centers” that will do the job perfectly in our home.  I wouldn’t be surprised if Wal-Mart’s outlook for the Christmas season is correct and it will be a good season for furniture and accessories, if the Landfair household is any reflection.

Want to share what you are doing?  Email them to me at landfair3554@comcast.net and I'll share them in a new post.

Posted by Mike Landfair on November 14, 2007 | Comments (0)