Susan Dickenson

Wooing retailers at market

The question I asked of our Designer Insight panelists in June was about store "yucks" — decorating or merchandising mistakes that might shorten a customer's visit or make them turn right around and walk out of the store. The designers' responses showed a healthy respect for the subjectivity of taste, and gave evidence of the sharp eye each has developed for discerning the wows from the bow-wows.

This past spring, I asked a few retailers to sound off on the subject, but from their own shopping perspective -- and what better place to do it than while they were busy shopping the High Point Market? Most of the buyers I interviewed were independent retailers, a few were designers, but all had arrived with a well-planned agenda that included calling on favorite vendors, investigating a few pre-advertised show specials, and finding time to seek out the new and different. So what about all the promotional stuff designed to woo buyers into the showroom — what makes them stop and shop? A few comments worth noting:

The e-mails, invitations and fliers they received in advance of market were an important planning tool, serving as everything from a reminder that certain companies were still around to plugging a must-see product line or show special. Dana Bazzell and Laurie Rollins, Lulu's Home Trends Gallery, Murray, Ky., said they go through the entire stack of invitations they receive prior to market and use them to plan their trip, noting that pictures are especially effective when a company is announcing new products or specials.

A welcoming atmosphere is important, but only if it meets the buyer's definition of "welcoming." For most of the guys, that translates to "greet me, say hello, offer to help whether I want it or not." For the gals, it means hold back your salespeople until I've had five or 10 minutes to browse on my own. If a showroom's sales team consists of "a bunch of guys standing around in dark suits just beyond the showroom entrance," most said they keep right on walking.

Marilyn Hansen of The Designers Furniture Gallery, Omaha, Neb. (www.designersomaha.com), observed that most of the buying at the once predominantly male markets is now done by women "in comfortable shoes" for whom a feeling of trust is very important, adding "I'm also wary of reps that push something they have hundreds of — do they do it to get rid of it or because it's a really neat thing my customers will want?"

The entertainment, parties and happy hours are appreciated but highest marks went to the free food providers, especially in High Point where a number of showrooms have full service cafes or dining facilities. As Jana Sanders of J. Sanders & Assoc., Dallas, noted, "There's enough food offered in the showrooms and buildings that it's easy to find three free meals a day, plus snacks." 

Tote bags raise curiosity. Kathleen Whitcomb, Ambience Home & Garden, Lambertville, N.J., finds them useful. Denise Graham (The Lite House, Hanover, Pa.) will probably use hers while on the "Dream Vacation" she won from Paragon and Propac Images. Out of 12,000 hotel keys mailed in advance of and handed out during market, Graham's was one of two keys that opened the door to a roundtrip vacation at a destination of her choice.

Besides providing great product at a fair price, what else can showroom designers and vendors do to enhance your shopping experience at market?

Posted by Susan Dickenson on June 28, 2007 | Comments (1)