Sometimes, in business, you go out and find business.
And sometimes, business shows up and finds you.
Heidi Semenske of Casual Living Outfitters says that for her family-run business, it was the latter.
Heidi and her dad, Sam, co-owned an insurance agency in Ripon, Wisconsin. One memorable day in 1998, Sam got a call from a friend who had a problem.
“The friend, who worked in the outdoor furniture industry, had a storage unit full of extra outdoor furniture samples, but nowhere for them to go,” says Semenske. “Sam offered to sell the items, his friend agreed, and after finding homes for a few dozen patio sets, Casual Living Outfitters was born.”
Within a couple of years, father and daughter sold the insurance agency and started expanding beyond the 10-foot-by-12-foot storage unit into three sprawling showrooms covering more than 15,000 square feet and featuring a vast selection of outdoor furniture.
Sadly, the small-town businessman who had become known as “Patio Sam” passed away in 2008. Today, Semenske owns and operates the business with help from her family.
“Since the beginning, the goal has remained the same: to provide shoppers access to the highest quality outdoor furniture at small-town prices,” says Semenske.
At the start of this year’s season, Semenske says that she believes product assortment — a variety of products available at different price points — will be key.
“We are anticipating sales to be slower than the last three years, but we’re still hoping for a great season,” she says. “We’re trying out a few new promotions. One of our challenges is that our warehouse is full of inventory due to the delays in manufacturing and shipping. We are hoping this season will help alleviate this situation.”
To sell the goods, Casual Living Outfitters has transitioned to strictly digital marketing and is exploring a few new vendors and offering more custom orders. At the same time, it is updating its website, implementing a few special promotions to try and bring traffic into the store earlier in the season, and looking to upgrade its exterior so that the outside better reflects the experience that customers find in the showroom.
“We choose manufacturers that offer quality, durable products with great customer service,” says Semenske. “We place a high priority on ease of working together so we can both succeed.”
She says that she is not concerned with full-line furniture stores jumping into the patio space.
“We only sell outdoor furniture,” she says. “That is our focus and specialty. Selling outdoor furniture is very different than selling indoor furniture, so we’re not overly concerned with more competition from indoor furniture retailers. Typically, they are not able to offer the variety of product lines we do.”
As far as competition from online sellers, Semenske says that focusing on what you do best makes the difference.
“We try to provide top-notch friendly customer service with competitive pricing,” she says. “We are able to offer lower prices in-store than are advertised online. We also provide assembly at no additional cost and low-cost delivery services.”
Any advice for struggling casual retailers? Semenske suggests working on your business while you work in your business.
“I would suggest managing your inventory is key, work with partners with short lead times and keep your overhead low,” she says.
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