Chap de Laine’s knows furniture from the inside out.
Literally.
The family-owned furniture store in South Hadley, Massachusetts, began as an outgrowth of founder William Chapdelaine’s upholstered furniture manufacturing business.
Chapdelaine began making furniture and draperies both for private clients and in the U.S. Army before opening the store in 1957.
Over the years, much has changed, from a location in South Hadley Falls to South Hadley — and a move into outdoor furniture — by the 1970s. Today, the product lines have expanded into conventional case goods, upholstered furniture and outdoor furnishings in a 20,000-square-foot showroom. Another change is that Lisanne Chapdelaine, William’s daughter who grew up in the store, would join the business full time in 1986 and become president in 1997.
“It’s important to merchandise correctly and drive store traffic and customer engagement,” she says.
Chapdelaine said the store sets itself apart because of its sheer size — and markets the proposition that no other store in the area can offer such a wide range of residential and commercial furnishings, floor coverings and window treatments. The idea is that whether you need one small item, one room full, an entire house or an office building, you can find it at De Laine’s or you can special order it.
Chap de Laine’s also points to both its services — of delivering the goods throughout most of western Massachusetts and most of New England — and its guarantee. By standing behind the products it sells and offering a money-back guarantee, when necessary, it is looking to generate future business through word-of-mouth advertising.
Chapdelaine says that she is seeing some challenges in getting good warehouse and delivery help but is pleased with her sales and design staff. Last fall, a slowdown hit, including the casual furniture category but had eased by this past spring. To meet the challenge, she says, she started a targeted digital advertising campaign with geofencing, website analytics.
“Freight is the biggest problem with casual lines because it can be bulky and most ship from outside of the southern belt of furniture where rates are reasonable,” she says.
To compete with online, Chapdelaine stays focused.
“We are a full-service store and we repair on-site or in homes, and that makes us competitive with online,” she says. “Online pricing is not the low point anymore — we just need to get that word out to more shoppers. The biggest benefit we stress with customers is that our brands carry product for years and even if a line is dropped, we can get parts, such as our Homecrest, Lloyd Flanders and Woodard. We also replace patio slings here and make custom cushions.”
To choose a manufacturer, good retailers look at both old and new.
“You choose lines by their lasting quality and by new trends such as the poly-lumber furniture,’ she says.
Any advice for a struggling outdoor retailer?
“When outdoor is sluggish, you need to keep up with service so customers will remember you,” says Chapdelaine. “Spending will come around.”
