Paul Rich & Sons Home Furnishings + Design started out as a leap of faith, and in a lot of ways, it still is.
In 1983, Tom Rich and his parents went out on their own to start the longtime furniture retailer in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
These days, Tom Rich will tell you that the three most important tools for success have been longevity in the area, word-of-mouth marketing and loyal customers who are willing to spread the word on their behalf.
“All of that is still important for us this year,” he says.
The business has faced some change in the marketplace — for one, a shift from foot traffic and the resulting individual sales to much larger unit sales to make up for it. None of it was orchestrated or planned, but seems to just have worked out that way.
“I do think it has been slower than prior years for sure,” says Rich. “It’s not been disastrous — just slower, and as a result, we have been dependent on larger unit sales and they have been coming — instead of one or two items and $2,000 to $3,000, it’s been higher, at $10,000 to $15,000.”
Rich says that the business devotes a large part of its floor space to outdoor, usually for about six months or so. He says his targeted customer is someone who has a second home in the area, usually from New York or Boston, who is interested in outdoor furniture but usually only in the summer.
To get the word out about its offerings, Rich says the store is heavily digital, with some placements in print and high-end shelter publications that target consumers likely to have second homes. To compete with online retailers, Rich says that brick-and-mortar stores need to first tell their story.
“We are here, we have a great staff, you can come here and sit and try and feel the furniture and get educated or you can order something online and say, ‘Oh my God, what did I just do?’ And maybe send it back. By being who we are and what we are, we have 30,000 square feet displayed as well as any store anywhere. Younger people want to shop online and that is all they do. As you go up the food chain, you are less and less likely to go online. Online is more geared to middle to lower price points.”
To choose what to sell, it depends on the tried-and-true.
“We are very loyal and staid,” says Rich. “We don’t change a lot — we have top-end manufacturers in every category — Brown Jordan, Barlow Tyrie, Lloyd Flanders — the best of everybody in each category. We are not looking to go low. In all of these companies, we have reps on top of things and it is as good as it gets, because outdoor gets front and center in our store for half a year. It really leads the charge.”
It’s that quality that the store uses to set itself apart from its competitors.
“Most of our competitors in the home furnishings business are middle to lower (price points) and it is just us,” says Rich. “Everybody else is fighting amongst themselves. We don’t have that much crossover between ours and other businesses around here. We do have a little bit with mattresses but we sell the best handmade mattresses — maybe even distinguish ourselves in that category. But as a whole, it’s a little bit like apples and oranges. Our customers may save a little bit here and there, for a spare room, that they might want to spend as much on but for the better stuff, they are going to come here.”
As far as the effect of full-line furniture stores getting into outdoor, Rich isn’t seeing anyone edge into the category.
“Most have shied away from it and some have dabbled in it and that won’t work,” he says. “We did it in the late 1980s — we had two sets of Brown Jordan and we started that way and now we have got 10,000 square feet of space for outdoor furniture. A lot of full-line furniture stores don’t realize the potential and some don’t give it enough of a try to make it worthwhile.”
Any advice for a struggling casual retailer?
“In general, however you do it, you have to promote,” says Rich. “One thing that has never changed in the furniture business is you have to promote somehow. It used to be print and now it is digital. You have to have some ways to get people in your store. In the end, you have to have the right product.
“There are times of the year that you can promote all you want. When the time is right, give incentives. Give people a reason for furniture. Biggest one is mattresses — it’s the one product where you get the most direct and quickest response to promoting. You have to do it with everything — you can’t sit back and wait for someone to show up. What’s hot right now is different kinds of poly and recycled furniture — it’s a lower price and it does give you a product that is available to more people. If you have the right kind of poly and recycled lines, you can promote them at a less expensive cost to get them into your store. And then you can sell them some higher-end stuff as well. You have to be proactive — you can’t sit back and wait because if you do, you will be waiting a long time.”
