These days, shoppers for furniture both indoors and out make their way to Fowler Brothers Co. Home & Patio in Chattanooga, Tennessee, every day but Sunday. But the business started out in a much different direction back in 1885.
The goods were actually going to the customers on a wagon pulled by horses.
Here in this town by the Tennessee River, the hills and valleys around Chattanooga, Knoxville and Maryville played a role in the development of this store more than 130 years ago.
It started out when two brothers loaded up a wagon with glassware and other items and went door to door, with the doors often miles apart, says store President Carter Fowler, who is the fifth generation of his family to work in the business.
Customers would invariably ask for something they didn’t have, so the next time they came through, they would bring it to them.
As transportation got easier and roads got better, the practice of bringing the store to customers was reversed. The business eventually turned into a four-story department store in downtown Chattanooga, in which the Fowlers sold everything from pianos to appliances to flooring to furniture.
Carter Fowler says today that it was especially well known back then for its Christmas displays, which featured high-end handmade wooden toys.
From there, Fowler moved to a new location — and its inventory became more focused on indoor and outdoor furniture, divided into two distinct stores, The Furniture Shoppe and The Patio Shop. A rebranding in 2020 brought the stores back together under the Fowler name.
Carter Fowler says that today’s version of the store is a single 60,000-square-foot building, with a 2 ½-acre open-air outdoor showroom, an outdoor office and an enclosed antique barn. There is space for outdoor grilling demonstrations and other events. Throughout, Fowler Brothers Home & Patio is a curated collection of products that is higher quality than what is typically found in a furniture store.
Success today
To be successful in 2023, Fowler says that patio retailers will need a unique mix of product, well-priced and good quality, and either available in stock or available from companies that can ship quickly. He says that stores need to develop processes to quickly deliver, even on special orders and customization.
“Especially in the early season, you need to shine in all avenues and never let yourself look like Lowe’s and Home Depot,” says Fowler. “You need to demonstrate the amount of quality and show the things you have available and the things you can customize, and the accessories, and the lighting.”
Accordingly, choosing the right vendors is the first step.
“Storewide, I try to align ourselves with businesses similar to ours like Summer Classics and Gabby and Telescope,” says Fowler. “So many companies that are high-end and family-owned, long-term businesses who have similar philosophies to ours and who care about high quality without failure.”
Fowler says that all of it — merchandising, product assortment and lead times — will be important going forward. He says that a full-court press on advertising and marketing is needed, from online to social media to direct mail and a fresh new TV commercial every month.
“We are looking at growth,” says Fowler. “So far this year, we are ahead of last year and last year was a record year. The most important thing for retailers to pay attention to is expenses, cash flow and people. Look at things that are working and what needs adjustment. Be ready to change and be ready to adapt.”
Back to the beginning
One example of adapting was the recent re-brand away from The Furniture Shoppe and The Patio Shop.
“We went back to the corporate name,” says Fowler. “One name. One store. One location. It was one of the most important things we could have done at the time. I am the face of the company, and I’m on TV commercials every month. Now we tell the story of family and product and people. That hits home for a lot of customers here in Chattanooga, it’s a lot easier to remember, and it’s a name they like, know and trust. Being able to change and adapt, that was a home run for us.”
Fowler says today’s biggest challenge is to get the right offer to customers at the right time. To do that, he concentrates on developing fresh content and driving sales traffic through open houses and events that feature live music, such as Barbecue, Brews and Blues.
“We set ourselves apart in a lot of different ways,” says Fowler. “Our first greeting, right off the bat, is to ask them if they just want to look around. People comment on the music in our store, about how calm it is. It’s different. It’s more of a boutique. In one setting, we might have 10 or 15 brands. That’s because people’s homes have pieces that are selected over time and our showroom display is like that. And with customer service, the one thing we teach is empathy. We shut up and listen. We are there to help them come up with solutions.”
Any advice for a struggling casual retailer?
“Go look in the mirror and ask yourself, what are you doing that is good and what are you doing that is bad — the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Look at all of it and ask yourself these questions,” says Fowler.
It can be something as small as a price tag. Fowler says that the price tags in his store used to contain too much information. Now, they contain the price and the dimensions alone — and that one change carried exponential benefits to his bottom line.
“Look at your company, look at your expenses and look at your cash flow,” says Fowler. “Figure out what you are doing wrong and fix it. With advertising and social media, get on it. Today. Like right now. Get your name out there and face out there as quickly as possible.”
