Hard work is essential in running and maintaining a local family business. Mark Coats, owner of Marx Fireplaces & Lighting, Inc. located in Springfield, IL recently celebrated 47 years of hard work and prosperity.
Coats started his business in 1976 at the age of 16. Originally the store only sold wood burning stoves but has since evolved into a store offering many product categories. The store now also provides high-end patio furniture, outdoor grills, lighting, ceiling fans, fireplaces, and fireplace inserts.
Coats has seven family members working in the store, each one bringing their own unique contribution to the business.
Coats states the most important thing in the retail industry is to treat customers like family and provide an exceptional showroom. “The showroom is constantly being renovated to keep up with today’s trends.”
Since Covid, mostly everything is back to normal around the store according to Coats. “We are seeing fewer customers, but the average ticket is higher” he says. May and June sales of this year are equal to last year, and those were record years.
Although things have been looking up, Coats says they struggle with marketing and finding good help. “We’re having problems finding people who want to work, not only in the store, but the quality of people out there right now who want to work is just not there” Marketing to the right population has also proven tough. Coats adds that he does many ads within a 100-mile radius with the main goal of getting people through the door.
Many people fail to recognize how big the store truly is until they walk through the entire showroom. Marx is 40,000 square feet- 10,000 is warehouse and the rest is showroom. People enjoy coming in person to feel what furniture is the best fit for them because furniture fits bodies differently. Once a customer has their new Marx product, they can’t wait to spread the word of how amazing our products and services are. With that being said, word of mouth is our most profitable form of marketing.
“We try to always keep 80 to 100 sets of furniture on our showroom floor regardless of the current season. We’re not doing as many custom orders because most people tend to want it now. We offer many styles of furniture ranging from traditional to modern and any can be paired with our dozens of different firepits. Our most popular furniture is currently anything made out of poly. We are happy to offer delivery where we can have the furniture in your backyard in less than 48 hours,” says Coats.
Any advice for struggling retailers?
“You cannot sell from an empty wagon,” says Coats. “You have to have displays that are pleasing to the eye. Don’t worry about big box-stores- you can’t compete with them on price. Just provide higher quality products, a more knowledgeable staff and stay ahead of the trends.
