At Hurlbutt Designs in Kennebunk, Maine, co-founder Louise Hurlbutt has been in the design world for decades, from mud huts in Afghanistan, to New York, Tokyo, London and everywhere in between.
After 25 years of living and working abroad, Hurlbutt returned to the United States and opened an interior design business and store in the late 1990s.
And these days, while the business model of many retailers has embraced new technologies, design trends and styles, Hurlbutt has moved more toward the tried-and-true by forming relationships with top furniture makers in North Carolina and around the world.
She says that way of doing business has effectively brought an unparalleled level of design and quality to Maine.
These days, her biggest challenges are online outdoor retailers and their free shipping, along with delays in manufacturing and shipping.
“To be honest, we are dealing with it the best we can, staying on top of our inventory and ordering with more lead times,” said Hurlbutt.
She says that online competition has required her store to lower its pricing, making it more difficult to compete.
“For a small retailer, this is difficult as we cannot compete with the online store that orders in bulk,” she says. “They are truly putting the box store out of business.”
To set the store apart from its competitors, seniority in the marketplace is key.
“We rely on our good relationships with our vendors and customer service of 25 years in business,” she says.
This season saw a slowdown, with the retail store down by 30%, but the interior design business remains strong.
“We are being conservative in our ordering so we do not have too much inventory,” she says. “It’s a fine balance. With the economy looking not so good in the past few days, we are being very cautious.”
To market the business, Hurlbutt said she is using a number of tactics, including working closely with interior design clients with jobs that are $250,000 or more. And to decide on what to offer, she relies on two trips a year to both the High Point Furniture Market and the Atlanta Market – coupled with overseas travel, where she finds furniture and ships it home.
Hurlbutt said she is unsure if full-line furniture stores are expanding their offerings to carry outdoor. She said her business began carrying outdoor furnishings eight years ago and was successful until the last two seasons.
“However, we are in cold Maine and outdoor furnishings are probably only used four to five months a year,” she said. Any advice for a struggling casual retailer today?
“Be cautious and scale down your overhead,” Hurlbutt says.
