Gary Evans — Furniture Today,
New approach includes Klaussnerhome store network
ASHEBORO, N.C. — Long known as a behind-the-scenes truckload supplier to major accounts, upholstery manufacturer and case goods importer Klaussner Furniture is making itself more visible as a brand, and taking sweeping initiatives to change how it does business.

“The company has been immersed with some really big retail partners and didn’t really need anything to be pushed because they were big enough to carry us,” said Bryan Myers, the company’s marketing and brand manager.


But in an essentially flat retail market, suppliers are forced to find new ways to grow, and this Top 5 manufacturer is no exception.

“What we’re really looking to do is move forward and move Klaussner from behind the rocks, so to speak,” said Myers.

At the heart of the process is the rollout of a new chain of licensed stores called Klaussnerhome furnishings. The company also has announced a new transportation and logistics program, a new e-commerce initiative, a new logo and a major revamping of its showroom here. Visitors to the market next week will get a sampling of things to come.

“It’s the beginning of an entirely new era for Klaussner Furniture,” said Jeff Davis, senior vice president of marketing and business development, and mastermind of a strategy that he says will make the company “better, more efficient, more effective and in keeping with the demands of today’s supply chain — be it wholesale, retail or otherwise.”

The store rollout will be a major tool in defining the Klaussner brand. But Davis said that turning the company’s transportation program over to Salem Logistics is the most sweeping immediate development and one of the most important initiatives. The change will allow Klaussner to offer less-than-truckload shipments, guaranteeing delivery in seven days or less on selected items and 30-day delivery on custom orders — an important element in supplying stores quickly and helping them keep inventory to a minimum.

Klaussner has opened four Klaussnerhome stores, and will add three to five more by the end of the year. The company plans to have as many as 100 stores by the end of 2016, and has identified more than 200 markets that can sustain a store, Davis said. In all, he said research indicates those markets can support as many as 336 stores.

Besides bearing the company name, the Klaussnerhome units differentiate themselves from 20 company-owned Sofa Express and More stores in that they will carry only Klaussner product, while the other stores can source from outside vendors.

In developing the new stores, officials are keeping the company’s target customer in the forefront. Since Klaussnerhome is focused on the middle market, with customization a priority, stores will be merchandised in three categories, called the 3Cs — Contemporary, Casual and Classic. If a market area leans toward contemporary, the store’s selection will be weighted that way; likewise for other categories.

“We didn’t do the traditional or the transitional (categories) or all that because a lot of customers don’t know what that is. They don’t have a clue,” said Myers.

He said sifting through hundreds of fabric choices can be perplexing to consumers, so selections will be separated into plain and patterned sections and grouped by color and price point. Myers said the company wants to give the stores “a fun atmosphere — not a place where consumers go and they automatically hate it before they get there because they don’t know what the prices are going to be and if they’ll be hoo-dooed.”

Designer and TV host Genevieve Gorder, the spokesperson for Sofa Express and More, will play a larger role in Klaussnerhome. Hollis Anderson, creative director for Red Squirrel, a brand marketing firm working with Klaussner, said Gorder’s role will ease consumer anxiety by defining trends and inspiring the consumer not to be afraid of making choices that reflect her personality and lifestyle.

“She’ll be kind of a shopping twin, providing reassurance and saying it’s OK to be different, it’s OK to get that purple sofa,” said Anderson.

The Klaussnerhome model also will give the company an opportunity to expand categories such as accessories.

“There’s a lot of business out there that we haven’t even touched,” said Myers. “Accessories are a great tool on the retail floor to make your product really look nice. They’re items that people will come back to buy frequently, and it’s also a way to get them into the store more often than a bigger purchase like a piece of furniture.”

Davis said he expects the first 30 to 50 of the Klaussnerhome stores, which will average 22,000 square feet, “will come relatively slow. I’m an optimist but also a realist. But I think the next 50 will come like a landslide.”

He said that if the company reaches its goal of 100 stores in three years, “that can constitute between $300 million and $400 million in wholesale business for us.”

He added the company will continue to support truckload customers, but “also make it just as feasible for those who chose to buy and flow products to do so in a multi-stop, LTL environment.”

The company won’t implement any initiative at the cost of disrupting or upsetting existing distribution, Davis emphasized.

“Our dealer partners in the marketplace are just that — partners,” he said, adding the company won’t seek licensees to open new stores in areas where it’s comfortable with its market share.

“There are a lot of markets where we enjoy less than an acceptable percent of the market and we have to address that,” he said. “And the first way we will address that is by working with the dealers we have in the market area.

“It’s not a threat. It’s a tool to help us grow our business together with a group of partners.”