HIGH POINT — While furniture retail has been up in most cases since the election occurred last November, retailers across the country were hopeful for a bigger boost during the Presidents Day weekend.
And for the most part, they got it, as many said sales were on par with what they expected, if not much better.
Retailers were savvy in how they promoted the first tentpole sales event of the year and saw successes in several categories, including some that typically perform well during this holiday.
Here’s how business played out for four retailers during the holiday weekend.
Promotion tactics
One of the cleverer promotional tactics was the “Greg Washington” commercial by Sweet Dreams Mattress & Furniture’s Greg Law. Law did a spot-on impersonation of comedian Nate Bargatze’s George Washington from sketch comedy skits, complete with deadpan delivery, which got lots of attention on social media and drew plenty of response in the Mooresville, N.C.-based retailer’s four stores.
“We filmed that the week before. I’ve always been a fan of Nate Bargatze, and I said we need to shoot that before Presidents Day,” Law said, noting the assist from Knoxville, Tenn.-based ad agency Citizen Advertising. “We got some good response on social.”
While results weren’t available, Top 100 retailer Ethan Allen added 36-month no-interest financing Feb. 15-28 in addition to its Buy More, Save More event (20% off $3,000 or more; 15% off up to $2,999).
Minnesota’s HOM Furniture had a tiered giveaway event with “Everything on Sale.” Customers who purchased between $699 and $1,498 got a free Stanley mug from the Top 100 retailer, while sales tickets from $1,499 to $2,498 got the mug plus a $100 Mastercard reward card, and purchases greater than $2,499 got the mug and a $200 Mastercard reward card.
For his seven stores’ first Presidents Day weekend as an independent retailer, owner Andy Johnston said Johnston Signature Furnishings’ key promotion focused on a “buy more, save more” model.
For instance, a customer that bought a $999 sofa could get 10% off by adding a loveseat or 15% off by adding a loveseat and chair. The Tallahassee, Fla.-based retailer, which used to be under the Badcock Home Furniture &more umbrella, also offered free delivery for sales of $1,500 or more.
In San Diego, owner Howard Haimsohn said Lawrance Furniture & Design had a couple of vendor-related promotions and offered some extra savings storewide. “We tried to incentivize people to get them excited over the holiday weekend. Nothing extraordinary,” he said.
Product that sells
Day in and day out, motion upholstery is one of Top 100 retailer Bel Furniture’s better performers, and its sales during the Presidents Day weekend held true.
“Our business is motion. We’re a direct importer. 90% of our goods we import ourselves; we don’t buy from vendors or agents. Motion is a category we own,” said Troy Simmons, general manager for the Houston-based retailer. “No matter what day, we sell a lot. People like better goods too; those are the people that are spending money. That’s where we’ve dominated in the past 20 years.”
Furniture for the living room was also one of the big winners for Johnston Signature during its weeklong event.
“It’s always going to be appliances and living rooms. Those are our biggest categories. Living room more than appliance; appliances are more of a need-based sale and living rooms are want based,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re carrying appliances. If somebody’s refrigerator goes out in a small town, we’re the only appliance dealer in that town.”
Bedding is almost always one of the top performers for Presidents Day and that played out during this holiday weekend in several spots.
“THE winner was Tempur-Pedic. Their promotion drove in a ton of business,” Law said of Sweet Dreams’ sales. “We also just signed up with Avocado, and those just hit the floor before Presidents Day. We got some great sales from them. We partnered with Southerland and Englander and did $1,400 off adjustable sets with them. That was huge.”
Law said combination sales of furniture with bedding was also successful, as was Sweet Dreams’ Dream Room Planner interior design service. “We’ve got our own interior design team, and we map out people’s dream rooms for them, and that’s been getting good response,” he said.
Mattresses were also a hit for Bel Furniture. “Bedding was really strong this weekend,” Simmons said.
“That’s another thing we noticed: people buying better beds over the past eight or nine months. It’s gone up from $1,000 mattresses to $1,800 or $1,900. People buying bigger tickets helps keep volume up when traffic is soft.”
Retail takeaways
And with another good holiday tentpole event in the books, Simmons said it feels like shoppers are back to pre-COVID norms of waiting for traditional sales weekends.
“It’s gotten back to holiday sales,” he said. “People have gotten back to conditioned shopping Presidents Day, July 4, Labor Day. Black Friday is huge. Business is more concentrated around these sales.”
Haimsohn said he saw a more eager shopper over the weekend, something he hopes continues as the year progresses.
“I definitely felt a little bit of optimism over Presidents Day weekend, particularly vs. what we’ve seen previously,” Haimsohn said.