ROOTNOTES

News, Commentary, Insight from

Mike & Emmet Root Celebrating 56 Years As the Foremost Authorities On

Innovative Marketing For The Home Furnishings Industry

Issue 279 … September, 2020 Subscription price $49.00 Award Winning Salesmen, Marketers & Entrepreneurs

Emmet built his business in an era of allotments. Factories could only make so much furniture at a time so dealers would program orders out for months in advance. He tells stories of the “glory days” when he had a “hot” casegoods line. He knew his customers and would write up orders for them before they even came into the space so they could get orders ahead of all other parts of the country. Then when the customers came into market he would tell them what they were buying. If they did not want it he would be able to sell off the place in line to someone else. His market was over before it began because there was only so much production available. Once gone you waited for next cutting.

At some point the concept of warehousing goods came along and there was still shortages of best sellers but the timelines of delivery did shrink. The largest manufacturer in our industry built their busi-ness on just in time shipping . They supplied the in-dependent dealer and then miraculously built a chain of branded stores. The rest of the manufactur-ing community watched this behemoth gobbled up more and more retail space, small retailers became complacent not seeking out other resources, and the world marveled at the audacity of the growth model that told their dealer networks and branded store fronts the way they had to do business with them.

All was good in this furniture kingdom until Covid-19. Then factory production shut down domestically and imported. Furniture stores closed and moved online if they could. As things began to reopen it was obvious that product flow and ROI that so many

had come to count on were actually a flawed busi-ness model in the Covid-19 era. Retailers large and small are challenged to get production. If they have goods at a factory they are having trouble getting the goods to their stores because of lack of trucks or containers at pre-pandemic prices. We hear that Walmart, Amazon and others are paying big premi-ums to truckers just so their goods move whereas furniture retailers who are not used to paying a pre-mium for anything are not getting their loads picked up in a timely fashion. Here are a few takeaways:

1. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. The de-pendence of the industry on one supplier whether it be at the high end, medium or promotional price points exposes a retailer to supply chain disruption. Given supply challenges who do you think will get goods first: independents or branded stores ?

2. A good rep communicates between the factory and the retailer getting truthful shipping times and doing whatever is possible to help move goods effi-ciently. I truly believe the work we have done to keep everyone in the loop on flow of goods has been critical to keep product moving. A retailer may not realize that the goods are sitting on the factory dock waiting to pick up, but a rep can help here.

3. Factories are all overwhelmed. Treating the CSR’s with kindness goes along way in making sure your orders are properly handled the first time.

4. If you want goods to be picked up quickly you may have to pay a premium freight charge. There just aren’t enough truckers and containers.

Mike’s Moment: What Changes Covid-19 Has Dealt the Furniture Industry

Funnies off the Internet . . .

In case you haven’t noticed,

the special section in the

late August issue of Costco

Connection, it featured a

very large furniture section-

al. Every category was cov-

ered including a custom de-

sign profile. Most prices

were quoted delivered and

satisfaction guaranteed.

Their online presence is

huge, and is growing in

square footage, in stores.

The looks are main-stream

and prices are fair. This is a

worthy competitor now

starting to use many name

brands on the label.

Bits & Pieces From Around the Industry

Funny Quote: “The best way to teach your kids about taxes is by eating 30 percent of their ice cream. —Bill Murray

Husband and I went gro-

cery Shopping with Masks,

got home,

Took off masks,

Brought home

Wrong husband!

Stay alert people!

Costco is in the game

Everyone PLEASE be careful be-cause people are going crazy from being locked down at home! I was just talking about this with the microwave and the toaster. We all agreed it’s bad.

I didn’t mention any of this to the washing machine, because she puts a different spin on EVE-RYTHING!! Certainly couldn’t share with the fridge, cause he’s been acting cold and distant!

In the end, the iron straightened me out! She said the situation isn’t all that pressing and all the wrinkles will get ironed out!

The vacuum, however, was very unsympathetic…told me to just suck it up buttercup! But the fan was VERY optimistic and gave me hope that it will all blow over soon!

The toilet looked a bit flushed but didn’t say anything when I asked its opinion. The front door said I was becoming un-hinged and the doorknob told me to get a grip!! You can just about guess what the curtains told me: they told me to “pull myself together!”

Covid brings out the best in all!

The Loss of An Industry Legend

John St. John “Saint”, one of the most charismatic individuals the furniture in-dustry has ever known passed away at 84 years old. John worked with us as an executive with both Pilliod Furniture and then Progressive Furniture. As a young pup on the road, John taught Mike a lot about what it takes to be a great rep. He had a great sense of where product needed to be positioned and priced helping Progressive Mexico become an early leader in that category. He would nickname groups and then use it in his pitch and expected all to follow. My earliest memory is “Ray Charles” because even a blind man would buy it.

John loved an audience for his stories and they could go for 5 minutes or 50 depending on how captivated the audience. He would tell about the banana salesman who had to have a carload of bananas sold before the train made it town describing the urgency of action. He told the locomotive salesman who Saint queried who do you sell and got the reply “ I sell locomotives to people who buy locomotives” which is great advice for any sales organization. His fa-vorite was selling Walmart, and if you heard it you would agree it’s a classic.

John also was a showman extraordinaire. One of our first sales meetings at the old Progressive building on a Saturday morning Saint had decided he was going to start a revolution in the industry. At the end of the meeting Saint marches us all outside to a scene of revolutionary soldiers in complete uni-form. The fife and drum play their tunes and they end up by firing a cannon. It was far louder than imagined in the street corridor reverberating off buildings and setting off all the car alarms in a 6 block radius. Rest in peace Saint.

Emmet’ Reflections— continued from page 4

Is this “sugar high” a result of the “free” money

from the government checks, and up to $1000 a

week in unemployment checks, or because peo-

ple were cooped up for 5 months and couldn’t

spend money on trips, eating out, movies and

especially travel?

Whatever the reason, there has to be a day of reckoning. Just like the toilet paper and hand sanitizer frenzy. America will one day wake up and discover this has been the strangest time in our lives. I certainly don’t have the answer but have lots of questions.

The industry has been lulled to sleep by the gi-ant manufacturers that flowed goods from Asia and low- end Mississippi factories on demand.

The extraordinary spike in business plus and un-precedented interruption in the supply chain with Covid-19 absences disturbed the “just in time” deliveries. Imagine the large intermodal trucking firms getting a premium of $2500 to $5000 PER Container to ship goods from West Coast eastward!

The remainder of this year, and probably early

next year, will challenge the best of retail plans.

We here at Furniture Sales have a good pulse on

current conditions and are here to help you ride

the wave!

Mike will be at pre-market if you need anything

there. Most factories are requiring appoint-

ments so give us a call if you don’t have one yet.

Went into the office early one morning to clean up my desk area, since we are working remotely these days. In so doing, I noticed a couple of furniture magazines from December 2019/January 2020. In perusing them both, the sharp contrast with what seemed to be problems or challenges at that time: ie. Tariffs, and regulations, are long in the rear-view mirror. The sud-denness of the Covid-19 pandemic and the shutting down of our economy soon became a topic that our industry faced for the first time. Perhaps more inter-esting to discuss is the aftermath of the re-opening and the unique challenges that have been wrought. Who would have thought you were sane if on New Years Eve 2019 you told them by August there would be a complete shutdown of promotional upholstery delivery? When is the last time major dealers were being quoted January/February delivery from some key manufacturer? Better yet, when have some blue-ribbon retailers

been told they were at dollar limit on their credit lines and would be shipped only if a check accompanied their order? That and home stores scrambling to get good from the manufacturer that put them in busi-ness! Factors are nothing but bankers so if they and credit managers of giant manufacturers are balking at free money to keep goods flowing, they must know something!

I have heard from, and about, smaller dealers whose

inventory has become so depleted they had to ar-

range the floor to make it look like they were still in

business. How long can we expect customers to be so

hungry to purchase furniture they will take anything a

dealer has left? Even the internet has become so in-

discriminate that my factories say the consumer picks

and item which turns out to be out of stock and she

just picks her second or third choice!

(continued on page 3)

7305 Farnam Street Suite 1 Omaha, NE 68114

Phone: 800-391-2166 Fax: 402-391-2383

Visit us at www.FurnitureSales.net

Emmet’s Reflections: Effects of Covid-19

Phil’s Covid-19

Part-time gig . . .

Babysitting (one at

the park, one in the

baby carrier)