White Plains, N.Y. — The just-opened 185,000-square-foot Fortunoff's store here in this New York City suburb features over 75 fully accessorized furniture settings in a 22,000-square-foot furniture department focused on lifestyle presentations.
The store is expected to add more than $100 million in sales to the retailer's current $400 million-plus annual volume. Fortunoff's furniture business accounts for some 10% of the total, or about $40 million currently.
The lifestyle presentation format for furniture is a fairly recent departure from classification buying and merchandising, said Elliot Mayrock, one of the principals of the family-owned chain.
All settings in the furniture department are fully accessorized — wall art, lamps, rugs, etc.
"We try to push the limits," Mayrock said.
Room coordination
The company has moved to lifestyle merchandising to suit the constantly changing needs of its customers, he said. Consumers today, he believes, are buying in order to create a look for a room, not merely buying pieces in standard industry categories such as case goods and upholstery.
The furniture department, on the top of the three-story store, greets customers at the entrance to that level with a dramatic contemporary living room and dining room. The dining room is from Fine Furniture Design and Marketing; the sofa in the living room is from Bernhardt.
A Natuzzi leather sectional stands out at a main traffic junction in the department. The sectional is accompanied by a large TV wall unit. Other standouts include a white dining room from Stanley and a variety of Canadel dining rooms with special-order options.
The new store represents a re-entry into the area rug business in what Mayrock called "a limited way" — some 250 patterns.
"We were in hand-made rugs, but you know how that business is," he said. "We see rugs as an accessory, like lamps or wall art."
Over time, he sees rugs adding a few percentage points to total sales.
In furniture, key suppliers in addition to those already mentioned include Excelsior and Hooker. Mayrock considers them among the best of bigger and smaller companies. Smaller manufacturers, he said, more easily can do special styles to fit specific store needs.
An extraordinary part of Fortunoff's furniture business is featured off the furniture floor — in the vast home textiles department, where 65 fully dressed beds are shown and sold.
Each bed has its own top-of-the-bed textiles. The beds are either reorderable or one-of-a-kind. In addition, the dressed bed settings offer armoires, chests, nightstands and other pieces suitable for bedroom furnishings. Benches also are featured, covered in the same fabric as the bedroom textiles.
Mayrock said the beds are selected by the home textiles buyers, "so they really work together."
Each bed has its own stand for product information, including specifications and price. The Claridge Panel Bed, for example, is $1,754 for the queen size.
Fortunoff's doesn't sell mattresses and box springs.
In furniture, there's a total of eight buyers and product development team members, Mayrock said. The company does much of its own product specifications.
"If I have to put money into creative development, I will," he said.
One big growth opportunity for the retailer, Mayrock said, is decorative bathroom furniture, which is featured adjacent to the bath shop on the White Plain store's second floor. The shop offers large storage armoire-type of pieces, vanities and smaller pieces, some with painted finishes and other embellishments.
Other products
In addition to home furnishings, Fortunoff's is strong in tabletop and jewelry. It doesn't offer apparel. The metro New York/New Jersey chain has nine stores, three other full-line home furnishings/jewelry/tabletop stores and five specialty stores, which focus on such items as patio furnishings, kids furnishings and watches.
The retailer is known for its customer service and knowledgeable salespeople.
The company, based in Westbury, N.Y., on Long Island, is a third-generation business with nine family members currently involved: Mayrock, his brother, sister and cousins.
In the White Plains store, furniture and rugs share the third floor currently with the trim-a-tree shop, which in January becomes a Backyard Shop with more than 75 casual furniture settings.
The company took its time coming here.
"We've been looking at White Plains for 25 years and we could have settled for a secondary location, but we're patient," Mayrock said.
The store is on the site of a former Saks Fifth Avenue unit, which closed.
"We took down the old building and the foundation," he said.
Fortunoff's store is part of a major revitalization of the city, he said.
Building awareness
The company already has 100,000 customers in the White Plains area. Promotion of the store's grand opening began with two-page ads in The New York Times, plus the Greenwich and Stamford, Conn., and White Plains newspapers. A 20-page furniture circular also was timed for the opening.
Fortunoff's expects to expand further. "We have the organization, and we know how to execute," Mayrock said.
Possible new locations include sites in eastern Long Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania — particularly around King of Prussia — and perhaps Washington.
Full-line stores that include furniture are in Westbury, and Wayne and Woodbridge, N.J. There is a 42,000-square-foot Backyard Store in Paramus, N.J.
Assessing current business, Mayrock said, "We've had sales increases every year, and this year should be no exception.... Our average ticket has risen dramatically. We just have to consistently elevate design and quality."
