NHFA panel: Let's work together
By Tom Edmonds -- Furniture Today, May 31, 2004
PHOENIX — PHOENIX — Cooperation and communication are the obvious yet elusive ingredients that can create stronger ties between manufacturers and retailers.
In a broad ranging panel discussion at the National Home Furnishings Assn./Western Home Furnishings Assn. All Industry Convention here this month, representatives from both sides of the fence talked about what can be done to make their business partnerships stronger and more effective.
Retailers and the factory executives on the panel agreed that they usually do more and better business with companies that are working toward mutually satisfactory solutions.
Gene Stoltz, vice president of merchandising at Wolf Furniture, Bellwood, Pa., said that while he and other retailers want territorial exclusives on merchandise, he also recognizes that it's a privilege that has to be earned.
"It's got to work both ways," he said. "If you want clean distribution, you've got to give the manufacturer the floor space to support that."
All parties agreed that personal contacts are the linchpin to success.
"Everything depends on salespeople at retail and at manufacturing," said Dave Cavitt, president of Furniture Enterprises of Alaska in Anchorage. "Sometimes we as retailers work very hard to make a line successful, and management at the factory is behind it, too, but the relationship hinges on the manufacturers' representatives."
Nancy Farina, owner of California Design Center in Tucson, Ariz., said she relies on what she calls her "top 25" sales reps to give her salespeople the product training they need.
From the manufacturing side, the panelists said they want to hear from retailers.
"In a strategic alliance, it's important that the retailer feel comfortable to pick up the phone and call the president of the company," said Scott Haigh, president of Fairchild Fine Furniture, an upholstery resource. He added, though, "It's nice to get a phone call for something other than a problem that needs to be resolved."
