Madcap cottage evening bedding1/18/2024 “Merchandising is a key component of any furniture showroom and we put a lot of time, money, and thought into how our showrooms layout from a sense of product flow as well as how vignettes are created and where our galleries are located throughout the store,” Kyle Johansen said. HOM includes multiple brands (see Sidebar: Brand Extensions), but it seeks to tell distinct stories even on its namesake floors. A second location was opened in 2013 in Minneapolis adjacent to a new HOM showroom. In 2009 HOM was on the move again and acquired Seasonal Concepts, one of the largest specialty outdoor and Christmas businesses in the country merged the concept into HOM’s full line furniture stores and branded the department "HOM Seasonal Concepts" in every HOM Store.Ģ010 brought another year of brand extension as HOM opened a new concept showroom called "Dock86," playing off the "weekends only" and "The Dump" approach of offering high value with no frills and only open four days a week. “Today there is a Gabbert's gallery in Sioux Falls, Sioux City, Fargo, and opening in 2015 a second Minneapolis location.” “The aspiration was to open Gabberts gallery stores across the upper mid-west to expand the brand in multiple markets,” Kyle Johansen said. The business continued to grow, and in 2008 Wayne, his brother, CEO Rod Johansen (Kyle’s father) and COO Carl Nyberg forged a deal to purchase high-end Minneapolis retailer Gabberts Furniture. In 1996 HOM Oak & Leather and Total Bedroom were merged into one entity, HOM Furniture, making HOM a complete full-line furniture retailer. In 1993, to expand customer reach, all Waterbed Room showrooms were converted to Total Bedroom showrooms, along with further expansion of HOM Oak & Leather. Recognizing the need to expand product lines to capture greater market share, two HOM Oak & Leather showrooms opened in 1990. In 1979, a friend convinced Wayne to convert one of his retail gift shops into a waterbed retail outlet, The Waterbed Room, which soon became the largest retailer of flotation sleep products in the upper Midwest. The two would drive down to Mexico, where Christensen found affordable treatment and his nephew found affordable merchandise and jewelry Wayne Johansen (Kyle’s uncle) opened a small wholesale and retail import gift business in partnership with his uncle and mentor, Bill Christensen, who’d been paralyzed in an accident at age 19. HOM Furniture’s roots go back more than 40 years to 1973, with the founding of JC Imports. Those combined for 2013 revenue approaching $216 million. Now, HOM operates 15 namesake showrooms three Gabberts Design Studio & Fine Furniture showrooms and two Dock86 showrooms in Minnesota, Iowa, North and South Dakota and Wisconsin. The retailer has prospered in the upper Midwest through developing its namesake stores for appealing to the specific markets they serve spreading its reach into upper price points through acquisition (Gabberts) and acting on retail trends that scream “value” to consumers (Dock86). You might not have been there, but you’ve heard of Minneapolis-you’ve probably heard of HOM Furniture, too. We do not have the luxury of being a niche store who only has to beat others selling, for example, high-end contemporary or low-end RTA.” “Since we offer sofas from $267 to $20,000, everyone is our competitor. “We are always looking to keep our showrooms unique with fresh assortments and staffed with great, engaged people to compete with all those other outlets for furniture. “Did I mention the online retailers like Wayfair and Hayneedle?” Johansen said. Don’t forget the big box guys in the game now such as Menards, Costco, Target, Big Lots and Ikea. The region’s home furnishings retailers include Ashley, Slumberland, Schneidermans, Becker Furniture World, Macys, Mattress Firm and Ethan Allen-as well as lifestyle retailers such as Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Room and Board, Crate and Barrel. Everyone is here and Minneapolis is only the 16 th-largest market in the U.S.” We have a lot of very tough competitors who keep us on our toes every day. “No one is going to just lay down and let us take their market share. “I am not going to lie-business has been challenging and it always will be,” said Kyle Johansen, merchandising manager at Coon Rapids, Minn.-based HOM. That doesn’t mean it’s a dull market for home furnishings retailers. The Minneapolis region, home base for HOM Furniture, might be a familiar name across the country, but it remains among the nation’s metropolitan areas second tier. markets, your eye might gravitate toward the seaboards.
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