Furniture World Articles by
Russell Bienenstock
Published: 3/18/2024
Designer, unifier, and creative collaborator Nancy Fire discusses why today’s trends can be considered lifestyle pockets representing how consumers live.
Published: 3/18/2024
Old Brick’s CEO, Michael Fiacco, doesn’t have sales events. His sales associates aren’t commissioned and he hires additional repair techs by reducing his ad spend.
Published: 3/18/2024
Bo Coconis talks about growing a retail business in Appalachia on the outskirts of Columbus, the importance of building industry relationships, serving customers, and golf.
Published: 3/18/2024
Disentangling a hairball narrative.
Published: 12/28/2023
Retailers will encounter useful opportunities and more than a few challenges
in 2024. Here are some insights into what may be in store.
Published: 12/28/2023
Kristen Moonjian of FS says consumers are rejecting the fast overturn of aesthetics, stark minimalism is declining, and there’s growth in purpose-filled items.
Published: 12/28/2023
Furniture First’s CEO, Andrew Kauffman, outlines strategies furniture & mattress retailers should consider for better results in slower traffic 2024 environments.
Published: 12/28/2023
OSHA’s new National Emphasis Program will likely increase warehouse
oversight for furniture retailers in 2024. Here’s what you need to know.
Published: 12/28/2023
Forewarned and Forearmed. Planning for success in 2024.
Published: 11/30/2023
Finding inspiration in an uninspiring year.
Published: 9/16/2023
Using data to target the right people at the right time with the right messages about the right products cuts waste and gets better measurable results.
Published: 9/16/2023
The re-entry challenge.
Published: 9/15/2023
Magriñá says holistic design begins with being mindful that every shape, color and material affects people’s health, social interactions and well-being.
Published: 7/1/2023
Is the home furnishings industry on the verge of a new way of thinking about
marketing and selling? The co-founders of Science in Design believe it is.
Published: 7/1/2023
Finding and hiring team members is a challenge. Here are ways to cope.
Published: 7/1/2023
Getting back to basics is the secret to advertising success.
Published: 7/1/2023
The Next Big Thing
Published: 6/1/2023
Apollo Award-winning retailer, Gasper Exterior Furnishings Studio shares its approaches and insights for selling casual home furnishings.
Published: 6/1/2023
Richard Frinier answers questions about the present and future of outdoor
furnishings trends and design.
Published: 6/1/2023
A new home for 130 outdoor furniture exhibitors will greet retailers at
AmericasMart in July. Interview with ICFA’s Jackie Hirshhaut.
Published: 6/1/2023
The roughly 100,000 square feet of showroom space, Village Green Home and garden is a casual furniture destination like no other.
Published: 6/1/2023
Our industry could use the help of Al Roth, the Stamford Professor of economics and 2012 Nobel Prize winner, to help us match hiring needs with qualified candidates.
Published: 3/27/2023
It’s a perfect storm for digital marketers that threatens substantial legal exposure, increased compliance costs and reduced clarity in linking digital spending to adeffectiveness measures.
Published: 3/27/2023
Designer, retailer, furniture industry consultant and manufacturer Dixon Bartlett shares his views on ways to improve retail merchandising and buying.
Published: 3/27/2023
Many retailers need to focus more on managing their warehouse cube. That requires identifying and updating poor performing systems. Many cost-saving fixes are low-cost or no-cost.
Published: 3/27/2023
Time Capsule: History will be made at the spring High Point market.
Published: 12/30/2022
Stay tuned for changes in home furnishing design aesthetics, customer moods and purchasing preferences that will roll out in 2023-24.
Published: 12/30/2022
The debut of the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame Foundation’s new High Point building in April signals a new focus on how consumers, job seekers and those of us who sell home furnishings see our industry.
Published: 12/30/2022
Tom Liddell talks about credit lines, inventory reduction, bank covenants,
manufacturer discounts, inflation, new competition worries and much more.
Published: 12/30/2022
As the cost of buying, owning and operating stores increases in 2023 there are still opportunities for retailers to create wealth.
Published: 12/30/2022
The Earworm Opportunity
Published: 12/4/2022
Barton Bienenstock, Furniture World’s long-time publisher, recently passed away at 92.
Published: 9/30/2022
Customer decision-making is more often based on ‘store consciousness’ than engagement with a rational mind.
Published: 9/29/2022
Design-oriented retailer shares success strategies for hiring design associates, product display creation and integrating in-store design areas into its sales plan.
Published: 9/29/2022
How do we want our brands to make people feel?
Published: 7/14/2022
Changing times: terriers and weasels.
Published: 7/13/2022
Mark Quinn explains why It’s so much more interesting and satisfying to be in the life improvement
business than just selling mattresses.
Published: 7/13/2022
Editor, curator and trends watcher Julie Smith Vincenti explains how she identifies and presents design ideas to retailers and designers
in advance of the High Point and Las Vegas shows.
Published: 7/13/2022
Bob’s Discount Furniture’s CEO shares his thoughts about strategic planning, team building and plans for growing the
159 store chain “coast-to-coast and border-to-border.”
Published: 5/16/2022
What do motorized furniture delivery trucks, furniture brand holding companies, warehouse furniture showrooms and furniture e-commerce have in common?
Published: 5/14/2022
The most powerful way for any home furnishings company to define an
experience, says David Blair, is in emotional terms.
Published: 3/21/2022
The rebirth of customer service as the customer experience.
Published: 3/13/2022
Interior designer Young Huh talks about current trends and how to engage with clients on an emotional level.
Published: 3/13/2022
An unlikely story of grit, faith, and a belief that there is nothing—people
or furniture—that cannot be loved or repaired.
Published: 1/10/2022
In an environment where delivery disasters, supply snafus, warehouse worries, and cranky customers are the norm, it has to be tough for retail owners and managers to be happy.
Published: 11/21/2021
The trend and design consultant comments on trend styles and colors, plus discusses how retailers might adjust the percentage of core vs. trend merchandise in their stores.
Published: 11/21/2021
I hope that the business climate in 2022 will be less chilling for our industry than the Almanac’s forecast.
Published: 9/26/2021
The feature article in this issue of Furniture World provides insight into the “design of joyful retail.”
Published: 9/25/2021
Designer and “Joyful” author discusses how retailers can adapt in-store environments to influence moods and affect shopping behaviors.
Published: 7/30/2021
Are we stuck in the furniture industry’s version of flypaper—sticky, pandemic-created—where the end to the inconvenience and uncertainty is endless?
Published: 7/29/2021
Best retail practices using consumer financing options to increase close rates and average sale through 2022.
Published: 5/9/2021
Online furniture retailer Fernish targets a young mobile audience that sees traditional furniture retail as clunky, costly, inefficient and hassle intensive.
Published: 5/9/2021
Changes coming from Apple and Google promise to rock the ecommerce industry, creating opportunities and challenges for furniture retailers.
Published: 5/9/2021
No, not that kind of cookie.
Published: 3/20/2021
Here’s what’s going on in retail with IP targeting, OTT, mobile ID targeting, programmatic, targeted Facebook ads and much more.
Published: 3/20/2021
Nobody in our industry can deny that the past months have been grueling.
Published: 1/23/2021
Retailers are arrested, die of apoplexy, visit furniture shows, and pioneer DTC mattress sales models. It's the same old home furnishings business!
Published: 1/23/2021
150 years of never changing needs.
Published: 1/22/2021
A discussion of furniture design trends consumers will be looking for as we exit the pandemic.
Published: 11/20/2020
Supply chain issues are unavoidable, but it is useful to mitigate damage to your brand.
Published: 11/19/2020
Tips and advertising strategies for furniture and bedding retailers who want to grow market share in 2021 and beyond.
Published: 9/24/2020
I count three goods, three bads and two uglies.
Published: 9/23/2020
After a rocky start with its online sales platform, GAHS achieved growth in eCommerce sales of 1,200 percent during the pandemic.
Published: 8/7/2020
'When Fortune knocks, open the door,' they say. But why should one make fortune knock by keeping the door shut?
Published: 8/5/2020
Advertising specialists weigh in on what's working right now to make customers comfortable, generate inquiries and increase store traffic.
Published: 8/4/2020
Three generations have built this top-100 single-store operation into Chicagoland’s largest furniture & mattress store.
Published: 6/6/2020
At Market, if you see me getting on an elevator, will you follow me through the doors or take the stairs instead?
Published: 4/7/2020
Conditions change, but human nature stays more or less the same. That is a cause for optimism.
Published: 4/5/2020
This retail chain has an emphasis on serving local communities while being extra nice.
Published: 4/3/2020
Designer Corey Damen Jenkins shares his experience about persistence and emerging design trends.
Published: 1/6/2020
With the passing of 2019 Furniture World lost its good friend and retail editor Janet Holt-Johnstone.
Published: 1/3/2020
A close-up look at the various types, features & advantages of consumer financing plans.
Published: 1/2/2020
Madcap Cottage's John Loecke and Jason Oliver Nixon explain how to take retail
customers on a journey.
Published: 12/8/2019
True FRIENDLY salespeople can turn a shopper into a friend by treating their store like a home and inviting guests to visit.
Published: 12/7/2019
Jennifer Furniture has risen like a Phoenix following a chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in 2010 and its acquisition by Morris Holdings.
Published: 10/14/2019
How the in-store furniture shopping experience can be more like going to the emergency room than urgent care.
Published: 7/15/2019
Interior designer, blogger, style spotter and influencer Lisa Mende shares her perspectives on uniquely southern design, new trends and more.
Published: 7/15/2019
Here come the lizards! Words and phrases RSAs should avoid.
Published: 6/2/2019
I don't see how any retailer can go wrong by keeping these principles in mind.
Published: 1/11/2019
How can independent retailers compete with online behemoths and expansion hungry top-25 chains?
Published: 11/30/2018
Winnie-the-Pooh, Lael Thompson, and Things that seem Thingish.
Published: 9/22/2018
The desire to do business with companies that embrace an umbrella of sustainable causes is trending upward.
Published: 7/4/2018
Kim Salmela doesn’t believe in making safe furnishings decisions. She says, “There are no rules. That’s the rule!”
Published: 7/4/2018
Rapport is the glue that binds people together in families, organizations and relationships, including sales.
Published: 5/23/2018
Furniture designer and ASFD president discusses women in our industry and the value of leaving open avenues for
creativity in product design & retail displays.
Published: 5/23/2018
Excerpts from summer 1918 issues of Furniture World about women, World War I, furniture shortages at retail
and advances in technology.
Published: 5/23/2018
100 years ago the word "knocker" was common furniture industry parlance (often used in Furniture World Magazine) to mean a wholesale sales rep or manufacturer's rep.
Published: 3/23/2018
The Answer Is a-Trendin'
Published: 1/14/2018
Product designer and trend expert Nancy Fire talks about consumer design preferences, color and style trends for 2018.
Published: 1/14/2018
I’m confident that many of you have given some recent thought to updating your workplace harassment policies and education.
Published: 11/29/2017
This holiday season my mind muses on season-appropriate themes of gratitude and turkeys.
With regard to gratitude, it is generally accepted that grateful people have less stress, which scientists say translates into better health and longer lives.
Published: 9/23/2017
Discussion of self-driving vehicles, commingled delivery models, augmented reality & more.
Published: 7/7/2017
In this edition of Furniture World, our Point/Counterpoint duo, Bill Napier and Ed Tashjian, debate the efficacy of print vs. digital.
Published: 6/1/2017
62 years of service to the furniture industry.
Published: 3/29/2017
An interview with award-wining designer Todd Bracher about design, consumer & retail trends.
Published: 3/29/2017
Run-down of the most exciting opportunities for furniture retailers coming up in the area of transportation and logistics.
Published: 3/29/2017
Some days I come to work believing that not much has changed in our industry. Other mornings, like this one, the world seems full of possibilities.
Published: 12/28/2016
Customer Service &
The Parable Of
The “Horrible Dib Dib”
Published: 11/29/2016
Before the recent election, my friend Ed Tashjian let me know about an article he wrote, “Five Lessons Marketers Can Learn from Trump.”
Published: 9/30/2016
Furniture designer Gary Inman discusses design, consumer & retail trends and how to tell a story at retail.
Published: 9/30/2016
“The most successful retailers have been able through nurturing, to obtain and develop exceptional employees throughout all areas of their businesses - whether it be sales, administration or distribution,” says Wayne McMahon in his “State-of-the-Industry” report.
Published: 7/7/2016
Legendary designer talks about home furnishings design, visual merchandising and store display.
Published: 7/7/2016
My suggestion is to look at how you and your company create trust at every touch point, and from every angle.
Published: 6/2/2016
I’m thinking about disruptive change, the type that could make furniture factories and retail stores as we know them obsolete; the kind that could do to furniture manufacturers and retailers what the last 20 years of the 19th Century did to cabinet makers.
Published: 3/25/2016
Would It Help?
Published: 1/4/2016
Award winning design team Richard and Catherine Frinier discuss the past, present, and future of outdoor furniture.
Published: 1/4/2016
Since the year is new, considering, “who the hell are ya?” both personally and for your business, can be an illuminating exercise. The question is a sidewalk restatement of Socrates’ observation, “An unexamined life is not worth living”.
Published: 11/27/2015
Is peeling a banana an apt metaphor for your retail business?
Published: 9/28/2015
Three generations of furniture designers at Otto & Moore reflect on furniture design’s past and future.
Published: 9/28/2015
For those of you who haven’t heard, there’s a (big) tiny home movement brewing.
Published: 6/9/2015
Best practices for buying, merchandising and profiting from the category.
Published: 6/9/2015
For those of you who haven’t given much thought to the American Furniture Hall of Fame lately, it’s time to take another look.
Published: 3/24/2015
Tips from retailers and marketing experts on how to position your company for success if you choose to promote domestically sourced furniture.
Published: 12/30/2014
A Positive Tipping Point For Furniture In 2015?
Published: 11/21/2014
More success strategies from rug experts of vital interest to retail furniture store owners, buyers and sales professionals. The discussion continues (from September/October Furniture World) with an emphasis on retail sales training programs and sales techniques.
Published: 9/29/2014
Thoughts and success strategies from rug experts for retail furniture store owners, buyers and sales professionals.
Published: 9/29/2014
Formula For Success: Become Relevant
Published: 9/29/2014
The Hadley Court Center for Design Collaboration is a high tech meeting room where designers, students, manufacturers, academics, industry associations and local High Point civic and cultural organizations can collaborate on projects, hold seminars, meetings and educational events.
Published: 9/29/2014
Panel of industry retailers and manufacturers give Furniture World readers advice on how to position leather offerings for maximum sales through intelligent sales and advertising practices. A leather identification chart and glossary of terms rounds out this three part series.
Published: 7/9/2014
Panel of industry experts follows up on it’s discussion of current leather trends covered in the last issue, with leather buying facts, advice on servicing and cleaning leather, plus warranties.
Published: 7/9/2014
Larry Schneiderman's Eight Foot Rule
Published: 5/22/2014
Often, organizational change is the result of exposure to big ideas that can transform the nature of a business and how its employees, customers and supplers interact.
Published: 3/17/2014
Winter Retail Lessons
Published: 3/16/2014
This two-part series is a complete guide for retail owners, buyers and sales professionals that details leather features, benefits and advantages. It also includes best retail practices from a panel of industry experts.
Published: 1/3/2014
Retailers make myriad important decisions every day. Each of these can be a choice to tweak, alter, destroy, build, or do nothing at all.
Published: 12/10/2013
There are cases where strongly worded communications with employees and others are required, but before you press “send”, I suggest the following five steps...
Published: 9/30/2013
For those of you who make the biannual trek to High Point, I encourage you to visit the Bernice Bienenstock Furniture Library.
Published: 7/11/2013
Part 11: Are we in the middle of a bedding revolution,
an evolution, or is it a non-starter for your operation?
Published: 7/11/2013
Are you a fan of the movie “Groundhog Day”? If so, you may remember the following lines which have implications for furniture retailers... "It's the same thing your whole life, wash your hands, sit up straight, don't chew with your mouth open,... Oh yea, don't drive on the railroad tracks!”
Published: 5/30/2013
Without proper attitude, even superior sales skills and impeccable product knowledge can fail to create customer buy-in. So, what is an optimal attitude for retail salespeople?
Published: 4/1/2013
The 10th installment in our Better Bedding & Mattress Sales series continues with a close look at the latex and gel used in mattresses, their features and benefits.
Published: 1/10/2013
The 9th installment in Furniture World Magazine's Better Bedding & Mattress Sales series continues with a close look at foam.
Published: 1/10/2013
Sleep Train is dedicated to its community through pioneering philanthropic programs that provide at-risk youth with important material items.
Published: 1/10/2013
Thoughts about change and Furniture World's Magazine's
Published: 9/25/2012
Bob’s Discount Furniture combines random acts of kindness with institutional giving in a uniquely structured charitable giving program.
Published: 7/12/2012
Habitat ReStore and Louisville area furniture stores Haverty’s and Ashley Furniture Homestores create a win-win-win for the retailers, customers and the community by encouraging furniture donations and pick up.
Published: 6/6/2012
Jenny & Dennis Jones offer advice to fellow retailers based on their experience helping rug weavers in India through the Alternative Education Program.
Published: 4/5/2012
Interview with Kendra Maggert, Interactive Marketing Manager, Ashley HomeStores, Ltd., the first in a series focusing on furniture industry charitable initiatives.
Published: 7/12/2011
This month, our series on how to sell more higher-end bedding continues with additional ideas to help you and your salespeople create a focused and consistent marketing approach. See what the experts say about shifting the emphasis away from price by creating a plan for advertising, approaching customers, greeting them and asking appropriate questions to advance the sale.
Published: 3/15/2011
This is the first part in a series that looks at how retailers can sell more higher-end bedding. In this issue, we define the luxury bedding category, present information on customer demographics and start to look at what experts say about best sales practices.
Published: 3/29/2010
Changes in retail and wholesale distribution, the formation of large scale furniture exhibitions and the last depression period of the 19th century helped to shape the way we do business today.
Published: 3/29/2010
This is a story of missed warning signs, failed furniture industry initiatives and impossible consumer buying behavior.
Published: 3/29/2010
The good, the bad and the ugly. A tale of the lead-up to the war through its end, 1938-1945. A remarkable story of difficult times in which the ingenuity of manufacturers and retailers, against all odds triumphed.