Upscale Business Market Transforms Furniture Rental Business

Furniture World Magazine

Brook Furniture Rental expands through niche marketing. Twenty years ago, when a person rented furniture, it was usually because he couldn't afford to buy it. Rather than a calculated decision, it was a stopgap measure by a guy who needed a television to watch the big game and a couch to sit on. This also was the time when Bob Crawford, a former consumer marketing expert at Procter and Gamble, was shopping around for a business to buy. After researching the market, he narrowed the field to two choices: a soft drink bottling firm and a small furniture rental outfit with two Chicago area showrooms. With no crystal ball at his disposal but plenty of marketing savvy and an incredible will to succeed, he decided on furniture rental. Twenty years later, his typical customer looks a lot more like a Procter & Gamble executive than a sports fan glued to a couch and munching on chips. "In the 1970s, when I started this business, the trend toward increased mobility among business executives was just beginning," said Crawford. "Not only were companies transferring executives more, but people wore switching jobs on their own. I felt that this trend was really getting ready to take off." Crawford was right. Spending more than 60 percent of his time on the road, he knocked on doors, visited, listened and listened some more. Meanwhile, he was upgrading his furniture line and standard of service to a level that would appeal to his new, upscale audience. Today, Brook's residential clients are typically business executives on temporary assignment or transferees who have to be on the job quickly and need to set up housekeeping in a hurry. "These people are concerned about quality of life. They don't want to stay in hotels where they're confined to one room with a bed, a television and a tiny desk," explained Crawford. "They want a home with all the amenities that they can return to after a stressful day on the job." As a result, Brook not only supplies sofas and tables, but also will bring in everything from pots and pans to stereos and dish soap. Through his travels, Crawford also discovered that it was not just residential customers who needed furniture on a temporary basis. After the early 1980s brought both ups and downs in the economy, companies had become reluctant to commit permanent resources to expansion. Rental furniture-available on short notice, requiring a minimal cash outlay and offering flexibility to add and delete-fit the bill perfectly. In response, Crawford launched the Brook Furniture Rental Office Division in 1985, a part of the company that is now responsible for 30 percent of its revenues and boasts a client list including General Electric, Disney, Aon, Motorola and NBC. In 1989, Brook added a Convention Division which has since grown into a multi-million-dollar part of the company - catering to trade show clients who want distinctive, upper-end furniture. The 1990s saw yet another trend that boosted Crawford's business. In the age of the entrepreneur, Brook's Office Division regularly provides the type of high-end office furniture that new business owners want, whether to create an image that they otherwise couldn't afford or to provide flexibility as the new company takes shape. Now, with his upscale customer base well in place, Crawford is focusing his efforts on keeping this demanding group satisfied. Convinced that the future success of his company will be based on its level of service, he moves about Brook Furniture preaching the message of "extreme service." "We want to be the Four Seasons or the Ritz Carlton of the furniture rental business to be recognized for keeping our promise of the highest level of service," says Crawford. "That's our niche. Not to be the biggest furniture rental company, but to be the best."