Retail Success: Viridien is Hyper-focused on Outdoor

Interview with Grant Henegan

Grant Henegan grows Viridien’s slice of the outdoor furniture category by maintaining a level of service and expertise that’s hard for competitors to replicate.

“Charlotte, North Carolina—based outdoor furniture retailer Viridien operates five locations in North and South Carolina. Its goal is to make customers’ dreams come true and create sensational outdoor living spaces where they can truly live inside out. Viridien was a recipient of a Genius Award, recognizing its “approach to igniting excitement and emphasizing the fun in outdoor living” from the International Casual Furniture Association.

Serial entrepreneur Grant Henegan purchased the company, then known as Fire House Casual Living, in 2015.

“It was a second career,” he said. “Previously, I owned a company that manufactured and distributed restaurant equipment, which was sold in 2008, just before the economy went to hell in a handbasket. I was happily retired for a couple of years before figuring out that I wasn’t built to be a man of leisure.”

“Our service customers call us every 12 to 18 months for cleaning and maintenance and sometimes before they have a big party or event.”

Henegan recalled that he went on a hunt to find a business to purchase. At first, he avoided looking at anything in retail. That is, until a persuasive business broker urged him to look at Fire House Casual Living, founded in 1981.

“The business made sense to me. I’ve always had a passion for design and aesthetics. The store had loyal staff and solid financials, so I bought it. The nuts and bolts of running an outdoor furniture business were similar to those of other companies I operated, except for the specifics of outdoor home furnishings products and merchandising. One surprise was that I had entered a more competitive landscape than I first imagined.

“Retailers need to push through 2024 and probably into next year until demand normalizes. Our sector is currently overtraded, so I expect to see some attrition in manufacturing and retail.”

“Most retail outdoor furnishings are sold through big-box stores like Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target and Costco. The specialty channel Viridien occupies sells fewer units at higher prices. The entry into the market of sophisticated retailers like Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn, and RH, with its particular aesthetic, has dramatically changed the outdoor furniture business over the past 10 years. Online retailer Frontgate, with its brilliant catalogs and excellent digital merchandising, has done the best job identifying itself as an online player in the outdoor space.

“Viridien’s competitive advantage is our unique selling proposition, which focuses on a specific quality level and provides customers with an experience that includes higher levels of outdoor furniture expertise and selection in each of our four stores.

“Viridien’s sales associates have been trained to know everything about the products on our showroom floors. They are well-versed in custom-order merchandise to help customers create beautiful looks for any porch, patio or pool area. That’s why our close ratios are very high.

“All of our locations have the same layouts and product selections. Everything shown is in stock and available for delivery within seven to ten days, depending on the time of the year.”

Style Preferences

Henegan shared his thoughts regarding how the furniture designs Viridien carries have been influenced by new housing. “Many new homes, especially custom homes,” he explained, “emphasize outdoor areas, particularly here in the Carolinas, where we have great weather for eight months of the year.

“People want to make those areas extensions of their indoor designs. Affluent consumers seek comfort, style, durability and design that complement their lifestyles. They can’t find all that at the big-box stores.

“Paid search drives 40 percent of our traffic. Referrals account for about 15%, and repeat customers, surprisingly, are responsible for between 30% and 40%.”

“The percentage of dining sets sold versus deep seating has flipped. Deep seating has caused a dramatic lifestyle change that allows people to expand their use of outdoor spaces. There’s been a long-term trend away from formal outdoor dining as well. We are seeing a more casual, relaxed way of entertaining across all generations. People spend more time during the warmer months having drinks and grilling.

“Five years ago, we carried a lot more traditional-styled furniture. Today, elegant transitional looks that feel a bit more contemporary are the sweet spot for most Viridien consumers. If, however, they want something more contemporary or traditional, we are glad to push the envelope for them. I’ve noticed that furniture in the specialty channel is moving away from larger footprints. Due to high construction costs, many homeowners are looking for smaller-scale furniture suited to new builds with smaller patios.

“We are mindful of trending colors and styles, including the ubiquitous modern farmhouse style. To a certain extent, we rely on what our manufacturing partners have available.”

Like many higher-end outdoor retailers, Viridien’s showroom displays feature mixing and matching items from different manufacturers. “Aesthetically,” said Henegan, “it looks very good. Often, though, we find that shoppers are more conservative and afraid of making mistakes than we imagine.” Viridien allays those fears by encouraging shoppers to work with its professional design staff to discuss their needs, present options, choose products, and create a design. “Trust is built when our design staff meets with clients in their homes,” he continued, “It sets the stage for our customers to accept a higher level of design creativity.

“Our customers want authentic looks with quality wood or cast metal construction that appears hand-finished. Viridien’s customer satisfaction surveys confirm this. Quality is the number one reason people say they buy from us, followed by customer service and the in-store experience.“

Driving Traffic

Henegan explained that “Viridien’s marketing efforts focus on winning the search war in every one of our addressable markets because people who plan to spend more than a couple of thousand dollars on outdoor furniture do a lot of online research. Ours is a higher-end offering, unlike a baby crib or a kid’s desk, which are more likely to be purchased online. Most people want to visit a store to see, feel, touch, sit in and understand the differences.

“Paid search drives 40% of our traffic. Referrals account for about 15%, and repeat customers, surprisingly, are responsible for between 30% and 40%. It’s common for repeat customers to sell their outdoor furniture when they move or downsize. Sometimes, they purchase new outdoor furniture as part of a redesign or to spruce up outdoor spaces for an event such as a graduation or 60th birthday party. We count the children and grandchildren of our customers as repeat customers. The remaining traffic category is drive-by shoppers with local knowledge.”

Other Services / Categories

Referral Programs: Viridien has a referral program for customers interested in designing complete outdoor spaces. “At present, it’s just a few percent of our traffic,” said Henegan. “We are reaching out to more pool builders, architects, and custom home builders. It’s uncertain how the referral program business might be incorporated more fully into our business model.”

Outdoor Kitchens: “We find that outdoor kitchens are a way to increase our average sale number and follow up post-purchase to bring in additional traffic. We’re having success,” he explained, “especially with customers who live in upmarket homes and don’t want to entertain with a Weber grill on their fancy patio.”

Cleaning and Restoration Service: Toward the tail end of the pandemic, Henegan became concerned that he might have to let people go if there was a sustained slowdown. “I was looking for a way to keep people working,” he recalled. “The cleaning and restoration service we started has turned out to be one of the best programs we’ve introduced.” Viridien purchased high-end cleaning equipment after consulting with Sunbrella to understand how to get the best results for upholstered items and umbrella cleaning and repair. “Our technicians can restore wood, including weathered teak products, sand them down, and bring them back to almost new condition,” he added. “It’s a source of recurring revenue that keeps customers connected to us after a sale, driving repeat business. Our service customers call us every 12 to 18 months for cleaning and maintenance, and sometimes before they have a big party or event.

“Since this service is also used by people who purchased furniture from competitive stores, it’s proven to be a way to build goodwill and capture market share.”

lighting, pillows and other outdoor accessories.” Henegan told Furniture World. “The question is, is the juice worth the squeeze? My answer is that their principal value is to create better aesthetics and an improved brand experience. From a revenue point of view, however, we find that they don’t substantially move our profitability needle. When our customers buy furniture, they may also purchase pillows, but as a stand-alone purchase, they are more likely to buy pillows at Pottery Barn or Home Goods if that’s all they need.”

Metrics: “Like any retailer, we always look at store traffic, close ratios and be-backs. The be-back percentage is significant because that number lets us know whether our CRM is working in terms of follow-up. Many shoppers aren’t ready to make a purchase on their first visit. They may want to see what’s available elsewhere, go home and measure, speak with a family member, or think about it. That’s why collecting customer information and following up with shoppers after their first visit is a priority. It makes the shopping experience as seamless and frictionless as possible and is a key to our success.”

Shows and Industry Associations: Henegan finds value in visiting the Casual Show in Atlanta and the High Point Market. “High Point doesn’t have the largest selection of outdoor manufacturers,” he said, “but many majors have showrooms there. It’s also helpful for training. We can easily bring our salespeople there because our stores are located in North and South Carolina. I’ve attended Spoga in Cologne and other European fairs to learn and gather ideas. The Europeans show more contemporary designs with cleaner lines, which will eventually gain traction in our market areas at some point.”

Henegan finds that Viridien’s membership in the ICFA has been very useful. “I’ve learned a lot from my retail and manufacturing colleagues who also belong. It’s a relatively small community of people open to sharing information. My previous industry was much more competitive and aggressive, so it’s refreshing to be in the furniture business.”

“Our sector is currently overtraded, so I expect to see some attrition in manufacturing and retail. However, I realize that hoping for attrition is not a solid business strategy.”

Viridien’s Interior Design Initiative: “Instead of trying to shop for themselves, we’ve noticed that more people are using interior designers to help design outdoor spaces,” he observed. “They’ve become a much more important component of our industry, and retailers can either choose to engage with them or see them as competitors.

“That’s why we created a division to engage with interior designers that includes a trade showroom that’s not open to the public. We found that outside designers can often push the envelope further with their clients than retail sales associates can. This trusting designer-client relationship results in more finished, higher-end looks and better results at the end of the day.

“When clients visit a retail showroom with their interior designer, they may wonder why they couldn’t have purchased the furniture themselves. But when they visit a trade-only showroom with a curated selection of more edgy products, it feels exclusive. We expect that over time this division will become a more important leg of our business.

“For the interior designers we work with, there are additional benefits. We do the receiving, take care of the install and follow up with multiple vendors. Interior designers get invoiced at trade prices on a single invoice. Our margin is not what it would be at retail, but neither does Viridien incur some expenses we have when selling direct to consumers.

“We find that some designers who have moved to the Carolinas from New York or Chicago continue to work with clients up north. This has allowed us to expand our reach beyond our regular service areas.”

“RH has the right idea. They say their revenue comes in more or less equal parts from catalog, website and brick-and-mortar retail. It takes a stool with three legs to make it work.”

Other Observations

Furniture World asked Henegan if he had advice for other retailers transacting business in outdoor furniture.

He replied, “We are all still dealing with the hangover from the COVID bloat. Traffic numbers, compared to 2019, are down. So, retailers need to push through 2024 and probably into next year until demand normalizes. Our sector is currently overtraded, so I expect to see some attrition in manufacturing and retail. However, I realize that hoping for attrition is not a solid business strategy.

“Our path forward involves remaining hyper-focused on our slice of the outdoor category while maintaining a level of expertise and service that’s hard for competitors to replicate. Viridien is not just a furniture store; it’s a multichannel category expert. That may sound trite, but it’s true.

“DTC brands won’t displace brick-and-mortar specialists who focus on being multi-channel operators. I believe that RH has the right idea. They say their revenue comes in more or less equal parts from their catalog, website and brick-and-mortar retail. It takes a stool with three legs to make it work. Our goal is to capture demand, not create it. Shoppers need to visit a store where they can feel and see quality. They may come in with a vision based on what they see online. It’s our job to convert that vision into reality for them.”