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of Furniture Retailing Today" |
It has been a while since I made a report and for that I apologise
but I have been busy like the rest of you.
The year opened strongly and everybody seemed to be enjoying good
sales, especially during January. However, mid February and the
party slowed down dramatically. The interesting part was that nobody
could come up with a sound reason for the downturn. Although some
stores continued with good results, the majority of stores reported
a slow down in their sales. An interesting point is that the downturn
in sales was felt in other retail areas.
In February, Queensland hosted their furniture show
and again it was a great display of furniture and furnishings both
local and imported.
The Queensland show is a very interesting event and, although
the number of retailers attending is a constant worry, those retailers
who support the show always find it worthwhile and return each year.
Perhaps you should consider making a note in your 2003 diary now.
March saw us heading off to the Sydney International Show.
Again this show has improved over the years and caters for the different
segments of our industry. I thought the presentation of this year's
show was great and the range of exhibits was varied and of interest.
This of course brings me to the July Furnitex and Furniture
Show. I am surprised to find out that not everybody understands
that the show starts on Thursday, 18th July and continues Friday
and Saturday trade only.
Sunday will be open to the public and we should try and put a positive
spin on this fact. You never know, you could get additional sales
by your customers attending the show and then going back to your
stores to buy their choice of product.
There will be opportunities for the retailers to participate in
various promotions leading up to and including Furnitex. Why not
be part of the most important furniture event in our calendar. If
you need more information give the FIAA Vic/Tas a call on 03 9686
8660 and speak to Dianne Bell.
I was recently in Singapore and, of course, called in to see Ray
Smith at Harvey Norman. While I have not traveled all
over the world looking at the various furniture stores, I must say
that the Harvey Norman Singapore store has to be up amongst the
most impressive stores you will see. Ray has a dedicated staff who
are learning the facts about modern furniture retailing. I can assure
anyone planning to visit Singapore' Ray will make you most welcome.
Freedom Furniture and Guests Furniture opened their
new store in Traralgon on the 1st May. The stores look great and
we wish them success in their new location. I have heard that there
are plans to open more stores soon.
I was talking to Peter Berkowitz recently and he is excited
about his planned store openings. It is not true that he is going
to follow the Cats but he has opened a new store in Geelong and
will be opening a store in the newly developed centre in Moorabbin.
The (Victorian) NAFA members recently attended a Personal Development
Seminar at the Hampton RSL. The speaker was Russell Jeeves,
general manager of First Choice/Homemakers Group. His interesting
talk generated a number of questions from the members. It is interesting
to note that since the NAFA website has been in operation a number
of members have gained new companies to represent. It is a good
way for prospective factories to engage agents and gives everybody
a fair chance to represent new companies
John Holloway 0418 533 846 or e-mail johnnholloway@bigpond.com
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