Discounters assemble better RTA presentations, service - ready-to-assemble furniture

Discount Store News, July 15, 1996 by Teresa Andreoli

NATIONWIDE DSN REPORT - It's finally happened. A number of discount stores are changing their attitude toward ready-to-assemble furniture presentations.

In the past six months, ShopKo and Bradlees have brought select RTA items off the gondolas and onto the floor, and in three months Kmart will hire new POS service team to assemble and maintain the furniture samples in order to improve consumers' perception of the category. Also, ShopKo and some office superstores have begun to experiment with referring customers to a furniture assembly service.

The merchandising strategy emulates Best Products and Service Merchandise, which for years have offered assembly services and merchandise their furniture on the floor - on the notion that that's the way furniture appears in consumers, homes.

ShopKo began shifting office and kitchen furniture to the floor about five months ago. To make a purchase, Customers take a "Pick ticket" from a dispenser on the furniture (the number of tickets available matches the stock in the back room), take it to the register and pay. The cashier calls a warehouse worker in the back room to bring the merchandise to the store front and out to a car if necessary.

Some manufacturers commend Wal-Mart for a new fixturing device in its newly opened Auburn Hills, Mich., store, where the merchandise is displayed about 3 ft. from the ground, with room below the fixture to store the flat boxes of merchandise. This is one way to address the self-service demands of the mass market and make a stab at bringing the furniture closer to the consumer.

Michael Franks of O'Sullivan suggested that discounters consider stocking merchandise vertically on the floor as an alternative to space-consuming horizontal stacks. Some home centers currently take this tack.

Others said that big bulk items that weigh more than 40 lbs. are going to require service from store help no matter what. At least in ShopKo's case, the cashier, not the shopper, has the onus of locating help.

Of course, some discounters, trying to separate themselves from the price-only wars sparred by Wal-Mart and Kmart, are opting for a higher level of service to consumers.

A few months ago, ShopKo took service a second step by offering shoppers access to an inhome assembly, Huffy Service First, Dayton, Ohio. Though better known for its POS service team, Huffy's 2-year-old in-home assembly arm is growing substantially. It has agreements to do home assembly of sporting goods, gas grills and most recently RTA furniture, for chains like Sears, The Sports Authority and Service Merchandise. It's currently negotiating with Kmart to provide a similar service.

WRTA (We're Ready To Assemble), a division of Atlanta-based RMS, a leading POS service provider to retailers, also has an in-home assembly service with major accounts such as Office Depot, Sears Homelife and Macy's. Ivy Gate, Campbell Calif., does in-home and in-office assembly for Staples customers and POS merchandise maintenance for other retailers.

Most of these in-home assembly companies hire trained, bonded, insured and uniformed staff on a permanent or contractor basis.

The assembly service could be a hit for the Back-to-School season as time-stressed shoppers hunt for desks and other furniture. Although it has no plans for taking on an assembly service, Venture has placed a big focus on futons, sofas, computer work centers and desks for the fall season. As it repositions itself as a lifestyle retailer rather than a discounter, it has exited selling bean bags and flip chairs.

About 19% to 20% of the population just won't assemble their own furniture, a leading RTA furniture supplier to the mass market said. Other makers and assemblers noted that Baby Boomers have more money than time on their hands and still see the value in buying RTA (for example a lush $300 entertainment center) then tacking on another $60 if it means they can free up a Saturday afternoon. WRTA said that its Southeastern region is its busiest, and the dense population of seniors in Florida has contributed to that success, said David Schenker, WRTA executive vp. The small office/home office business is also a natural sell, since business-related furniture demands are often inflexible.