Linens & lumber; cross-merchandising in bed and bath leads to full-fledged linens and domestics department at Mr. Goodbuys Home Centers - Home Market Trends Supplement

Discount Store News, April 11, 1988

Linens & Lumber

Cross-Merchandising in Bed and Bath Leads to Full-Fledged Linens and Domestics Department at Mr. Goodbuys Home Centers

Somebody at the warehouse must have made a mistake, right? Who in their right mind would ship pillows, sheets, comforters and towels to a home center, especially a home center chain that first earned its reputation as the low price leader in windows and doors?

There's no mistake. Mr. Goodbuys, a 13-store chain based in the Philadelphia area, has taken a strong position in home furnishings. If you ask company president Tom Thornton how it happened, he will explain: "We had always put accessories in our displays. We would hang a towel from a towel bar and we were getting requests from customers ... 'Hey, where can I get that towel?'"

Today, the home furnishings department -- called linens and domestics within the chain -- accounts for 4,500 square feet of display space and features an assortment of comforters, sheets, pillowcases, towels, bath mats, toilet seat covers, throw rugs, wicker baskets, shower curtains and table linens.

"In our attempts to accessorize our bath displays, we got to thinking of it as a natural extension of the bath department. So we really started our L&D department as an extension of the bath department more than anything else. Then, of course, we decided that if we are going to be in towels, we might as well go the whole route," Thornton added.

He was quick to point out that Mr. Goodbuys' strengths are in the kitchen, bath and milled products departments but added, "We are serving a good percentage of our home center customers, (with the home furnishings department) but not all of them."

Describing the results of the new program, Thornton simply said, "Right now we are very satisfied." He said the program has worked well enough to be rolled out to 12 of the chain's 13 stores, along with all new stores. The 13th store is being replaced.

Because the program in linens and domestics is quite new, Mr. Goodbuys has not yet identified the department's typical shopper. However, with so many women accompanying their husbands to decide on major purchases of traditional home center merchandise such as kitchen and bathroom products, the chain does draw a lot of women shoppers to its stores.

"We are thought of more in terms of a fashion home center than others because of the heavy emphasis we have on kitchen and bath, which tends to be the fashion side of the business. We like to tell people we are well assorted, and we have the colors, so I think L&D is a more natural business for us than other home centers."

He believes other home centers might not enjoy the same success as Mr. Goodbuys because the assortment would not be consistent with the rest of the stores. Thornton also said, "I think there is a different mindset in fashion goods than there is in staple goods. We have department-store type buyers here and department store visual people here. There is a sort of mindset we have that I think other home centers don't possess."

Despite Mr. Goodbuys' pre-occupation with fashion, Thornton is acutely aware of the need for high sales volume and rapid turns. The home center chain's sensitivity toward sales is evident in its pricing strategy and its relatively conservative choice of colors and patterns.

"I would say it (the assortment) is conservative because we decided to take the same pricing posture as we did in the rest of the store. If we took the same very aggressive pricing structure that we have, and if we started to get ourselves into satellite colors we could get ourselves in trouble because it would slow the turns and the department wouldn't make sense.

"Because of the aggressive price posture, we can't afford to have as many slower turning goods as a department store could. So we have gone for the gutts of the business," Thornton explained.

The assortment of towels is dominated by familiar pastel colors, with similar choices in sheets and table linens. The most stylish assortment of towels are on a back wall, somewhat off the main traffic pattern, but next to an interesting department called Kids Klub. It features licensed children's comforters, play tents and some pillows that double as plush.

In comforters, Mr. Goodbuys has an opening price point of $29.75 for Performance by Springs. Its Dan River line includes ensembles at $59.90 and $74.90, and goes as high as $99.90 for a combination comforter and sheet set by Criterion.

Lady Pepperell hand towels are priced at $4.90 and large bath towels at $12.90. In sheets and pillowcases, a Signature percale set is priced at $19, and a four-piece set of Lady Pepperell is $37.90.

In flannel sheets, the section is dominated by the store's own brand, priced at $19.99, compared to Lady Pepperell sets at $39.90. "We did an import flannel program out of Portugal and we did some import acrylic throws, also from Portugal," said Thornton.

"We carry all the major brands; that is very much part and parcel of our concept, but when we see an opportunity where it makes sense with good quality and we have enough demand, we use an import program," he said.