Taylor King making face masks for local hospital staff in the North Carolina region.
https://www.taylorking.com/covid-19/
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
All Rock House brand factories are re-opening tomorrow, Monday April 20th. This includes Hancock &Moore, Jessica Charles, Century, Highland House, Pearson, Hickory Chair and Maitland Smith.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Oh wow I thought it would be much longer. Hopefully I can order my couch in a couple weeks!!!
Taylor King is open now as well. Production starts again next week.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.
Today I was reading about (50) popular chain stores that are failing and either closing or going bankrupt. Their debt load is such that lack of sales and also changing customer buying habits have wiped them out. There are many furniture stores that are not struggling as well, I hear it from the manufacturer sales reps. Their overhead is killing them and sales have suffered. My advice if you are special-ordering furniture is to minimize your deposit (negotiate it if you can) so that you are not pre-paying the order or even 50% of it. Should the store go under, you won't have as much money at risk.
I only ever take a 20% deposit at my store, unless you are ordering something very custom that I have no resale market for. I do that because I really don't want to tie up your money while you wait for your furniture to be built. Plus, I don't use your deposit money as operating capital like so many other stores do. While other stores have huge rent payments, big payrolls, lines of credit to pay off, and other high fixed expenses, I have virtually none. One of my two trucks has $ 14,000 remaining on a truck loan and that's it. I own all my inventory in cash, own the building I'm located in, and have no line of credit, nor employees other than two part-timers that do my deliveries on Saturdays.
I learned almost two decades ago from Jack Glasheen, founder of Hancock and Moore to run lean and pay cash for things, he said "You don't need a fancy storefront and you should own your inventory outright. Debt kills most businesses like yours. Customers want quality and knowledgeable service and a good price, so don't worry about getting into the trendy part of town. You'll be able to survive the hard times that will come while others will not". Boy, was he right. The 2008 Recession wiped out about half the furniture stores and Covid-19 twelve years later is going to do likewise.
So my store is not very fancy and it's not in the "cool" part of the county. I am getting more orders than I expected to have and that's a pleasant surprise. Your deposit money is always safe here at The Keeping Room and I'm not going anywhere as long as I remain healthy. I am following Covid-19 protocols with masks and sanitizer in the store while keeping regular store hours.
Duane Collie
Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.