Connection to the Community

If someone were to listen to the media about retail, you might assume it is a dying industry. The story goes that everyone wants to buy online. Certainly that is more convenient if you don’t want to touch and feel the product. But no pure play internet retailers of scale has turned a profit and as I write this Overstock stock dropped 22.4% and Wayfair lost 13.2%. (See Emmet’s thought on Page 3). Retailers are not dead!
As I attended a recent HOM Furniture golf outing, I was reminded just how important brick and mortar stores, with their connection to the community, really are to society as a whole. HOM held the 30th annual golf outing to raise money for a wonderful cause, Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge. Almost 300 people attended and over the years they have raised considerable amounts of money for a charity that might not otherwise have the financial wherewithal to provide the valuable services for the community. Of course HOM is not alone. I have written previously about the good works Slumberland’s 40 Winks Foundation does. Jake Jabs from American Furniture Warehouse South Dakota Furniture Mart, Furniture Row and others are very supportive in their public giving to the communities they operate in.
I point this out because as you compete with the online retailers, not a single one of them will be supporting the local causes that a furniture store knows are important for their communities. If the brick and mortar store is not in the community, then the Adult and Teen Challenges of this world are not going to thrive like they can with your support. I applaud all my retailers who understand the fruits of their success, given back to their communities goes way beyond the money. It changes people’s lives for the better. It makes the hard work of being a retailer all worth while if just for a moment in time each year. You hear the stories of lives that are changed, and you truly realize how blessed you are to be on the side of giving versus the struggles of those who you are helping.
One final note is when you have an event to help raise money for a great cause, the camaraderie between vendors and store personnel whether it be warehouse, sales, buyers, or management is so much more relaxed. There aren’t problems. There is human interaction and an opportunity to network in a good way. And when you see and hear, these fine people whose lives were not always treated fairly, sing the national anthem with gusto, so happy to be turning their lives around, then you know that at least for one moment in time, being in the furniture business is all worth while.