Page 39 - YourSource November 2016

As Colorado’s largest independently owned appliance retailer, Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom seemingly had few worlds to conquer in 2010. It was in that year however, that the appliance chain made the fateful decision to alter its business dramatically by expanding into the previously untapped mattress and bedding industry. At the time, the retail outlet was appropriately named Appliance Factory Outlet. Six years later, the stores’ foray into mattress and bedding has transformed it to such a degree that the retail chain added Mattress Kingdom to its moniker. The company’s resounding success is in no small part due to its beneficial partnership with bedding manufacturer Tempur-Sealy, which began two years ago.
The introduction of Tempur-Sealy products into Appliance Factory’s showrooms was significant in that it provided the stores with an enormously popular product line to coincide with its already formidable appliance inventory. The brand recognition that accompanied the Tempur-Sealy name, particularly its Tempur-Pedic mattresses and pillows, cannot be understated. Although customers may not know the difference between other mattress lines, familiarity with Tempur-Pedic’s memory foam is almost a given. According to Eric Bowe, director of merchandising and 5-year veteran of Appliance Factory, “If you don’t have Tempur-Pedic on the floor, you are not in the mattress business.”
Having not sold mattresses and bedding previously, the act of modifying each store to accommodate Tempur-Sealy products was a huge transition. However, the experience and know-how of Tempur-Sealy’s staff, who organized early morning training sessions and formulated the set-up of each store’s new mattress and bedding division, engineered the entire process. “The set-up was pretty seamless, with top- notch training. The stores needed to be re-set before they opened in the morning,” Bowe says. Tempur-Sealy’s connection to the stores did not end there though. Monthly sales meeting and sales contests, to give salespersons extra
motivation, are now part of the culture at
Appliance Factory due to strategies instilled by Tempur-Sealy. Every month, trophies and gift
cards are distributed as rewards for those with
the highest sales numbers.
Along with changing the overall look of the stores, the introduction of Tempur-Sealy products has succeeded in changing the busi- ness’s advertising and marketing strategies to accommodate new customers. The popularity of mattress and bedding for Appliance Factory has essentially put the division on an equal foot- ing with its venerable appliance department. Its rapid success has made it necessary for the
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company to offer separate advertising inserts to local newspa- pers in order to feature its line of appliances as well as mattress and bedding.
Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom’s add-on program has been particularly successful. The sales promotion, which Bowe describes as the stores’ “claim to fame”, is essentially a method by which mattresses can be bundled with another store item in order to give customers a great bargain. Since mattresses cannot be discounted, it is an enormously effective way to increase sales. A typical example of the add-on program is offering a customer a $200 in-store rebate off an appliance when they purchase a Tempur-Sealy mattress. Such a promotion is particularly successful among homebuyers who may be in the market for both appliances and mattresses. The add-on program has now become a fixture in each store’s advertising campaign.
Today, Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom is the 30th largest appliance dealer in the nation. It currently has 16 locations throughout Colorado, and just under 400 employees. However, the company’s ambitions do not end there. “We strive to be the biggest player in the Colorado market,” Bowe says. The partnership with Tempur-Sealy has played a big part in the recent success of the company. The introduction of mattress and bedding products onto showroom floors represents a transformation in the world of retail. This rapid diversification into the previously unchartered world of alternative product lines is in keeping with the entrepreneurial spirit of independents, who seek to keep pace with the ubiquitous box store. For those that have not adjusted to the new reality, Appliance Factory & Mattress Kingdom’s is a shining example of a business that saw the future in the introduction of bedding and is now reaping the rewards. YS
One of 16 Appliance Factory and Mattress Kingdom’s in Colorado.
NOVEMBER 2016
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