Garden City Furniture has a new logo and will soon have a new showroom and exterior.
And it all started with a delivery truck.
A few months back Garden City vice president Joey Ray bought a new truck to add to the Garden City Beach, S.C., store’s delivery fleet. It wasn’t until the truck was parked next to the store’s older trucks that Ray realized it might be time to refresh the store’s appearance.
It has been 16 years since the Home Furnishings Association member refurbished its showroom. “That’s a long time in a fashion business like furniture,” says Rays. “We needed to look good when these trucks were going out into neighborhoods and pulling into people’s driveways.”
Ray turned to Connie Post of Affordable Design Solutions to refresh the store’s logo. “I think it’s cool,” says Ray. It’s clean and modern, which is what we want our customers to think we are.”
That’s the idea retailers need to keep in mind with their stores, says Post. “Appearing modern and up-to-date is essential in the very competitive retail environment in which we are all operating today,” she says. “People simply don’t want to shop in old stores, no matter the category or their demographic. Consumers want to spend their money with merchants they feel are fashionable and on-trend.”
“[The logo] is clean and modern … what we want our customers to think we are.”
Ray extended the new look throughout the store with new name badges for his sales staff, on price tags and the company’s website.
There’s more to come: Ray wants to renovate the showroom both inside and out within the next year. That includes the exterior’s pylon signage. “We’re going to hold off on that until maybe the first quarter of next year, but we definitely want this carry the new look throughout the store.
