For Rick and Pat Howard, life after retirement seems a lot like work. They wouldn’t have it any other way. Rick Howard enjoyed a rewarding career in the furniture manufacturing and packaging industries. Twenty-two years of deals and friendships, accomplishments and innovations. So when he sold his business and had
Grace Furniture has served central New York for 78 years by putting the customer’s needs first. It’s the only way Bill Grace and his team know how to work. The world according to Bill Grace goes something like this: Everything around us is forever changing. Politics. Economies. Philosophy. Even retail
HFA member Sklar Furnishings is getting the most out of turning 15 this month. The Boca Raton, Fla.-company Sklar Furnishings has spent 15 months in countdown to its anniversary by supporting its community helping out a new nonprofit group every month. From hosting in-showroom fundraisers and program kick-off receptions for
Where failure is alien Growing up, Bill Glenn always wanted to be a pilot. Fifty-one years later he’s still selling furniture—and loving it. This is a story about Bill Glenn and his family-run furniture store in Roswell, N.M. At least it will be after we acknowledge the elephant in the
Turns out you can go home again. It just takes a lot of hard work to rebuild your family furniture store. Just ask Trevor McAllister. Looking back there were clues. No sirens or flashing blue lights, just subtle cues that maybe the retail furniture business wasn’t going to be so
The first thing you need to know about The Farmhouse Store, the wildly popular furniture store of celebrities, Millennials and every consumer in between, is that it was never supposed to be a furniture store. Ed Menapace started out raising “our baby”, as he lovingly calls his store, as a
May you never be satisfied Two retailers, two stories. By her own admission, Cynthia Heathcoe is the New Kid on the Block (minus the gold chains and ball cap askew). Her store in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., continues to gain traction with fans of contemporary furniture’s clean lines. By contrast,
Jake Jabs knows a little about guitars, and even more about furniture. For more than half a century he’s been excelling at both. His first business lesson? That’s easy. Jake Jabs remembers walking through downtown Bozeman, Mont., wondering why the city’s lone music store wasn’t selling guitars. It was 1955
Josh Hudson took over the family business when it was on its last leg. These days, Hudson’s Furniture is running strong. It’s 4:30 in the morning and the alarm on Josh Hudson’s phone by his bed goes off. Actually, it’s not an alarm. This morning it’s Tim Ferriss filling the
New address—same appeal After 91 years in the same location, Boone’s Furniture & Gifts finally moved in 2006. Looking back, Joel and Julie Isley wonder what took them so long. Out-of-towners passing through Gibsonville, N.C. (pop. 6,921) see a downtown packed with enough quaint shops and tree-lined streets to fill
Strengthen Your Business While Preserving Family Harmony Compensation planning in a retail furniture business often feels more like an art
“Every business owner has an exit strategy—even if they haven’t planned one.” For many private and family-owned businesses, daily operations
Finding and retaining quality employees continues to be one of the most significant challenges facing organizations today. Hiring managers, HR
What if the biggest threat to revenue isn’t the customer who walks away? What if it’s the customer who stays?
As of July 22, 2026, furniture retailers face a rapidly changing trade environment with potential implications for product costs, sourcing,
Men and women often bring different priorities to their jobs, and the companies that understand those differences build stronger teams, deeper loyalty, and better business
The competition for talent, from sales floor to delivery to leadership, keeps intensifying, and the retailers winning it are thinking beyond compensation. Join the Home
