You Can’t Do Business Like That In my travels as HFA’s CEO, I have been blessed to see many different ways to sell home furnishings. I have always said you could give separate store owners the same store footprint and the same product lines and you would end up with
When I started at HFA, the first picture I saw of David Gunn he was wearing a western shirt and a cowboy hat. This bigger-than-life Texan had an intimidating appearance. When I met him, however, I realized his heart was bigger than life—the heart he has for the home furnishings
It feels so good to be back on the road again! Zoom calls are great, and they fill a purpose; however, there is no better way to get to know our members than to visit their stores. Honoring our HFA retailers of the year winners, meeting their teams, and seeing
I am not big on gold watches or plaques. While they are historical ways to thank people for their dedication and service, I find that too often, a watch ends up in a drawer and forgotten, and the plaque languishes dustily on a shelf. To me, there is power in
I always remind myself and other people that I am not a furniture retailer. I do have retail in my background, but I don’t own a furniture store. As CEO of the Home Furnishings Association, my job is to serve members and always advocate for them and their businesses. My
I have been to Washington, D.C. twice to discuss furniture industry issues on behalf of HFA and our members. It’s a trip HFA makes annually to meet face-to-face with our lawmakers and various government agencies to make sure our voices are heard as people who make a living in the
As I write this, people throughout the country are dealing with crippling winter storms and need a helping hand. My area in Texas has been hit especially hard. In the six days my stores were closed, most of my employees were without power. City water facilities experienced power failures, generator
We use facial recognition traffic counters on our front doors to get as accurate of a count as possible of the people entering our furniture stores. It also captures a small image of each individual. A couple of years ago, we discovered that on more than 30 occasions, a particular
I am craving contact! I think in home furnishings, we all are craving contact right now. Our industry has many wonderful attributes, but the one thing that I fell in love with and that resonates with me is our business’ collegial nature. We are part of a customer-centric industry, and
I’m David Gunn of Knight Furniture, your HFA president for 2021. I’ve never looked more forward to a new year than this one. Yet as painful as 2020 was on many levels, I did learn a few lessons. I was reminded never to take anything, or anyone, for granted. It
Retail furniture buying in the United States is undergoing seismic shifts, marked by new technologies, evolving consumer expectations, and changes
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As we turn the page toward 2026, California employers, including home furnishings retailers, are once again preparing for a fresh
Shaping the Customer Experience with Consumer Study Data Step into the shoes of today’s furniture shopper and discover what truly shapes their in-store experience.
Immersive Retail: Inspiring Customers with 3D, AR & VR Today’s most successful furniture retailers aren’t replacing personal service with technology, they’re using it to
