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
Recently, we held a webinar relating to optimizing eComm, and it was a perfect example of the need for what I call the 3-10 approach. Just looking at eCommerce alone, there are so many aspects of it that you need to get right to be successful. How are you tracking
Like everyone else, I can’t wait for the end of this restricted pandemic life of ours. Indeed, there are going to be work-at-home aspects of this current situation that will stay with us. We are working with that reality at HFA right now. There are customer buying habits that
Traditionally every May, members of HFA head to Washington for what we refer to as “The Fly-In.” It’s a chance to meet with key members of Congress both on the Senate side and the House side of the Capitol. Generally, it’s an effective way of introducing ourselves to key leaders,
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s almost impossible to talk about any significant subject these days without the discussion ending up in a partisan conversation. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen it quite like this where there is such a high level of divisiveness that springs up
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 love great quotations. They can capsulize thoughts and feelings or inspire. The late English author Douglas Adams said, “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.” In light of last year, I could rephrase that
Many retail buying journeys begin online through research, browsing, comparison, or early product discovery. Shoppers expect digital guidance before they
In furniture buying today, shoppers are more informed, selective, and skeptical than ever before. They’re not simply buying a sofa
Today, customers are not just comparing prices, they are comparing experiences. Especially in furniture and mattress retail, where purchases are
The Home Furnishings Association (HFA) is aware that many retailers have been following the recent news regarding Costco’s tariff lawsuit,
The retail customer experience is the shopper’s overall impression of your store and is not just about selling products. It’s
Selling Like a “Million-Dollar Writer” What separates a good sales associate from a true million-dollar writer? It’s not luck, and it’s not just traffic.
The Right Way to Use AI in Retail Marketing (and What to Avoid) Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping marketing and its impact on retail
