Futons Etc, Fly-By-Night, Home Design
What distinguishes Ray King from Richard Zafft and John Buster can probably best be illustrated by something he said towards the end of our interview: "I like the trenches. This is where the perfect information comes from." King is a competitor, a scrapper. To listen to him speak about retailing, you would think it was a form of combat. And where Futons, Etc. is located -- along a stretch of highway in Seekonk, MA., that presents a shopper with just about every kind of superstore there is -- it's easy to see how he has developed that hard edge. King really is on the frontier for this category, and the strategies he employs to make this 1200 sq. ft. shop a winner reveal just how important a role survival instincts play out here. While Zafft is supported by a small college community that embraces his idealism and Buster is supported by an intellectual, entrepreneurial culture which, I suspect, wouldn't be caught dead on a sleeper sofa, King is really out there in no man's land. Slow dogs end up dead on this highway.
King is currently operating four futon stores: the one in Seekonk, where Joe and I visited with him, a rather small store in Providence near Brown University, and two larger stores -- one in Framingham, MA, outside of Boston, and another one in Warwick, RI. Those stores are bigger than Futon, Etc., covering approximately 4000 sq. ft.. I'd be willing to bet, though, that it is here on Route 6 -- across the street from Jennifer Convertibles, and within a couple of miles of two of the largest furniture retailers in southern New England -- that King measures his success.
According to King, high-quality futon furniture is the way to go. He sees no ceiling to his price structure, and he's convinced that being face-to-face with the competition has allowed him to thrive. Of course, it doesn't hurt that King has substantial experience in the furniture business. He understands the enemy, and he routinely checks them out to make sure that they don't gain the upper hand. He's thrilled that Jennifer Convertibles opened a store nearby. He's close enough that some of their traffic ends up in his store. His staff (King works the floor himself, whenever he can) is trained not to deliver the usual sales pitch most of his customers expect. Instead, their mission is to educate the customer and, thus, build credibility for the futon category. Contrary to what Peter Bolton had concluded from Jordan's experience with futon furniture, King knows that the product will sell itself. It does, however, require a proper introduction.
What you see in Futons, Etc. is what you get, and King prefers it that way. He believes one of the industry's greatest strengths is that it has nothing to hide, and he credits that trait with helping him to sell roughly the same futon set, futon frame, and futon cover package to a female senior citizen from a local group home for the elderly as he sold to a Brown student with a mohawk and lots of earrings. There are no frills in this store, but he carries the goods. There are 3000 decorator fabrics available, and all of the futon covers King carries are out of their bags and on display. Futon arms of various styles and finishes are simply hung along certain walls, and futon frames ranging in price from $40 to $800 are arranged tightly on the floor. In other words, King carries whatever the customer might want. If he can lure them into the store, he knows that he has a good chance of making a sale.
Ray King believes the retail side of the industry is headed towards specialty chains, with multiple futon stores representing a group effort against an intensely competitive traditional furniture marketplace. If you're headed for the frontier, it would probably be worthwhile to consider his advice.
All of this may sound rather naive to some of you, but sometimes it takes a naive perspective to see a larger pattern which, through time, has become all but invisible to those who dwell in the pattern every day. I'm not just talking about futon furniture retailing but about a far more complex and interconnected pattern having to do with retailing in general -- and where the threads representing this category lie in the broader fabric of the entire furniture industry.
For those of you who are skeptical of my line of reasoning here, consider this anecdote: last summer my brother-in-law, Nelson (who had spent the last five years living and working in Budapest, Hungary) invited a Hungarian friend to the U.S. for a visit. The man had never traveled beyond the border of his own country before, so to find himself in Raleigh, N.C., was quite a cultural shock. Soon after this innocent traveler arrived, Nelson decided to show him Crabtree Valley Mall -- a rather nice mall, as malls go. Nelson, however, did not tell his guest where they were going. He wanted to surprise him. They parked near the entrance of one of the anchor department stores, and Nelson's friend commented on the splendid facade of the building. But when they walked in, his friend became confused and asked Nelson what this place was. Nelson then explained the concept of a mall to the man. Noticeably embarrassed, the man just shook his head. He had thought that they were entering a church.
Oh, and "Miss George's"? The last time I drove by the place, it had been converted into a tanning salon. It was fluorescent pink.