Raleigh, NC, September 30, 2005--While many stores narrow their focus to fill a specialty niche, Badcock Furniture takes the opposite approach, selling furniture, appliances, flooring, lawn mowers and barbecue grills, according to the News & Observer.
Alongside the contemporary bedroom sets and dining room tables, shoppers can even find projection TVs and a gas-powered leaf blower. Though they may seem a bit out of place, it's that one-stop shop experience that the Florida chain is banking on as it plans a major expansion.
Badcock plans seven to nine new stores over the next five years.
Badcock, which specializes in mid- to high-end contemporary furniture in addition to its unconventional inventory, already has about 30 stores in North Carolina. The closest is in Wilson. A newly completed distribution center in Mebane is making expansion into the northern and eastern parts of the state possible.
"The area is growing," said Mike Whitten, the company's director of dealer development. "Raleigh's experiencing urban sprawl like most metropolitan areas are, and that means people are looking to stay in their local areas to work, shop and play. We're trying to take advantage of that."
It's not that Badcock wants to go up against home-improvement giants such as Home Depot or Lowe's. The company wants to be known for its quality furniture first.
But, "When you walk into one of our stores, we want you to get this feeling like if anything happens to your home, you could come here," Whitten said.
Badcock's timing for an aggressive expansion is good, since the area is about to lose its three Rhodes furniture stores, said Steve DeHaan, executive vice president of the National Home Furnishings Association in High Point. Rhodes filed for bankruptcy, was purchased by competitor Rooms to Go and is liquidating all of its stores.
"There's a lot of consolidation going on, and yet, the number of businesses in home furnishing does not seem to be shrinking," DeHaan said. "That says good things about the furniture industry, at least on the retail side of it."
That may change. Consumer concerns about high energy prices, rising interest rates and economic uncertainty may curtail discretionary purchases such as new furniture.
For now, Badcock is pressing ahead with its expansion plans. The stores are part of a larger push to add 60 to 80 new locations to Badcock's existing 320 stores. Most of those will be in North Carolina, southern Virginia and possibly West Virginia.
Whitten said the private company is focusing on outlying areas of the Triangle, including Apex, Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, Knightdale, Smithfield and Wake Forest.
Badcock is close to a deal on the first site and hopes to begin construction early next year and be finished by the end of 2006.
"Where we can afford to go, we'll go," he said. "If we can afford to locate within Raleigh proper, we'll go there, too."
Badcock can put a store in an existing space or build a brand new store. Typically, stores are between 18,000 and 25,000 square feet, and cost between $150,000 and $1.8 million to build, depending on which type of location is selected.
The chain's operating model is like a consignment store in which the store owner is responsible for the store's operating costs, but the company handles the inventory. When a piece is sold, the owner gets 25 percent of the price, and Badcock gets 75 percent.
"It's very similar to a franchise," Whitten said. "We give support and training, and we do all of the accounts and financing."
Many chains are expanding, but few have big growth plans, DeHaan said. "I hear of people adding a store here and a store there slowly, but certainly I haven't seen a lot of announcements like, 'We're going to add 20,' " he said.
