Dalton, GA, Sept. 15--To hear Jerry Hennon tell it, empathy has more than a little to do with the expansion of his family's business, according to the Chattanooga Times/Free Press.
"Whenever dad went shopping with mom, he'd always want to know where the restroom was and where he could sit down," Hennon said. "So we put some furniture groupings in our store so people could have a place to sit."
Pretty soon, he said, customers wanted to buy that furniture from that store, Carpets of Dalton. So Hennon and his father, Lamar, who started Carpets of Dalton in 1970, launched a companion company, American Home Showplace, in 1995.
The new company gave the Hennons a foothold in furniture, but they didn't stop there. What company officials now refer to as the Carpets of Dalton campus also includes two more stores under the AHS banner--Buy The Room, another furniture gallery, and the World of Outdoor Living, a newly opened joint effort with furniture maker Lane.
Ken Brown, marketing director for Carpets of Dalton and American Home Showplace, said the 22,000-square foot World of Outdoor Living meets a demand of consumers who are, of late, traveling less and spending more on their homes.
"Since 9-11, people have put their arms around their families, pulled them in and been a little more cognizant of staying at home," he said.
"We've built four full-scale rear elevations and created an environment which induces customers to envision what their back porches, pools or outdoor areas could look like," he said.
Brown said the stores on the 30-acre complex cover about 500,000 square feet, employ about 240 people and should rack up combined sales of about $70 million this year. He said two more stores covering another 200,000 square feet are set to open in mid- to late 2004.
Thirty acres, $70 million in annual sales and 240 employees is a long way from the way Jerry Hennon said his father got into the business more than 40 years ago.
"He put ads in the paper and sold carpet door to door," said Hennon, whose father declined comment. "He did well enough to get a store, then several stores, then sold them out and did it all over again."
The younger Hennon, 42, said the business changed in the early 1980s, when carpet manufacturers began doing their own retailing.
"One thing dad has always been is flexible," he said. "He's been able to see what's coming and turn on a dime. We changed our business--we started hiring retail (sales)people and advertising."
Jerry Hennon said the move into furniture represented only the most recent turning point for the family's business.
"We've got a lot of exciting plans and things we'd like to do," he said. "Dad doesn't believe in sitting still. As long as we can offer the customer value, we're going to try to do that."
